GUEST: My husband and I are originally from
Los Angeles. He's a congregational rabbi, now retired. And while I was working in Japan in the late
'80s, he had a phone call asking if he would officiate at the funeral of somebody that
wasn't a member of the congregation, and met this woman, and she was charmed by him, and
he officiated at her husband's funeral. And she invited him to dinner, and he said,
"Well my fiancé is coming back from Japan. Would you mind if it was the three of us?" And on Sunday evenings, she had a particular
restaurant in Los Angeles which she would go to, Trader Vic's, and we were part of the
Trader Vic's Sunday night dinner event. And this took place probably once a month
for almost 12 years. And when she passed, she left these two items
to me in her will, and I remember admiring the ring because that was something that she
would always wear when I would see her Sunday night. APPRAISER: Now, have you ever had an appraisal
done on the bracelet or the ring? GUEST: Just on the bracelet. And, at the time, in the early 2000s, I think
they said it might have been ten grand. But I've never had the ring appraised. APPRAISER: The bracelet's kind of a classic
1940s… GUEST: Oh. APPRAISER: …bracelet. We can tell it has some European-cut diamonds
in it. If you look through the bracelet, the larger
round stones… GUEST: Mh-hmm. APPRAISER: …all add up to about eight carats,
total weight. GUEST: Wow. APPRAISER: Then we have these baguettes, what
they call "straight baguettes…" GUEST: Mh-hmm. APPRAISER: …kind of basket-weaved throughout
it. And in those is another ten carats of diamonds. It's a Jewish appraisal. GUEST: Wow! APPRAISER: 18 carats, that's chai. It's good luck. GUEST: That is good luck! (laughing) APPRAISER: And then it's made out of platinum,
classic. It's built like a truck. That bracelet will never wear out. GUEST: Oh. APPRAISER: And it's fantastic. Couldn't find a signature. GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: But when I see this kind of bracelet,
and the metal work is a little heavy, it leads me to think something like this was probably
made in the United States, probably New York. GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: I mean, she was out in L.A., it
certainly could have been made there. And if I told you that $10,000 today appraisal
is low. Today, if I had to reappraise that for auction,
I would tell you that bracelet would be $15,000 to $20,000. GUEST: Wow. That's... (breathlessly) ...quite, quite a
gift. APPRAISER: Well, I'm not here for the bracelet. I'm here for the ring. GUEST: Oh, really? APPRAISER: All right? GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: So let's go. (chuckling) GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: So, first, I love the... I love pearls. The pearl in the middle is about 14 millimeters. It's a little bit of a button pearl. Instead of being very round… GUEST: Mh-hmm. APPRAISER: …it's sloped down a little bit. GUEST: Yes. APPRAISER: Some pearls are cultured, some
are natural… GUEST: Mh-hmm. APPRAISER: …and we're kind of assuming that
this is cultured. I mean, down the road, you could always have
it X-rayed. If we turn it to the side, everybody can see
it's beautifully set, what we call "pavè-set" diamonds. GUEST: Mh-hmm. APPRAISER: They're set so close together,
there's one or two beads holding each other in. GUEST: Oh. APPRAISER: It's made out of platinum. The pearl is later. The bracelet's from the '40s. I talked to my colleagues and we feel the
ring is probably mid-20th century, maybe early '60s. GUEST: Okay. APPRAISER: Platinum, about six carats of diamonds. GUEST: Wow. APPRAISER: Now, when we turn the ring around… GUEST: Yes. APPRAISER: …and we pull it off, over here
is where the magic starts to happen. We can see right over here… APPRAISER: Mh-hmm. GUEST: …it is signed. "V.C.A." GUEST: (gasps) Van Cleef and Arpels! APPRAISER: Yeah. GUEST: Holy moly! She said something about Van Cleef and Arpels. I always thought it was the bracelet! APPRAISER: I know you did. (laughing) GUEST: Wow! Wow. Amazing, because I asked you earlier. Wow. APPRAISER: What did I say? GUEST: You said, "No, not the bracelet." But you didn't tell me anything about the
ring. Wow, what a pleasant surprise. APPRAISER: And it was a pleasant surprise
for me, too. This is the kicker. If the ring came up for sale, I feel very
strongly for it, at auction, at $20,000 to $30,000. GUEST: As Shirley Temple would say, "Oh, my
goodness!" (laughing) Wow. APPRAISER: And it's the kind of thing, I think,
would get to the high end of the estimate pretty quick… GUEST: Wow. APPRAISER: …because, frankly, this is very
sought after. If I was doing this for insurance replacement
value, I believe you'd have to put the bracelet at $35,000. GUEST: Wow. Amazing. APPRAISER: But the ring, because it's Van
Cleef, for insurance replacement, would probably be closer to $60,000. GUEST: Oh, my goodness, thank you.
