Features 5-Carat Rose-Cut Diamond Pendant
by Judy Frank
posted July 20, 2008
An Edwardian pearl and diamond drop necklace with a 5-carat rose-cut diamond pendant easily won top honors as the most valuable item brought to Saturday’s Antiques Roadshow appraisal fair in Chattanooga.
And – right above the 5-carat diamond – another 2-carat diamond pendant hung from the family heirloom, which roadshow appraisers valued at $250,000.
Both large diamonds were surrounded by a circle of smaller diamonds, according to roadshow publicist Judy Matthews.
Purchased during the late 1800s from New York City’s Phelps & Perry by a man for his wife, the necklace was appraised in 1988 when its original owner died. It was valued then at just $10,000, she noted.
“Either that appraisal was extremely low or diamonds have greatly appreciated over the past 20 years,” Ms. Matthews said with a laugh.
Another major find was a 19th Century Windsor chair, still wearing its original green paint, which was valued at $100,000.
The chair was a particularly rare find, she said, because it still had its original legs.
“These chairs were often used as garden furniture and the legs rotted out,” she explained.
The luckiest – or unluckiest – find of the day was an American Indian pot that a woman purchased for $4.50 at a yard sale.
The appraisal fair didn’t start off well for her. As she was getting out of her car to go inside, the bottom of the pot fell off.
But things soon got better.
The pot is worth $10,000, appraisers assured its owner. And, best of all, it can easily be repaired!
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