On Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:33:51 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry
wrote:

i have three pieces of estate jewelry [cocktail ring, pendant,
bracelet]
made about 1900's from Russia.

they were owned by my paternal grandmother. no kids or close family
to pass them onto , so i will be trying to sell them. they have been
cleaned and given an insurance value by a local gemologist.

in my ad, is there any benefit to mention a secondary provenance;
one of her sons played pro football after a sensational college
career.
she attended some of these college and pro games. any added value
to these jewels?

I doubt it. But if that player was enough of a super star that there exists a
substantial market in collectables of memorabilia surrounding him, then
perhaps. But it's still a bit of a long shot, I'd think. There are lots of
pro football players. Some become well known, some are worth a card in a
trading card deck, and not much more. But, just as an example, if you've got
jewelry owned originally by O.J. Simpson's mom, then probably you could find
someone interested in that. Or Babe Ruth's mom, or some other player for whom
there really is substantail public interest...

If that were the case, I would hope that the appraiser took that into account.

On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to try it. If you describe this
relationship, it may have no effect, or it might prompt someone to be a bit more
interested. who knows. No harm in trying.

By the way, please do understand that an insurance value appraisal has little
relationship to what you are likely to be able to sell the pieces for, unless
they are truely rare or collectable items. Insurance values are usually the
high end of what you'd have to pay to replace the items, and this often ends up
even a little higher than the average retail market value for things that only
need to be roughly comparable, not exact replacements. Don't expect to knock
ten percent off the appraised value and then hope to get lots of hopefuly buyers
at that price. Remember the wholesale value of the items is likely to be
somewhere between a third and a half of that appraised value, and when selling
things, often you will only be able to get a bit under the wholesale value.
Sometimes, quite a bit under, depending on how you're selling the items and how
desperate you are to get them sold in a hurry. Plus, if your appraisal
determines values to replace the items with identical or comparable new jewelry,
and your actual items are in substantially used/worn condition, then again, the
prices you'll realize won't be the same.


i understand this is not like a ring from an actual pro ball player.

Or, maybe it's better. A ring from a genuine grandmother!

cheers

Peter