GUEST: This jewelry belonged to my mother and to my father, who were good friends with a man named Antonio Pineda, who is a Mexican silversmith, and he's quite well-renowned, but the interesting part is that this is all gold jewelry, rather than silver. And he is really noted for the silver jewelry.
APPRAISER: And what connection did your mother and father have with Antonio?
GUEST: They were very, very good friends, and they even owned the first house that he had built in Taxco, Mexico.
APPRAISER: Now, did they purchase these pieces from him?
GUEST: Yes, yes, they did.
APPRAISER: Do you have any idea what they might have paid?
GUEST: I have absolutely no idea. Antonio Pineda was an apprentice of William Spratling, who is the master silversmith of Taxco, sterling, Mexican jewelry. And Antonio went another route. He opened his own business in 1941, and by 1950, he was using a trademark of "Antonio" underneath a crown. Now, the fact that these pieces are gold is very, very special. They're all 14-karat. They're extremely rare. Antonio is known for a modernist style, which was extremely popular in the 1950s through the 1970s. This ring here has two blue stones. One is a natural Australian sapphire. The other one is a manmade sapphire. And that was common in Mexican jewelry.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: The next ring we have is a huge smoky quartz. Moving to the necklace-- which is almost a trademark style of Antonio-- it barely hugs the neck, gracefully ends in a pearl, wraps around the neck, dangling down to a pendant of an emerald, and rubies, all done in 14 karat. Notice the sleek simplicity of his work. We also have some cufflinks that were marked Antonio, and 14 karat. This pair of cufflinks has some golden citrines, square-cut stones. And this is a green beryl. Some people would call it a low-quality emerald. Absolutely beautiful pieces. On a retail level, and at a very good jewelry store, this necklace would be valued at around $3,500.
GUEST: Very nice.
APPRAISER: The citrine cufflinks...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: About $2,500.
GUEST: I'm surprised.
APPRAISER: The ring with the Australian sapphire, $2,800. Ca-ching! We're going up.
GUEST: Yes, we're going, going, going.
APPRAISER: The smoky quartz ring, about $1,800. And the green beryl cufflinks, about $2,200.
GUEST: This is phenomenal.
APPRAISER: Your total comes to $12,800.
GUEST: I think I'd better put it in the bank. (chuckles)
