GUEST: I bought it years ago at an antique auction, and it's a Joseff of Hollywood, and that's about all I know about it.
APPRAISER: It's a company that is still in existence in Burbank, California. This is called a parure. A parure is a bracelet, necklace and earring set. And Joseff of Hollywood, he was born in Chicago.
GUEST: Oh, really?
APPRAISER: And he lived there, he was an artist, he worked in advertising, but before the Depression or during the Depression in the late '20s, he moved out to California, and he started working in jewelry design. And he met a fellow named Walter Plunkett, who was a costume designer for the major motion pictures. And he was complaining to Walter Plunkett that the jewelry they were using was not proper to the era that they were portraying in the movies. They were historically inaccurate. And so Walter Plunkett said, "If you can do better, do it." So Eugene Joseff designed a line of jewelry, and he was a smart man. He didn't sell it to the movie studios, he rented it to the movie studios.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Yes. And he did a special type of matte finish on his jewelry, so just like we have these bright lights here, it doesn't reflect the Klieg lights and the lights they used to light the sets in the movies.
GUEST: That makes sense.
APPRAISER: He also used a lot of wonderful stones. Now, these are not real gemstones. These are glass. They're the color purple, which would be the color for amethyst, and they're signed "Joseff of Hollywood." He made movie jewelry for "Gone with the Wind," "The Wizard of Oz," and "Casablanca."
GUEST: Oh, yeah?
APPRAISER: Yes. Now, the interesting thing was a lot of the movie stars that wore his jewelry on the sets loved it so much that they would wear it out in public. And he went, "Huh, I have an idea," and so he made a line that sold in department stores. And this is what you have. This piece was probably made between 1935 and 1945, and unfortunately, in September of 1948, he was killed in a plane crash.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: But his legacy lives with us. Now, this is an exquisite parure. This is original, authentic, vintage Joseff of Hollywood. This is not the pieces that they're reconstructing today. Do you remember what you paid at auction?
GUEST: No, I do not.
APPRAISER: Well, for these three pieces here, on a retail level, I would say they would be valued at $1,500 to $2,000 for the whole set.
GUEST: Oh! Well, I'm pleased about that. That's very nice.
