GUEST: This was my grandmother's, and my parents gave it to me probably ten or 15 years ago.
APPRAISER: Do you ever wear it?
GUEST: Well, my family always asks me, "Where's the ring? Mom, wear the ring." And I'll pull it out.
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: I don't wear it a whole lot. It intimidates me.
APPRAISER: It is a large stone. It's not a teeny, tiny thing. Have you had it appraised before?
GUEST: It was appraised at one time, and they gave us a number of about $20,000.
APPRAISER: Do you know much about the diamond or the setting?
GUEST: Not really.
APPRAISER: Well, I liked it when it first came to the table. I actually was concerned it was multiple diamonds making all of that shine. And it's not, it's gorgeous, it's one solid stone. And I was getting about five carats. It's a little what we would refer to as "spready." What I mean is, is that it's a little flat. So, face up, it actually looks larger than it is because there isn't as much volume at the bottom of the diamond. You have this great cut with beautiful facets. And it reflects light very differently than a round brilliant would. The stone is probably circa 1920, 1930.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And the setting to me is a little bit later than that. To me, the setting is a little bit more 1940s, 1950s, in my opinion.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Do you know if it was ever reset in its existence?
GUEST: Not to my knowledge. The only difference is when I got it, I took it to the jeweler, and 18-karat gold was painted over platinum. And we had the 18 karat taken off.
APPRAISER: I'm glad you did. And you found platinum underneath. And platinum was...
GUEST: That's why I did it. Because they said, "It's platinum," and I said, "Oh, my gosh."
APPRAISER: So they gilded it. It's much more attractive as white on white.
GUEST: It is.
APPRAISER: Well, there is a little bit of color in the stone, and we would probably refer to it as like an "M" color stone, if you're familiar with the diamond grading on the GIA scale. It's probably about an M color, and it's very clean. It's like a VVS2, actually. Which is really at the higher end of the grading, and that's really important right now. Today, I would say that an insurance value that would be more appropriate would probably be about $65,000.
GUEST: No way.
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: $65,000?
APPRAISER: Yeah. It's a very, very...
GUEST: No wonder I've been nervous wearing it. I should be nervous.
APPRAISER: But at the same time, jewelry is meant to be worn and enjoyed.
GUEST: It is. It is. So it's just a matter of getting an insurance appraisal done. Thank you.
