GUEST: My father-in-law bought this in 1960 for my mother-in-law. They lived in Abilene, Texas, and they loved to go to New York, and one of their trips up there, they went into Van Cleef & Arpels and my father-in-law, I believe, sort of sketched out what sort of necklace he was interested in and so they made the necklace and mailed it to them.
APPRAISER: Great. Well, it's fabulous that you have the original receipt from September, 9, 1960, as it's dated on the bottom. The pendant, diamond itself, weighs 3.91, clearly stated here, and then it's flanked by some smaller stones, some marquise on the top and a small round diamond, as well. I will also note that you have the old certificate in the photograph and then the New York stock number to verify. That's really good provenance. You also have the receipt, so that's a really good point, as well. Is that the original chain or was it replaced?
GUEST: No, the original chain was platinum and my mother-in-law was a very small woman and the chain was not really long enough for me, so we replaced it with the white gold chain.
APPRAISER: Okay, do you still have the chain?
GUEST: Yes, we do.
APPRAISER: Okay, that's good, because original pieces altogether are worth more. There's the original receipt for $5,700 back in 1960 with a well-known document from GIA, which is the Gemological Institute of America. They would have to state the color and clarity officially, and then we could price it accurately. But I would say, just grading it today, that it would be an H VVS1, meaning very, very slightly Included. I would say that there would be a retail replacement value, or in a high-end retail store, at $125,000 today.
GUEST: Wow. That has appreciated quite a bit, hasn't it?