1 week Ago By Hannah Furnell
An Antiques Roadshow expert was shocked by a guest's watch , claiming it "hit the trifecta." During the hit PBS show's Season 29 episode, Maryland Zoo, Hour 1, the guest explained that her father had bought the stunning family heirloom for her mother in 1970. He'd created a lot of contacts being a Shriner and a Mason, and met Larry Beck, who was "the trophy king of Baltimore" and also a jeweler.
Antiques Roadshow expert can't believe guest hid valuable box of jewelry from parents JK Rowling branded 'heinous loser' by Pedro Pascal after Supreme Court gender ruling The guest said her father would buy Beck's jewelry, and if there were things that Beck thought her father would be interested in, he would call him and have him come out to look, which is how, the guest is pretty sure, the watch came to be in his possession. The woman said, "My mother used to wear it as a pin when she would go out to dance or dinner." Appraiser Paul Winicki of Radcliffe Jewelers in Baltimore, Maryland, asked, "Is there another piece to it, then, that made it a pin?" The guest replied, "There used to be another piece, but it wasn't part of the watch," before divulging that two jewelers had offered her $2,000 for it, but she wasn't ready to sell it at that point.
"I just felt like there was something more to that watch than what they were saying," she said. Winicki asked the woman if she had any idea how much her father paid for the watch, but she responded that she had no idea. The expert then revealed, "So your dad sort of hit the trifecta when he caught the watch," before explaining that the keepsake was platinum, made by Patek Philippe, and retailed by Tiffany.
He added that Tiffany was the first company in the United States to become "an authorized franchise agent for Patek." DON'T MISS..
. Antiques Roadshow guest floored by value of historical spoons [NEWS] Young Antiques Roadshow guest gives pure response to value of 'genie's lamp' [VIDEO] Antiques Roadshow worst blunders including embarrassing and wrong valuations [INSIGHT] "Patek-Tiffanies are steeped in American history in watchmaking," he said. "The watch was made circa 1910.
And we can tell that from the serial number that is on the movement. The case and all the diamond work were all done in France." The appraiser added, "It's an 18-jewel movement.
It's encrusted with diamonds. So here's the face of the watch, which is Tiffany and Company. Diamonds are going all around.
And then, to open up the watch, we take off this part of the case. And this is the inside cuvette, or dust cover. "And what you see is white enamel.
And on the other side, you see the high-karat, 18-karat yellow gold. On the back is a case number, is a hallmark, which is a French duty mark. Now, the movement is also signed Patek Philippe, 18 jewel, and a serial number, and also has the marking 'Tiffany and Company.
' "Tiffany sold other brands of watches, Patek being the Rolls-Royce, the finest that they did. They, they had five or six different lines that they used. A lot of the Tiffany watches are unsigned on the movement, meaning that you don't know who made it.
"It was just retailed by Tiffany. But with the franchise agreement that Patek had with Tiffany, it's signed on the movement, which brings it to a whole 'nother level." Winicki said that in today's market, at a retail level, the guest's watch would be in the $13,000 to $15,000 price range.
"It's an absolute extraordinary example of a Tiffany Patek," he concluded. The stunned woman just said wow before the expert congratulated her. She replied, "Thank you! Oh, my goodness.
Now I know.".
