GUEST: It was my grandmother's. She had some amazing both costume and real jewelry.
APPRAISER: Where did she live?
GUEST: She lived in Los Angeles, and she was part of a society scene down there. She always had interesting dresses and necklaces and such that we saw her in photographs with. There's a little tag up at the top that says, "Chanel." Who doesn't know Chanel? I love Chanel. But that's all I know about it other than I love it.
APPRAISER: When I think "Chanel," my heart flutters. Chanel is an icon, not only of costume jewelry but of fine jewelry, and people don't always associate Chanel with costume jewelry, but she designed clothing to be worn with jewelry. She designed very simple clothes, and her idea was to take the clothing as a backdrop. The main emphasis was the accessories. So she went full tilt with that. Now, Coco Chanel always said, "A woman should be classy and fabulous," and this piece epitomizes both of those. The material is brass with a gold plating, and it has tiny little glass beads interspersed with some wiring. And it's signed "CHANEL" in capital, sans serif letters. The capital, sans serif Chanel means it's an older piece. There are three stars under the Chanel name, and that indicates it possibly could have been made in France.
GUEST: Oh, my grandmother loved to go to France. She used to spend a month in Paris every year, and so that would make sense.
APPRAISER: Have you any idea what it might be worth?
GUEST: I have no clue. I have no idea.
APPRAISER: I would say an auction estimate, conservatively, $600 to $800. But if you get a bidding war between two Chanel collectors, it could go anywhere up from that.
