GUEST: It was a gift from my mother. She, right after World War II, went to visit a friend in California, and they went into Mexico, and that's where it was purchased.
APPRAISER: When you walked up to the table, we said, "William Spratling."
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: It's iconic William Spratling design. The hands clasping the carved amethyst tulips, the way the chain clasps in the back. It's first phase stuff. It's pieces that he would put out in the 1940s. Everything's right about it, except it's not marked for William Spratling.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: We can call this premarked jewelry. By the 1940s, William Spratling had some 400 silversmiths working in his studios. And as you can imagine, the temptation to walk out with a piece or two was probably pretty great.
GUEST: Oh, yes.
APPRAISER: So I think it made it out of the door the wrong way.
GUEST: Oh, okay. Before it was completely finished.
APPRAISER: Exactly. It missed the marking period.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: At auction, this set would bring $800 to $1,000.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness. Oh, gracious.
APPRAISER: Now, if it had stuck around the studio a little bit longer and gotten marked by William Spratling,
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: ..we would put an auction estimate of $2,000 to $3,000.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
