It's a DARN SHAME! Antiques Roadshow horror!

[GIAGirl]

Ok, I am about to go crazy and if I share this with my friends they will think I am nuts!  I was watching Antiques Roadshow and this woman had inherited a 3.25 Ct fancy intense branded asscher cut in a platinum halo mounting from circa 1930!!! 

The appraiser goes on to value the ring at $75000 - $100000 at auction. 

I pause it (on tivo) and look at my boyfriend and say "Here it comes." 

He says "What?" 

I say "I bet  you $5.00 that she is about to say she will never wear it again." 

Sure enough the next words out of her mouth..."Well, I will never wear that again." 

The appraiser asks why and she says she can't because she is a teacher!  I was crying on the inside.  Give it to ME!  I will wear it.  I will take a whole month and wear that bad boy to every school in the state!!!!  This is just like my bestfriend whose Aunt inherited the 3 ct solitaire from her Grandmother and would not let my bestfriend's fiance buy it from her because she said that it was ridiculous to think that someone would actually wear a diamond that big.  To this day it sits in a safety deposit box.  Support your insurance people and wear those rings!!! 

[Snooper]

I'd proudly wear those!!! I too agree that jewelry should be worn! I can understand how some might not because it's an heirloom or they don't want to damage/loose it etc., but how sad for the piece of jewelry not to be worn

[GIAGirl]

It was in perfect condition too...I have only one ring that sits in the safety deposit box.  My mother bought a very old ring from a consignment shop and I was wearing it in this huge jewelry store that had an antique appraiser on staff.  He asked to see the ring and then told me that I should get it looked at and think about putting it up because it looked pretty important and to his knowledge could not be replaced should it be damaged.  I really want to get it appraised by someone with some knowledge of very old European jewelry. 

I am with you though...wear those rings!   

[robin]

This was a rerun... I believe we decided awhile back that this was the same ring that had been in a Skinner's auction... so indeed, it looks as if she never did wear it again.

OTOH, that's a couple years' salary or more for a teacher, so I hope she ended up with a nice nest egg.

[BigRed]

OMG I saw that and thought the same exact thing! I was even going to start a thread about it! I like the way you think GIAgirl! You don't like rolling pins do you?  I thought the appraiser was way off....don't you? She described it as a vivid, I'm not so sure! It was pretty darn close and I think she was off on the price! That is awful high for not knowing who made it! Hey Robin, what did it fetch at the auction? Do you remember? Was it 75-100g's?

[robin]

I didn't ever hear.

Anyone know how to look up Skinner's auction records easily?

[BigRed]

It would probably be easier to find out on the Antique Roadshows site! They usually follow up with high priced items like that! I'll have to check it out!

[GIAGirl]

OMG I saw that and thought the same exact thing! I was even going to start a thread about it! I like the way you think GIAgirl! You don't like rolling pins do you?  I thought the appraiser was way off....don't you? She described it as a vivid, I'm not so sure! It was pretty darn close and I think she was off on the price! That is awful high for not knowing who made it! Hey Robin, what did it fetch at the auction? Do you remember? Was it 75-100g's?

What's a rolling pin?  Kidding...I thought she was off too...I was thinking fancy light at most...but then I am not sure about the lights washing it out.  I was not convinced it was a fancy at all. 

My mom said she saw another good one where this guy inherited a bunch of Cartier peices.  She said it was some kind of diamond that was graded at D+... I told her that D+ are for Chemistry class, not diamonds...I sure told her!  mmmmm hhhhhmmm!

[joia]

Did anyone see the show when a young woman of  extremely modest appearance turned up with a brooch and wanted to know if they were diamonds.  She was asked where she got it from and she said it  had been her grandmother´s and that it must have been a hundred years old. She was told it was a very important piece of jewellery from Cartier and that it was just about 30 years old.  I never saw what happened but I think the police would have been very interested.
Joia

[Piglette]

There IS a website where you can look up items and prices paid at both major and minor auction houses.  It is a very cool site, where you can see the item description, the pre-auction estimated value, and the actual sale price.  This applies to antiques, collectibles, silver, jewelry, etc., etc.

