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German Gilt Table Clock with Book, ca. 1700

Value (2011) | $8,000 Retail – $10,000 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
This actually belongs to my husband, and it came into the family from his father. His father had a love for clocks and was a collector.

APPRAISER:
Well, one of the things about this is that it is one of the ultimate collector's clocks that you can find today. The nice thing about clock is that they are signed-- the clock maker, Wilhelm Koberle, and the town that it was made in, Eichstadt, Germany. I looked him up, and he was working in the late 17th century early 18th century. It's a style of clock that was made in Germany during the Renaissance.

GUEST:
Oh, wow.

APPRAISER:
Now, one of the things that makes people most interested in Renaissance clocks is how beautifully they're made, not only on the outside, but on the inside. You can see here the beautiful engraving that you see on the outside of the clock. The interior of the dial has beautiful engraving on it. But if we open up the clock and tilt it back, you can see that as much work has been lavished on the interior of it. Beautiful metalwork. Each piece is just beautifully finished and beautifully engraved. And they are little works of art. It's so wonderfully preserved. It's a clock that a collector has taken care of. During the middle of the 17th century, clock making changed, and one of the things that this book tells you about is how these clocks changed. The book is entitled The Artificial Clock-maker, where artificial means clever. This is a very hard book to find.

GUEST:
Is it?

APPRAISER:
And it was first published about the same time this clock was made.

GUEST:
Oh, wow.

APPRAISER:
In the 1680s. And it was reprinted several times. This is actually the fourth edition of this book. This one was printed in the 1770s. The picture on the side here shows the new pendulum clock. This small rod hangs down, was an invention that came in the middle of the 17th century and made all of these clocks effectively obsolete. But they kept on making them. The Germans, who were the best clock makers in the world, ceased to be that, and the English and the French took over from them. These clocks appear at auction periodically. Normally these clocks will fetch several thousand dollars, perhaps five or six. But because of the beautiful condition of this one, the fact that it's with its book, probably is in the range of $8,000 to $10,000.

GUEST:
Wow.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Jonathan Snellenburg
Clocks, Science & Technology, Watches
Bonhams, NY
New York, NY
Appraised value (2011)
$8,000 Retail – $10,000 Retail
Featured In
Atlanta, Hour 3 (#1615)
Event
Atlanta, GA (August 06, 2011)
Category
Clocks
Period
17th Century , 18th Century
Form
Book , Clock
Material
Gilded , Metal , Paper

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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