'Antiques Roadshow' guest was taken aback after expert revealed the value of her mom's wedding ring
Wedding rings are precious to the owners because of the memories of the most important day in their lives. But they can also carry a lot of monetary value, beyond the diamonds studded into them. An "Antiques Roadshow" guest who brought a 'Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Ring' shared that the item held immense sentimental value for her, as it belonged to her mother. But she had no idea how much people would be willing to pay for it until expert Kaitlin Shinnick surprised her by valuing the diamond ring at $140,000.
In the episode, the guest shared how valuable the ring was to her and her mother, who refused to take it off her finger. "This was my mother's ring from her second marriage," she shared. She added that her mother eloped and married a man from Beverly Hills, and her stepfather bought her mother the ring. "I think it was around 1971 or 1972 is what I'm guessing probably closer to 1972," the guest mentioned. She added that her stepfather's name was Danny, so her mother nicknamed the ring "Denning diamond". "This diamond, it stayed on her finger and she refused to take it off. She was very sentimental about it," she shared.
Taking over, Shinnick explained the provenance and the significance of the diamond ring. "Well, it's one of my favorite cuts of diamond. That's called an emerald cut, and emerald cuts first became popular in the 20s because it's a very clean modern cut," she explained. She noted that the diamond had beautiful step cuts in the front, and despite lacking the traditional round cut, the diamond was still in brilliant shape. "It really shows off the clarity of the stone, and that was one of the first things I noticed about this stone was its incredible clarity, and that means its lack of inclusions, diamonds," Shinnick explained. While the expert couldn't find a signature of the maker, she noted that the guest's mother had preserved the paperwork, which confirmed that it was from Van Cleef & Arpels.
Coming to the stone's value, Shinnick noted that the stone was a little over 5 carats. "Again, it's a very, very clean stone, it's a relatively white stone, it's probably about an eye color. This has a classic setting for an emerald cut diamond, which is a four-prong setting, and then at the side are two tapered baguettes, and I know it's platinum," she further noted. The expert then asked the guest if she had any idea about the value, to which she shared that the ring was once appraised in 1973, and its value back then was $20,500. Shinnick then shared an estimate saying if the ring came up at auction, it could fetch $80,000 to $120,000, leaving the guest shocked.
To add to the guest's delight, Shinnick went on to add that for insurance purposes, the value of the ring would be around $140,000. "Oh great! Well, that's a phantasm! That's nice!" the guest said in the end.