BUT.... Before you get all excited about it, you have to know that the site only gives specifics (prices, photos) going back five years.  (This is killing me, because I inherited a very old, very cool poster that I have never seen for sale or for auction ANYWHERE else, and its twin showed up on this auction site, but the sale was more than five years ago, so no specifics available!)  The other big caveat is that you have to pay (big bucks!) to access the best/most interesting information.  It's expensive, but if you buy a subscription, you get a month or a year or whatever of unlimited use of the site.  There are different "levels" of information that you can get.  The site is legit, but is aimed primarily at those in "the trade."

It is possible to get one month of medium-level usage as a free trial.  (That's what I did.  And it is fascinating!)

I am sure that Skinner's is included.  Sotheby's, Christie's, et al. are included.  (And I have seen some incredibly drool-worthy jewelry!)

Just FYI.

- Piglette

[luvnjewelry]

That is the worst kind of horror in my opinion.   I just can't phatom not wearing such a piece!  AACK!   I hate, hate, hate, when people store these type of pieces in a safe deposit box!!    ... Did I tell you that I hate that!   BR... I need your rolling pin.   For a teacher..... she needs to learn a valuable lesson!!  

[GIAGirl]

http://www.pbs.org/w...chive/200804A27.html

Of course she has only worn it once.

[Mrs Mitchell]

People who won't wear their diamonds should have them confiscated. Really, they should be given to people like us to enjoy! A diamond -reallocation programme, if you like...

[Trinkette]

 

That is all.

Just: 

[Sanchica27]

That's amazing....I would probably have to sell it since I'm sure it would be insanely expensive to insure though!

[clgwli]

That's amazing....I would probably have to sell it since I'm sure it would be insanely expensive to insure though!

I don't know what I would do either.  I probably would keep it in a lock box or safe of sorts... it would be several thousand to insure here.

[diamondjunkie]

Good Lord.  Sell it.  Really.  What's the point?  Sell it to someone who will wear it and appreciate it, take the money and buy something special that you WILL wear, and then pay off your house or something.  Good Lord that is so sad to think of that beauty sitting in the dark all for the sake of sentiment.  In England we call that 'barking', as in 'barking mad'.  Woof.

[clgwli]

Let me say that again... If I kept it, I would keep it in a lock box or safe when not wearing it.  I'd probably invest in a good safe in my basement or something like that.  I probably would not insure it though and only bring it out when I planned to wear it.  I'd be careful about where I wore it too (no playground for example LOL).  Getting a lock box or safe would be far cheaper than insuring it at $3-4K a year.

[saqsay1]

This post brings up an interesting topic... to wear or not to wear. I confess that my 2 rings from DBL are currently uninsured. I would love to renew my policy this year but they want $600.00 to insure for 1 yr. I am coming to NYC in October to meet you all and am debating about bringing my DBL rings. Why? Because I only wear them when I am home and lock them away the rest of the time. I never travel with jewelry worth more than a few hundred dollars . Mostly for my own piece of mind. I would like to bring them to our get together, but to be honest I am afraid of walking the streets of NYC alone wearing $30,000.00 in diamonds. So tell me... what do you all do? Insure? or hope for the best? Or leave your good stuff at home?

[clgwli]

I insure what I would not want to replace out of pocket.  Insurance here is relatively cheap for your average pieces ($10/yr per $1000 in value) so it is not a hassle for me to have things inusred.  Right now I only have my diamond hoops insured as well as Sunny.  No other rings or the like are insured.

I considered insuring my bangles but it's not so much the money as the emotional attachment.  I'd also have to get them appraised here and I admit I don't feel like doing it.

Somewhere around $500-1000 is my limit for if I will insure something or not.  So things like my pendant I could easily replace if something happened to it. 

That's kind of my general rule of thumb.

I can't ever see myself buying something that costs over $100K anyway.  If I got it as a gift I probably wouldn't insure it either.  Everything else I do insure. 

That makes it easier for me to want to travel with pieces that's for sure.  I don't worry that something will happen and I can't replace it ever.  When I go to a place with lots of beaches or water or the like I have a tendency to bring less though.  If I won't wear it in the pool I won't wear it at all on those kind of vacations.  Seems kind of wasteful to bring.  Traveling to family or a place like NYC I am likely to wear my pieces all day so I do bring them.

