Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: Uh, about 20 years ago, my husband and I# were in New Orleans, you know, one of the auction## houses.

And we happened to walk by, and I saw a# baroness was having a bunch of her pieces, um,## being auctioned off.

I saw that ring, and I knew# it was mine.

(chuckles) And when I found out it## was from a baroness... (chuckles) ...well, that# even made it more special to me.

And I decided,## before purchasing it, to have an# appraiser come and take a look at## it.

And they had a list of appraisers# that would come to the shop and, and,## and look.

And the particular guy I chose decided# he wanted to purchase it from the auction house,## right in front of me, while he was there# being paid by me to look at this ring.

APPRAISER: Wow.

GUEST: The auction house was pretty u.. he w, had any interest in it, that they were not# gonna just go ahead and sell it outright to him.

APPRAISER: Sounds unethical to a point, with you# paying someone to give you a professional opinion,## and here he tries to buy it.

Did# you get a refund for the appraisal?

GUEST: (laughing) No-- I should've.

APPRAISER: (both laughing) And can# you tell me what you paid for it?

GUEST: Uh, I was talking to my husband earlier,## 'cause I didn't remember exactly, but we think# it was around $20,000.

Don't have it insured,## work out in the garden all the# time with it, so... (laughing) APPRAISER: Okay, what you have here# is a European-cut, uh, diamond.

So,## it's an older cut.

Of course, it's in a setting,# so it's hard to pinpoint exact carat weight,## but by measurement, it's about# 5.80.

It has a little bit of, uh,## warmness to it.

It's hard to get an actual# color grade on it because of the setting...

GUEST: Yeah.

to find any type of inclusions in the# stone.

So, we're gonna call it a VS2,## though I do believe it's a, a# better-quality stone.

But...

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: A VS2 is what w.. the moment calling it.

So, it's# not insured?

(chuckles): Okay.

GUEST: Should I quit working in my garden with it?

APPRAISER: (laughs) I would say yes.

GUEST: (laughs): Okay.

APPRAISER: Retai..

GUEST: Oh, you're kidding me!

Oh, my gosh!

Really?

APPRAISER: And the setting adds another $8,000.

GUEST: That's unreal, that's...# I really got a good deal.

I guess## that's why the guy wanted to buy it out# from under me.

(laughs) Thank you so much.

APPRAISER: You're welcome.

GUEST: Very much.