'Antiques Roadshow' guest says 'what a treasure' after expert reveals the value of her family heirloom

Family heirlooms are priceless, and even if buyers get the monetary value right, they can never understand how much the sentiments attached to them are worth. A guest on "Antiques Roadshow" arrived with intricate cuffs that had been passed down in the family after rejecting a $1,000 offer to sell them. "Well, my mother gave it to me as a wedding present about 20 years ago. And before that, it had been a gift to my mother from her great-aunt Helen Hayes," the guest revealed. Hayes, who is also known as the 'First Lady of American Theatre,' was gifted the rare Chanel jewels by her husband, Charlie MacArthur.

Hayes great-niece confessed that she didn't have any background story of the exquisite jewel and was misguided on all levels to get rid of it. She said, "I know almost nothing about it. I had a friend who sort of intimated that it was costume jewelry and the stones were glass. And then I showed someone a photograph of it and he said, 'Well, you know, those stones, I think they're real, and I'll give you $1,000 for it.' And I said, 'It's a family heirloom. I don't think I'd sell it for $1,000.'" The appaiser then cut in and explained that they were witnessing history and it would be rare to find another cuff which was identical.

The velvet case came with a handwritten note from Hayes to her niece Anni, the guest's mother, and it read, "Darling Anni: Your Uncle Charlie picked this as a gift for me years ago. I want you to have it sort of as a gift of love from both of us. Devotedly, Aunt Helen." The appraiser then connected the dots and presented a timeline of the Art Deco inspired cuff's journey, saying, "And when we start to look at the history of this piece, we think, okay, so we know that this is a design that was quite famous in the '30s because this is a very long name-- Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, duke of Verdura, was the designer who started working with Chanel in 1927 as a textile designer. And she liked his look and his designs, and Chanel put him to work to help her redesign her jewelry line."

The appraiser then narrated that the duke of Verdura had crafted a masterpiece, a pair of Maltese cross bracelets in enamel for Coco Chanel. The same design had been intrically made on the Hayes cuffs. "And she wore them, one on each wrist, and there are a lot of very famous portraits of Coco Chanel wearing these Verdura-designed cuffs." However, Verdura split from Chanel and started a business in Hollywood, he eventually invested in his own jewelry line. The appraiser explained that the iconic Maltese cross was still in fashion. "The costume pieces from the 1930s are so rare, when they do come up for auction, the costume jewelry collectors go crazy for them." 

"In 2016, a Verdura for Chanel bracelet that was enamel-- a different design, not the iconic Maltese cross--with all faux stones that was actually Coco Chanel's came up for auction with a $25,000 to $35,000 estimate, and it sold for $100,000," the expert revealed. Hayes's piece was studded with precious gems. "This is actually yellow gold, the Maltese cross. You have cabochon emeralds. We have a sugarloaf amethyst, aquamarines, sapphires, diamonds, rubies," the expert explained. Since it was a rare piece with all the gems attached the family heirloom was valued between $100,000 to $150,000. "Goodness. Oh, my word. What a treasure! What a treasure! When I was a little girl My mother would take it out. And it was as if I were handling something from a pirate's treasure chest. And you brought that feeling back to me today," Hayes's niece exclaimed after learning about her rich family heritage.