Costume Beaded Necklace, ca. 1910
GUEST:
I went to a Goodwill on the Oregon coast.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
And for $20, I... I knew they were special when I saw them.
APPRAISER:
And then you went further. You had them tested?
GUEST:
Yes. I went from... many gemologists, and I must have-- on the Oregon coast alone, probably ten to 15.
APPRAISER:
No kidding?
GUEST:
A total of over, over 20...
APPRAISER:
Did anybody tell you what they were?
GUEST:
Most of them didn't have a clue. This gemologist would say, "Go to that gemologist."
APPRAISER:
Oh, he'd...
GUEST:
And I'd go to the next. "And this gemologist is better."
APPRAISER:
Anybody offer to buy them?
GUEST:
Um... nobody offered to buy them.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
Because I, um, I didn't want to sell them-- they knew.
APPRAISER:
What do you think they are?
GUEST:
Well, one lady committed herself, and she said she believed they were old rubies. At first, they'd hold them and they'd go, "They're not real."
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
And then they'd say...
APPRAISER:
"Wait a second, wait a second!"
GUEST:
"Well, maybe they are." Yeah, "Well, maybe they are," you know, and most of the time-- because I had them in my little hot hand and I'd warm them up, and they'd be warm-- they'd say, "Oh, they're beads," you know? But then, after that, she said that they're worth around $10,000, you know, but I'm going, "Oh, my gosh," and that was cool, but she said she wouldn't commit herself, so she sent me to another big mucky-muck. She said he was a gemologist and he had a big gallery...
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
...with things, pieces that were, like, $30,000 and $100,000.
APPRAISER:
You went to a high-class store.
GUEST:
Yeah, so it looked really good.
APPRAISER:
And what did he tell you?
GUEST:
And he took them in his hands, and he, at first, said the same thing-- "Oh, they're not real," and I said, "Yes, they are." He said the color didn't look real.
APPRAISER:
Now, what we have here is a stone tester. This thing does not lie.
GUEST:
Cool.
APPRAISER:
If it's not real, it's going to go up into that area right around here. And this also tells you what type of stones it is.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Rubies are corundum. Sapphires are also corundum. I tested quite a few of your stones.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Now, watch what happens. Nothing.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Nothing. Nothing.
GUEST (laughing): Is that good?
APPRAISER:
We're going all around it. Now, and I looked at the stones through the loupe and everything else.
GUEST:
Yeah?
APPRAISER:
I'm sad to tell you that they're not real.
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. They're some sort of composite.
GUEST:
Really!
APPRAISER:
They might be a plastic.
GUEST:
You're kidding.
APPRAISER:
See? I'm not kidding you.
GUEST:
He put an hour and a half on those things.
APPRAISER:
I'm telling you, and if you have this tested in the lab, it's going to cost you about $200 to have the stones tested, and they're going to tell you that it's not real.
GUEST:
And did you see the pieces you can see through and everything?
APPRAISER:
Everything.
GUEST:
Weird.
APPRAISER:
I'm sad, I'm sad to tell you that, I wish they were real, because if they were real, a ruby necklace like this would be worth $100,000.
GUEST (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Now it's worth-- good costume jewelry...
GUEST:
So it's worth ten bucks or 20 bucks.
APPRAISER:
That's what it is.
GUEST:
Strange, very strange.
APPRAISER:
So I'm sorry to tell you that, but we had a good time with them.
GUEST:
Yeah, we had a great time. (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
I'm glad you came in.
GUEST:
Yes, it's good to meet you.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST (laughs)
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