GUEST: My grandfather was a colonel in the U.S. Army. And during the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, he was given an assignment to go to Stockholm...
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: where he was going to be military attaché. When they got to St. Petersburg, the bullets were flying. But he grabbed the family, put my mother on his shoulders, and they ran, and they got to Stockholm eventually.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: Once he got there, he learned that there were members of the Russian court that were trying to escape because the monarchy was being killed.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: So he said, "I can help them." So he got in touch with the ladies in waiting, and he did help them, but they took their hems and ripped the hems up and produced some jewels. And they said to him, "We would like to give them to you." And he said, "No, you're not going to give them to me. I will pay you for them, and I will pay you better than they're worth." And that's exactly what he did. And so we now have those jewels in our family. We have the receipt from the baroness who met with him. And the letter says that the baroness has received 3,700 kroner from my grandfather. And the date is October 8, 1920.
APPRAISER: The ladies in waiting at the court, at the Imperial Court of Russia, are not servants. They're confidants and secretaries, and, um... basically friends of the empress.
GUEST: Exactly.
APPRAISER: So she might have been a baroness and a confidant to the empress...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: and maybe they were gifted
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: by the empress to her.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: In terms of their date,
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: they're between probably 1860 and 1880, give or take. We've got two fitted boxes from some retailer in Moscow. There are no marks
on any of these pieces, But they're, however, um, indications that it was of the sort of jewelry, clearly, th-that was worn in court settings because it's
very fancy, very big and impressive. These pieces are silver-topped, set with mine-cut and cushion-cut diamonds and carbuncle garnets. The garnets are large and very dark. They're hollowed out from behind, and then they're backed onto polished yellow gold, so that you get a light, almost ruby-like color. I see between 12 and 14 carats of old diamonds. And the garnets, of course, enhance it for color and, and light. But, most importantly, it's pre-revolutionary Russian court jewelry.
GUEST: Mm.
APPRAISER: And in a retail setting, I would see a price of $12,000 to $15,000...
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: ...on this collection.
GUEST: Nice, very nice.
APPRAISER: I would give it an insurance value of $18,000 to $24,000.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It's terrific to see here.
GUEST: Oh, thank you.
APPRAISER: It's absolutely terrific to see here.
GUEST: Thank you so much.
