'Antiques Roadshow' guest struggles to hold back tears after expert revealed the value of her bracelet
Although guests arrive at "Antiques Roadshow" to find out the monetary value of a family heirloom or memorabilia, even the experts can't put a price tag on the sentiments attached to them. This was clear when a guest arrived on the show with an "Edwardian Ruby & Diamond Bracelet" from 1915, which had a deep connection to her family with a fascinating back story. Given its provenance, the expert, Gloria Lieberman, gave a hefty valuation for the piece of jewelry. This left the guest in tears, even though she had promised that she wouldn't cry on camera.
In the episode of the PBS show, the guest shared an emotional story behind the precious item. "The bracelet was a wedding present from my husband's family. We got married 27 years ago. And it came from his aunt, who brought it to the United States in the late '30s from Germany," she told Lieberman, pointing at a picture of her husband's family. She further added that they were from the prominent "Frankfurt banking family." "Their next-door neighbors were the Rothschilds," she shared.
She further added that the original owner of the bracelet, her husband's grandmother, Hilda, had a postcard of her home, the "Villa Sulzbach," on sale online, and there was a nice letter from her behind it. "What a fabulous, fabulous story," the appraiser remarked. When asked about the bracelet, the guest said that she didn't know much about it and that she simply hid it in her house. Lieberman then took over to explain the significance of the item. "It's a very beautiful bracelet, and I can tell you that from a stylistic point, it's a transitional piece," she said.
She further added that the bracelet was an example of "Edwardian, going into Art Deco". "And one of the reasons that I say that is that it has a very nice, heavy yellow gold band, and what's holding it are these beautiful elements, almost vines, made out of platinum, diamonds, and probably natural pearls," she said. While only an x-ray could confirm the authenticity of the pearls, the expert assured that it had real rubies. "I didn't know they were rubies," the guest exclaimed. Lieberman doubled down saying that they were "Burma rubies," which gave the guest goosebumps as they are known to be of high quality.
"From the way it's made, the design, and just the whole history, it's probably made in Germany. And it even was expensive then, 1910 to 1918. That would be the period. In 2003, there was a ban on bringing Burma rubies into this country. It was brought into this country much earlier, and certainly, it was made much earlier. So there is no problem with having this bracelet," the appraiser noted.
Coming to the value of the item, Lieberman estimated that for insurance purposes, the bracelet would be worth $20,000. This made the guest break into tears as she had no idea how valuable the item was. "It's just a perfect, perfect bracelet with a fabulous story. I don't think you could find one," Lieberman said.
In a follow-up, the guest shared that her husband's grandmother never made it out of Germany alive, so the item was ever so special to her. "I never put it in a bank. So I leave it at home, and I usually will hide it and sometimes," she said in the end.
