GUEST: I inherited these pieces. I inherited them from my mother about 16 years ago, I guess it was, 17 years ago, when she passed away. I believe these pieces were given to my paternal grandmother by my paternal grandfather.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And my father gave them to my mother, of course.
APPRAISER: Right, okay. And do you know anything about them, the history, or where they came from, or anything like that?
GUEST: I really don't.
APPRAISER: You don't. Okay, well, let's start at the top. Up here we have a platinum and diamond and onyx brooch. You've got the calibre onyx all set here, and then you've got the diamond set down here, which comes down to two pear shapes here. This one's American. It was made in about 1910, 1920. There's no signature. We don't know who the maker is. But it's a wonderful example. The movement on the brooch is absolutely superb. The channel set of the onyx is lovely, and the matching of the colors of the onyx doesn't waver at all, so it's just a beautifully produced piece. I think if you were to try and replace this piece here, easily you would have to pay around $12,000 for something like that. It's a wonderful thing. It's very simple. The lines are beautiful. It's just a great piece. And then we can move on to the piece at the bottom here. It's around the same sort of period, it's about 1915, 1920. It's actually by Carlton and Company. And that was a New York firm that was founded in 1909, and it's probably one of the better known American jewelers from that period. They then went on to open a store in Paris, and also down in Palm Beach. Again, this one is set in platinum, with diamonds, and then the piece here is actually a wonderful piece of rock crystal, which has been engraved with a sort of mythical design. And then, when we move down, you have a floral design here, and that's actually set with, again, onyx and diamonds. And then we move down to a wonderful platinum drop, which is set with a nice onyx drop on the bottom. A really wonderful piece. It's a great company. We don't find lots of pieces by them, but it's... you know, they weren't as prolific as some of the other makers. To replace something like that, you would easily have to spend about $25,000 on that one piece. So the prices of the two brooches come to around $37,000.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: So I hope you're happy.
GUEST: I am happy.
APPRAISER: You should be happy.
GUEST: I'm amazed.
APPRAISER: Wonderful things.
GUEST: Don't tell my kids.
APPRAISER: I wouldn't dream of it. (chuckling)
