GUEST: A very dear friend of mine, she and her husband were close friends of Charles Loloma. And I remember Charles driving up in his Rolls Royce and parking it in their driveway. He spent a lot of time with this family. They became very, very close. And he decided to make pieces of jewelry for my dear friend-- a lot of pieces of jewelry. And actually made the pieces at her house, some of them.
APPRAISER: And you got these pieces from your friend?
GUEST: I bought them from my friend. She had a lot, and she, I think, gave me first opportunity. And I knew that he was an important artist at the time. I'm sure that she gave a dear friend a deal.
APPRAISER: What did she charge you for them? I'm curious.
GUEST: For both of them it was $3,500, no tax, because it was just between the two of us.
APPRAISER: How long ago was this?
GUEST: 30 years ago-- well before his passing. And she actually gave this piece to me.
APPRAISER: The print-- it's a very nice print.
GUEST: Thanks.
APPRAISER: Well, I'm sure you're aware that Charles Loloma's pretty big news these days. He's really... he's been selling at really good prices. Now, your examples, the bracelet, it's not a classic Charles Loloma piece. He was a Hopi artist, and he was known for his cluster work with precious and semiprecious stones. So this is kind of unusual, this bracelet. It's got two really beautiful turquoise settings in gold on kind of a mottled silver background. The bracelet has the inscription "Loloma" on the inside, which is how he signed his bracelets. The ring is a beautiful gold ring, once again with a really nice stone. I'm not 100% sure which mine this stone would have come, but knowing...
GUEST: I think they were from different mines.
APPRAISER: Yeah, and knowing Charles Loloma, they were the best available at the time. He used a lot of precious stones in his jewelry. He'd even use diamonds occasionally.
GUEST: She kept those pieces.
APPRAISER: Ah, she kept those pieces.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: So you bought these about 30 years ago. I think they look like the type of work he was doing in the '60s and '70s. I think in today's auction world, the ring would probably bring about $4,000 to $6,000. I think the print would probably bring about $1,200 to $1,600 at auction. But I think the bracelet would probably bring $20,000 to $25,000 in today's market.
GUEST (laughing): Wow. Oh, gee.
