Antiques Roadshow

APPRAISER

You know what I'm really excited about?

GUEST

Probably those cufflinks.

APPRAISER

Cufflinks, but cufflinks are for guys. We do this show all the time. We don't get too much jewelry for men. So where'd you get them from?

GUEST

They're actually from my daddy's great-grandfather.

APPRAISER

You know anything about them?

GUEST

I don't know anything about them.

APPRAISER

These are probably from around 1875 through the early 1900s.

GUEST

Wow.

APPRAISER

First of all, they're a little unusual. A lot of cufflinks you see, they're dark, they're black onyx. They're white, so it's the kind of thing that would have been worn for a very, very dressy occasion.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

That white is white enamel. And what's raised up through it are these little granulated designs-- almost like a little flower, each one.

GUEST

Right.

APPRAISER

But they're made out of 18-karat yellow gold.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

When we flip it over, we can see right over here that it's signed "T.B. Starr." Did you ever notice that?

GUEST

No, I did not.

APPRAISER

So T.B. Starr, his real name is Theodore B. Starr. He went into the jewelry business, the retail jewelry business in New York on John Street, around 1864. He eventually became part of Black, Starr & Frost, which was a big retailer in New York City. Whatever they sold was quality. So at auction today, $3,000 easy.

GUEST

That's not bad.

APPRAISER

That's great, I mean, for a pair of cufflinks, you know?

GUEST

Yeah.

APPRAISER

Guys don't get to spend money on jewelry like that.

GUEST

No, no.