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Gold & Amethyst Necklace, ca. 1975

Value (2017) | $3,000 Auction – $5,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
My father gave it to my mother as a birthday present, in... sometime in the early '70s, I believe.

APPRAISER:
Yes.

GUEST:
And she wore it a few times, and then she left it to me, really because I was the only one with the sort of chest to wear it. Thing is, you can't really wear it every day. You really need a ball gown to go with it, and I don't wear a ball gown very often, needless to say. So it sat in a drawer for a long time, and then I swapped out part of it for a puppy.

APPRAISER:
You-- I'm sorry?

GUEST:
I swapped it, part of it, for a puppy.

APPRAISER:
A puppy?

GUEST:
And I thought my mother and father would really approve of the necklace I probably wasn't go to wear to a darling Jack Russell by the name of Max.

APPRAISER:
And how did you get the necklace back?

GUEST:
I... borrowed it back. And I was a bit worried that when I borrowed it back, the gentleman with whom the swap was made might want my puppy back. He's, needless to say, not going to get the puppy back, because I love him far too much.

APPRAISER:
Of course.

GUEST:
And when I heard the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW was coming, I thought this would be a great place to bring it and just find out a bit more about it.

APPRAISER:
Well, when you brought it up to me, I got very excited, because it did look like a jeweler that was named Andrew Grima. He was a British jeweler, making jewelry in London, and basically, he liked to use all of these amazing crystals and geodes. And so he looked at jewelry as sculpture. This particular jeweler, who we have here, from Russell of London...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
We needed to do some more research on this particular jeweler, but he's definitely a contemporary of Andrew Grima. It's from 1975, which is exactly when Andrew Grima was in his prime. He was using things that weren't necessarily valuable.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
For example, this is just an amethyst geode, and he split it in half to resemble the butterfly wings, embellished it with some tiny diamonds from the top and the bottom, and even made the little antenna, right here, en tremblant. So it trembles when you wear it.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
It's in 18-karat gold. It's truly one of a kind. And you said you don't wear it very often, but we're in Newport. Maybe you should wear it.

GUEST:
Maybe I should wear it.

APPRAISER:
We're in the best place for it, right now.

GUEST:
I'd better find the grand balls to go to in order to wear it.

APPRAISER:
Yes, exactly. There are people that are buying 1970s jewelry. So anything a little different, anything a little bit unusual, or very unusual, we'll call this...

GUEST:
Right. ...

APPRAISER:
is very desirable right now.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
I would say auction estimate would be between $3,000 and $5,000.

GUEST:
That's very nice to hear, and also that makes sense, because I didn't think my father probably went and spent $100,000 on a birthday present.

APPRAISER:
If it was an insurance value...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
It would be, you know, close to double that.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Virginia Salem
Jewelry
Freeman's Auctioneers
Philadelphia, PA
Appraised value (2017)
$3,000 Auction – $5,000 Auction
Featured In
Newport, Hour 3 (#2218)
RECUT: Newport, Part 6 (#R0108)
Event
Newport, RI (September 18, 2017)
Category
Jewelry
Period
1970s , 20th Century
Form
Jewelry , Necklace
Material
Amethyst

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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