“Children, how have you changed?” Many viewers of today’s edition of “Bares for Rares” will have thought. In fact, ZDF is broadcasting a five-year-old episode of the junk show this Tuesday. Markus Wildhagen, Julian-Schmitz-Avila and Fabian Kahl were much younger, and the studio setting was different too: the dealers sat around a semi-circular table, not everyone at their own desks like today.
What was actually unusual, however, took place within the usual processes: a seller questioned the judgment of expert Heide Rezepa-Zabel and therefore sought advice from the dealers.
It was about a piece of jewelry that Dr. Norbert Nobis brought to Horst Lichter. The art historian from Hanover, who was 72 at the time of recording, wanted to sell a brooch that belonged to his mother. However, Nobis suspected that the jewelry was older and came from the grandparents, because his parents were too poor. He assumed that this was a gift for a wedding or the birth of a child, “then it would have to be dated between 1909 and 1918”.
Rezepa-Zabel, who also has a doctorate in art history, vehemently disagreed: “I think that’s very absurd,” she said. “Ui, now it’s getting exciting,” commented Lichter on the dispute. The expert justified her judgment with “cultured pearls that refer to the 1970s”. But the seller stood by his opinion and mentioned a photo of his mother from the late 50s wearing the brooch. “Then the pearls may have come from a later period,” said Rezepa-Zabel. “That explains why it’s unbalanced.”
Nobis gave a four-digit sum as the desired price, “the higher the better”. The expert corrected that slightly downwards: she assessed the value at 800 to 1000 euros and justified this with the “lack of attractiveness of this piece of jewellery”.
Before Norbert Nobis entered the dealer’s room, he announced that he would ask those present for their assessment of the age of the jewelry, “because there was a small difference between the expert and me.” With the words “I brought you something nice” he approached the dealer’s table and presented his brooch. “From the 70s,” judged Fabian Kahl.
Despite the discrepancies in age, Susanne Steiger was willing to pay 1,800 euros for the jewel. Her starting bid was so high that none of the other traders wanted to go with it. And so Nobis didn’t have to think long: he agreed to the sale. With so much money, he probably didn’t care about determining his true age.
Source: “Bares for Rares” in the ZDF media library
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