GUEST: I was given the ring by my Aunt Margaret. She was a teenager when she got the ring. She showed horses, and Sara Heinz, who was the sister of H.J. Heinz, asked her to show their horses for them, and since she was an amateur, she wasn't allowed to receive money. So, after one year of showing, she was given this jade ring out of Sara Heinz's jade collection. She rode up until she was about 80 years old. I never remember seeing her without the ring.
APPRAISER: Really?
GUEST: She wore it all the time.
APPRAISER: The ring is really exquisite, and I can date the ring probably to the late '20s. It's pure Art Deco. Would that fit in with the time frame 1928 to 1930?
GUEST: I think so, yes.
APPRAISER: And of course it's jade, and jade is a very tough stone. But, it looks like it's been moved out of the mounting a little bit. There's one sapphire missing right in the gallery here, and it's hard to replace it because someone has to cut it exactly like the others. Now, it's mounted in platinum, which is a tough material, so it could stand wearing it even while horseback riding. And the box, I don't think it's the original box. You wouldn't have seen an American Art Deco ring in that box.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: Had you ever had it appraised?
GUEST: I think about 15 years ago, she had it appraised. And I think they said about $4,500.
APPRAISER: $4,500. That would make sense to replace the ring. Well, today, you could not replace the ring for that amount of money. The market for jade has heightened so much, that there's such a demand for jade particularly from this period and before, because they're natural, they're untreated. This particular color is beautiful. It has just minor little inclusions, but we forgive that in jade. I think today, you're probably looking at $15,000 to $20,000 to have this ring replaced. And I think if you had to sell it to buy a horse, at auction, you're probably in the $10,000 to $12,000 range today.
GUEST: Wow, that's amazing.
