Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: When I got married, my mother-in-law gave these to me, and they were my husband's great-grandmother, and she was, lived in England.

I've worn them a few times.

APPRAISER: Do you wear it all together, all at once?

GUEST: I have, and it's unbelievable.

The effect is incredible.

APPRAISER: Absolutely.

And that's what stopped me in my tracks.

One, that it's a complete set.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And two, that it's in its original box.

GUEST: I know, it's so sweet.

APPRAISER: Which, as a jewelry purist, is so nice to see.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: This is a Bohemian garnet Victorian suite-- parure, you might say-- which, it fully encompasses a necklace, both bracelets... GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: ...a pair of earrings, and a brooch, which can be suspended from the center element of the necklace.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: It's very, very rare to see all the pieces together.

I would date this to the late Victorian period, probably circa 1880s.

Bohemian garnets are referred to as Bohemian garnets because they were mined in what is today the Czech Republic... GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...but at that time was considered Bohemia.

Their technical name is a kind of garnet called a pyrope garnet.

They're favored for that lovely kind of raspberry, deep raspberry-red color.

That... GUEST: They almost read purple sometimes.

APPRAISER: Exactly.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: It's very customary that these would be set in a heavy gold foil.

So, sort of a gold shell on a base metal.

That's why they have this closed backing here.

I looked it all over to see if I could find any sort of markings, but I don't see any markings that would say it is English for sure.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: But it absolutely could be.

It was a style of jewelry that was very popular in the U.K.

and in America at the time.

It does have a couple spots with a little bit of damage.

Because Victorian jewelry in today's market can be kind of a difficult sell... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...in a retail environment, a whole suite in its original box would probably bring somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,000.

GUEST: Great-- I mean, I don't want to ever sell it.

I'm going to pass it on.

APPRAISER: You could insure it for the same amount.

GUEST: I actually thought it was going to be more.