At Cash for Rares, the seller had his late mother's ring with him – which he simply thought was a beautiful piece of jewelry. When he found out the true value of the ring, he couldn't believe his luck.
The seller would never have expected such an appraisal of his heirloom: at first, the seller Michael was only waiting for an expert opinion, because he was not sure if his jewelry was a rarity. He had inherited the ring from his mother and now wanted to sell it.
“There is a lot of stone here,” Horst Lichter immediately felt the uniqueness of the otherwise rather unremarkable piece of jewelry. “It also has a very nice fire,” agreed Heide Rezepa-Zabel. A jewelry expert recognized the “round belt”: “We have a diamond here, which internationally would be called the stone of the Old Mine.” It had not yet been cut with an electric whetstone and dates from the early 18th century.
“So really old,” said Horst Lichter. But Rezepa-Zabel emphasized: “Stone!” Because the rest were younger. He dated the platinum ring shoulders to about 1900 and the yellow gold ring band to the 1950s. “It's a great stone and its ring band can be set around it beautifully,” the expert enthused about the 1.9-carat diamond. “It's definitely a clean rock, it looks really good.”
Emotional explosion “Money for the rare”
Michael's asking price was 2000 euros. “It's too little,” Rezepa-Zabel shook her head. “Damn,” the salesman said cheerfully, not knowing the real value. The stone alone “would fetch 4,000 euros,” the expert said. “Thunderstorm,” whispered Horst Lichter now. Michael struggled to maintain the total value of 4,300-4,600 euros: “When I heard the price from Heide, I was overwhelmed with emotions. Indescribable!”
Inspired by the expertise, Michael entered the dealer's room. “Oooh,” Julian Schmitz-Avila marveled at the spectacular stone. “I think we all need to join forces,” said Fabian Kahl, sensing high value. “I was very impressed with the expertise,” laughed the seller. Unfortunately, the bids were slow to rise. “According to expertise, the value of the stone itself is 4,000 euros,” explained Michael. This value surprised Elke Velten: “Oh, I wouldn't be willing to pay that, not for the quality.”
Since no one else wanted to beat Velten's offer of 2,000 euros, Michael accepted the offer. At least his initial desired price was achieved: “I'm going home with a very good feeling.”
Expensive gold shoulder becomes affordable
Cosack's “Sputnik” chandelier from the 1970s was also offered for sale, which Detlev Kümmel estimated at 600-800 euros. Since some of the lamps no longer worked, Jan Cizek got a rarity for 450 euros: “Great lamp, but now I have to buy some work.”
An expert estimated two luxurious Montegrappa fountain pens in gold and silver from 1996 at 3,000-4,000 euros. However, four-digit writing instruments were too speculative for the sales team and the purchase was not made. “Very interesting, but we are out there,” Friedrich Häusser apologized.
Oskar Schnetz's two wooden construction sets from the 1920s and 1930s were estimated at 80-100 euros. There was great interest in buying: Jan Cizek paid even 120 euros as an enthusiastic hobbyist.
A Jérôme Massier ceramic fruit bowl from the 1950s or 60s was estimated at €280-350. The seller received as much as 630 euros from Friedrich Häusser. “I hope they do something good with it,” he accepted the money gratefully.
1960s-80s 20-carat yellow gold brooch with opal was estimated at 8,000-9,000 euros. Everyone liked the property, but Elke Velten saw a sales problem: “First of all, it has to get a customer.” However, he reached an agreement with the seller for 4,500 euros.
This article “Cash for the rare: Expertise almost blows the salesman away” was originally from Teleschau.