(NEXSTAR) – There’s so much to love about “Antiques Roadshow,” from the antiques to the experts to the little history lessons embedded in each appraisal.
And every once in a while, an item turns out to be so valuable it makes your head spin.
“What ultimately makes something valuable — what they all have in common — is that they’re rare,” Marsha Bemko, the executive producer of “Antiques Roadshow,” told Nexstar. “But not all rare things are valuable.”
1 in 5 homebuyers willing to sacrifice safety for affordability
During her 25 years with the show, Bemko has seen her share of emotional, surprising, and even life-changing appraisals. She’s also learned a thing or two about high-value antiques and what makes them desirable to buyers, thanks to the expert appraisers who volunteer their time to the show’s production.
“Still, after 25 years of making the show, I learn watching every appraisal,” Bemko said.
Some of the most memorable segments, meanwhile, remain the ones in which a guest learned that their prized antique was indeed worth a huge sum of money. Many of those items have only appreciated since their shows aired, with current appraisals (assessed at either auction value, retail value or insured value) more than doubling in many cases.
Thousands of people wait in line to have their treasured possessions appraised by a team of experts for “Antiques Roadshow,” on Aug. 21, 1999, at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. (AP Photo/Susan E. Bouchard)
The most valuable items to come through “Antiques Roadshow,” based on the show’s most recent appraisals, are below:
#1. 1914 Patek Philippe pocket watch
A Swiss-made Patek Philippe pocket watch made in 1914 was originally appraised on “Antiques Roadshow” in 2004 by jeweler Paul Hartquist for about $250,000, if it were to go to auction.
“This is one incredible watch,” Hartquist told the guest. “It’s the finest watch I’ve ever held in my hand.”
A few years later, the watch sold at auction for over $1.5 million. As of a 2018 appraisal, the same timepiece was estimated to be worth between $2 million and $3 million.
#2. ‘El Albañil’ by Diego Rivera
In 2012, a guest on “Antiques Roadshow” brought in an oil painting that his great grandparents had purchased in Mexico. Turns out it was a lost Diego Rivera painting that the artist completed in 1904, when he was around 18 years old.
“I think you have something of a painting trifecta here: The painting itself is by a very important artist; it has a terrific history of being purchased in Mexico in 1930; and it’s a very beautiful and important painting,” art appraiser Colleene Fesko told the guest, just before revealing that its retail value was around $800,000 to $1 million.
A more recent appraisal, in 2018, valued the painting at between $1.2 million and $2.2 million.
The family that owns the painting has not sold the piece, records indicate.
“They still own it, as far as I know,” Bemko told Nexstar.
#3. Alexander Calder mobile
The first item ever appraised for up to $1 million was a wire mobile made by sculptor Alexander Calder, who “essentially invented the art form known as a mobile,” appraiser Chris Kennedy told the owner in a 2010 episode.
The guest explained that she had inherited the mobile from her aunt, who was a fan of Calder’s. The guest’s aunt had once hosted Calder at a cocktail party in 1958, where she gave him a pillow she had made featuring a needlepoint image of one of his works.
“And a couple of days later, somebody appeared at the doorway and he had given her this mobile as a thank-you for the pillow,” the guest said.
At the time, the mobile was appraised at $400,000 at auction, or around $600,000 retail. An updated appraisal in 2021 put those figures at $800,000 and $2 million, respectively.
#4. First phase Navajo Ute blanket, ca. 1850
Appraiser Donald Ellis said he “kinda stopped breathing a little bit” when a guest brought this Navajo blanket for appraisal during a 2001 taping.
The blanket, made to be worn by a Navajo chief, showcase “Navajo weaving in its purest form,” Ellis said. It was also in “unbelievable” condition, with Ellis describing the texture as silky, despite being made from wool.
“It is the most important thing that’s come in to the ‘Roadshow’ that I’ve seen,” Ellis said.
The guest was told the blanket had a retail value of between $350,000 and $500,000. In 2021, a new appraisal put the retail value somewhere between $1.5 million and $2 million.
The guest sold the blanket to a private buyer, who then donated it to a museum, he told Arizona Public Media.
#5 and #6. Boston Red Stockings cards, 18th-century jade carvings
When evaluating the fifth-most valuable item to ever come through “Roadshow,” producers say it’s either a lot of Boston Red Stockings baseball cards from 1871-1872, or a set of 18th-century jade carvings from China.
The baseball cards, originally given to the owner of a boarding house in Boston and passed down through the family, are some of the “earliest known” photographic baseball cards, appraiser Leila Dunbar said. She advised that the guest insure the collection for “at least $1 million.”
“It is the greatest archive I have ever had at the ‘Roadshow,’” Dunbar said when the cards were appraised in 2014. As of 2021, the appraised value was the same.
Another guest on a 2009 episode was stunned to learn that a collection of jade items her father acquired through a friend from China — a vase, an animal carving and two bowls (one of which bore a mark signifying that it was made for an emperor during the Qianlong dynasty) — was worth between $710,000 to $1.07 million at auction.
“It is the best thing I have ever seen on ‘Roadshow,’” appraiser James Callahan told her.
A collection of jade carvings appraised on “Antiques Roadshow” in June 2009 are among some of the highest-valued items ever seen on the show. (AP Photo/Jeff Dunn for Antiques Roadshow)
Some ‘Precious Moments’ figurines could be worth thousands: What to look for
While all of these items have increased in value or at least retained their value, the same can’t be said for many other items featured in past “Roadshow” seasons. According to Bemko, antique pieces of Victorian furniture, certain types of jewelry (aside from the gemstones) and fine china have been appraised for less and less over the years.
“If the only people interested in it are 70-plus, that market will go down,” she explained.
On the other hand, lots of pop-culture memorabilia, especially from the ‘70s and ‘80s, are now becoming more popular among collectors and buyers.
“It’s a really hard thing to predict … and if I knew the answer to it, I probably wouldn’t tell you,” Benko added, laughing. “It’s a hard thing to know.”