[oldmancoyote]

We store things safely when at home (the safe weighs nearly 2000 lbs, and it's not in a conspicuous place - at one point we had a safe room, then we moved, but that was fun: the door was over 2000 lbs). No insurance. Frankly, at least at the conditions I have been offered, it's useless: no coverage for loss or robbery of individual items worth more than ~$5000, and at ridiculous premiums (2-4% of amount insured). I'd rather get the money to buy a new piece, and take a loss if I have to - so far, luckily, it never happened.

DW will usually pick a few pieces to wear when we go away - suitable for where we go (no point in carrying around risk if you aren't at least enjoying it!), and she will wear them without too much of a worry. Possibly because we still look rather young and unassuming, we've never had any trouble, but I don't know personally anybody that has been in trouble either (loss and theft/burglary yes, but not robbery)

[Mrs Mitchell]

This post brings up an interesting topic... to wear or not to wear. I confess that my 2 rings from DBL are currently uninsured. I would love to renew my policy this year but they want $600.00 to insure for 1 yr. I am coming to NYC in October to meet you all and am debating about bringing my DBL rings. Why? Because I only wear them when I am home and lock them away the rest of the time. I never travel with jewelry worth more than a few hundred dollars . Mostly for my own piece of mind. I would like to bring them to our get together, but to be honest I am afraid of walking the streets of NYC alone wearing $30,000.00 in diamonds. So tell me... what do you all do? Insure? or hope for the best? Or leave your good stuff at home?

I think you're actually pretty safe in NYC. Sure, there are not so great areas, but it's the same in most cities. Last year, there was more violent crime, including robberies,  in Glasgow (which is objectively tiny) than in the whole Tri-State area.

Insurance companies are funny creatures though. Mine is happy for me to wear my stuff, all of it at once if it pleases me, to wander round the worst areas of Glasgow. When I go to anywhere in the US, they limit me to £700 worth, or about $1200. Check what your policy says about travel if you're insured. If my stuff was uninsured, I'd only wear what I could afford to replace. Anyway, burglaries are more common than robberies, so even leaving it at home is no guarantee. Personally, I'd wear it and enjoy it.

[Mrs Mitchell]

Good Lord.  Sell it.  Really.  What's the point?  Sell it to someone who will wear it and appreciate it, take the money and buy something special that you WILL wear, and then pay off your house or something.  Good Lord that is so sad to think of that beauty sitting in the dark all for the sake of sentiment.  In England we call that 'barking', as in 'barking mad'.  Woof.

That isn't what I had in mind. Just little a re-allocation. They can trade it for something of mine they'd like to wear (I have some nice jeans, maybe, or some lovely shoes...)

[clgwli]

I admit my insurance is cheap.  It covers unexplained loss (put it down and can't find it), if it is stolen and even damages.  So the small amount I pay is worth it.  It is covered when I travel in the US.  I am pretty sure overseas as well but I need to double check.  It is also insured if I were to mail it to David or the like.  The little amount I pay a year is worth it to me for a few pieces.

I really only cover the ones I wear often too over a certain amount.  I pay less a year than I do going out a somewhat nice dinner.  Not too bad IMO.  I've thrown away more on clothes that I never wear than that

I think every one has to decide what is good for them.  Of course my friend's horrible story about the lost diamond from her engagement ring really had me want to keep Sunny insured.  If it got damaged I'd be w/o a stone that I wouldn't easily replace.  I aprpeciate that kind of security.  I worry more about that than  I do it being stolen though.

[DiamondsAreForever]

Looking at this thread for the first time, I too saw the Antiques Roadshow episode with the yellow diamond.  I hit the nail on the head with the price, I was proud of myself.

Pawn Stars had an episode where a lady brought in a spider brooch that she only wanted a couple hundred bucks for.  Rick was honest with her and said he couldn't do that, that he would offer her $3,500.00 for it.  Turns out it was Faberge and made out of platinum and precious stones.  Man, what I'd give to find that at a garage sale!

As far as jewelry insurance goes, only my ER and WB are insured by JM.  The problem we encountered was the inflated appraisals we got from the original jeweler and the second jeweler (we were required to have two appraisals).  Our homeowners wanted $800.00 per year to to put a rider on our policy to insure the two rings.  JM charges us $272 per year.  I also like the fact that JM lets you work with your own jeweler, and doesn't send you to anyone else who decides what a comparable stone is.  Some of my jewelry is at the bank, while the pieces I wear regularly are locked in a safe.