GUEST: I brought this locket. It's been handed down through our family. I'm afraid I can't tell you anything real exciting about the history of it. I know that it didn't come on the Mayflower--
(Appraiser chuckling)
--but it's been handed down. I'm not sure of the age. It was just on my father's side of the family, and it's been pretty much kept in storage for years, and it's pretty, but it's kind of not what I would normally wear. And I just wanted to find out more about it.
APPRAISER: Your locket here, which is absolutely gorgeous, as far as I'm concerned, is from the 1890s. This style was popular throughout the '90s and on until 1910. And this one is very nice because, first of all, look at her beautiful face. I've looked at that through the magnifying glass, and it looks like porcelain. The artist did such a beautiful job and how well he blended in her rouge or her rosy cheeks. And then she's got the hair band on that's set with little diamonds and rubies, and then she's got an uncut diamond here, and it's a painted enamel and a fired-on enamel. Another thing you see here is, look at her beautiful, flowing hair. And this reflected the Art Nouveau time period, which they thought all the flowing creativity of nature passed through women, because after all, we were the ones that had babies. And so you've got all your flowing creativity here, and the female form represented that creativity.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: And they were really into not the most intrinsic value of a piece, but the artistry of the piece, and this definitely reflects that. This piece would go anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000 in a retail situation.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Yes. Now you're going to get it out and wear it more now?
GUEST: Yes, I think it deserves more attention than it's been getting.
APPRAISER: I think so, too, and this is a good start, isn't it?
GUEST: Yes, it is. Thank you so much. I had no idea. You've made my day. Yesterday was my birthday. This is a nice birthday present.
APPRAISER: Oh...
