'Antiques Roadshow' guest says 'I'm gonna cry' after expert revealed the value of her rare dress clip

When someone refers to antique jewelry, things like a diamond necklace, sapphire ring, or even a watch studded with gemstones come to mind. But a dress clip with diamonds on it is a rare find, and one of those turned up on “Antiques Roadshow,” which has inspired people to come forward and get such heirlooms appraised. The guest who brought the clip, once purchased by her father, was surprised when it fetched a five-figure valuation. She said that it was bought from a New London jeweler named Harvey Mallove in the early ‘70s, and her father had paid $7,000 for it at that time.

The dress clips were stunning to say the least, and expert Katherine Van Dell was mesmerised the moment she laid eyes on them. It’s understandable why they were Cartier products after all. Speaking about how her father learned that the pair was available for sale, the guest narrated a story of friendship between him and the jeweler. “Harvey Mallove was the owner, and he took my dad under his wing, and when my dad was married, Harvey would call my father whenever he got something good, and he got a bunch of jewelry that was deaccessioned from a museum in New London, and these clips were a part of that lot that my father bought,” she said. “Harvey must have really loved your dad,” Van Dell replied with a smile.

The expert then laid out the various features that made this pair of dress clips so special. “They are platinum, diamond Cartier clips,” she said. “Cartier was the first to really manipulate platinum. At the end of the 19th century, they really turned platinum into a precious metal and something that was used in jewelry, which it previously had not been.” Van Dell also revealed the part of the dress clips where ‘Cartier’ was engraved, along with a serial number on the platinum base. She also revealed that in total, the pair of dress clips had 20 karats of diamonds, which alone, made it worth several thousand dollars.

“The two large center stones are each about two karats. There are baguette-cut diamonds that flank them on either side, and then a mix of old European-cut and old mine-cut diamonds throughout the rest of the clips,” Van Dell explained. She also called the pair “the height of quality” and “incredibly luscious and sparkly.”

It was then time to appraise the dress clips. The expert had asked the guest how much the pair specifically cost her father when he bought it. While she did not have much of an idea about that, the expert estimated that at auction, these could bring anything from $30,000 to $50,000. The guest was surprised, however, she had no interest in selling them at the time.

“That surprises me,” she said. “You know, when you love something, you don’t really ascribe a value to it, so it is a bonus. I’m just happy to see them out. Out in the daylight, sparkling, and my father would be so thrilled.”