Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: It originally belonged to my great-grandmother who lived in Lincoln, Nebraska.

My aunt ended up with it, and she unfortunately passed away.

So then my dad got it, and then he passed it on to me about a year and a half, two years ago, right before he passed away.

APPRAISER: Well, what we have in the center is an Australian opal.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: Technically, this is called a boulder opal, because you have the beautiful play of colors on the front side, and you see the brown matrix on the backside of the opal.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: When we look at the sides of the ring, it's got a lovely palmette on either shoulder, and that would be a motif taken from Egyptian art.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

APPRAISER: So we start with the top, and we look at this as a beautiful piece of art.

It's an art jewel.

GUEST; Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: We know that the ring was made to frame the stone in particular.

And when we take this ring and we look at it on the shoulder, specifically, there are extra leaf motifs...

GUEST: Oh gosh.

APPRAISER: ...on the undercarriage of the ring.

GUEST: I did notice it said Marcus and Company inside.

APPRAISER: Marcus and Company was an American manufacturer based in New York City.

They were open between 1892 and 1962.

So they were known for making very fine pieces.

They were specialists in enamel work, which is on full display in this lovely ring.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: The metal is actually stamped 14-karat gold, and that is normal for U.S.-made pieces.

I think based on the motifs and the materials that we're working with, it's safe to say that this ring would be an art nouveau item...

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: ...that would roughly date to 1900.

GUEST: Okay.

Oh... Oh, gosh.

Okay.

It's, it's fantastic.

APPRAISER: So you have a lot in your favor.

A beautiful ring, a piece of artwork that's wearable, fantastic name, desirable period in time.

GUEST: Thank you.

APPRAISER: At auction, you could anticipate an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000.

GUEST: (chuckling): Oh, my gosh!

Really?

Oh, my goodness.

Okay.

APPRAISER: It's a fabulous jewel.

This is a one-of-a-kind piece.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my gosh.

(chuckling): I'm just kind of speechless right now.

APPRAISER: If this were to be appraised for insurance purposes, you would probably be looking anywhere $25,000 to $30,000.

GUEST: (chuckling): Oh, no!

Really?

APPRAISER: Yes.

GUEST: Okay, I need to put it someplace other than my drawer.