Tiffany & Co. Sapphire & Diamond Ring, ca. 1913
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GUEST:
Well, I have a ring that I had inherited from my grandmother. And other than I know it's diamonds and a sapphire, I don't know much about it. I know that it's inscribed, Mm-hmm. "T.J.O.D. to A.L.O.D., December, or D-E-C, 25, 1913."
APPRAISER:
It's a nice Christmas gift.
GUEST:
When I asked my father what my grandfather did-- and it was actually my maternal grandfather-- he said, "Oh, he was retired." And I said, "Retired from what?"
APPRAISER:
(laughs)
GUEST:
He said, "He was just retired."
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
He'd never had to work.
APPRAISER:
Well, in that case, they must have been of some means.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
The ring is a sapphire and diamond three-stone ring. It is signed by Tiffany and Company. Looking at the stones, we can do weights by formula. Obviously, we can't unmount the stones, so by formula, that center sapphire is probably about three-and-a-half carats, and each one of those side diamonds is about one-and-a-half carats. The side diamonds are beautiful. They're very high-color stones, they're clean. They're what we would call Old European cut diamonds, very typical of what you would see in 1913. And you can also see the sapphire. It's a nice old cut, also from the period.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
What makes this ring really special, in my opinion, is that sapphire. In this period, Tiffany would've only used the highest-quality stones. Country of origin is very important. I've showed my colleagues at the jewelry table, and we feel that there is a good chance that this might be a sapphire from Burma. Also, in this period, we would not expect any treatments. It hasn't been heated, so it came out of the ground like that, and that is very unusual. In the Tiffany mounting, with the three-stone setting, it's a very desirable ring. 1913, it's nice to think that it could've been here at Rosecliff at a party one day.
GUEST:
That's right.
APPRAISER:
I think, at auction, if we sent the stone to a lab and could determine that it was a Burma sapphire with no heat, you might be looking at a value of $25,000 to $35,000 at auction.
GUEST (laughs): Oh, wow! Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER:
Now, if you walked into Tiffany's and had to replace this ring, I don't think you could replace it for under $100,000. It's a really nice ring.
GUEST:
Whoo! Oh, my gosh. Thanks, Granddad! You made my day!
APPRAISER:
Thank you, I'm glad we did. If this were not a Burma sapphire, I still think you would probably be looking in the $15,000 to $20,000 ballpark. The diamonds are a significant size.
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