GUEST: It's been in my family since the 1960s.

My father was out visiting some cousins of mine in Arizona, and, uh, they were friends of Charles Loloma.

So they visited the studio, and my father, who had a good eye for things, saw this bird on the shelf.

I don't think it was for sale, but as the story goes, he was able to convince Mr.

Loloma to sell it to him.

I think it was 1969.

APPRAISER: I see.

What can you tell me about the piece of jewelry?

GUEST: There was a retrospective of Mr.

Loloma at the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe.

My husband was with me, and he knew that Charles Loloma was a prominent jeweler, so, a couple years later, he contacted Martha Struever, who was the curator of the show, and asked if she had any jewelry that he could buy as a present for me.

So, I acquired this beautiful piece of, uh, jewelry.

I think it was 2006, 2008.

APPRAISER: It's ornamented on both sides.

Do you have a favorite side?

GUEST: Yes, actually, the other side is my favorite side.

APPRAISER: Charles Loloma was born in 1921.

He passed away in 1991, and his, his creative period lasted for half-a-century.

He was just extraordinary and very innovative.

The jewelry is set in gold.

The turquoise is called Lander Blue.

Extremely rare.

Very, very desirable.

Tell me why this is your favorite side?

GUEST: Well, I like the coloring.

I-I guess I'm-I'm an orange person.

(laughs) APPRAISER: Mr.

Loloma would love what you just said.

He was fixated on color.

He believed that color reflected beauty.

The orange is coral.

There's turquoise, ivory down at the bottom and up at the top on that little horizontal bar is ironwood.

If you were to wear this with the opposite side facing, which is, I think, how most people might, the side that you prefer actually is facing inward.

APPRAISER: Charles Loloma did this purposefully.

He also used this approach on bracelets.

He not only ornamented the exterior, he ornamented the interior so it would reflect to the person who's wearing it; a hidden beauty, if you will.

(laughs) He was one of the most important, prominent artists of the entire 20th century, both in North America and Europe.

Hugely influential.

Tell me a little bit about the bird.

GUEST: Well, what I know... APPRAISER: Yes.

GUEST:...is that, uh, it's ironwood.

APPRAISER: Ironwood grows in the Sonoran Desert.

It's very dense.

It's a long, hard wood.

He would walk on the desert and pick up stones on the desert floor.

And he undoubtedly encountered this ironwood natural form.

And he enhanced it just very minimally with turquoise for the eyes.

You can sense its rough form here.

GUEST: Oh, right.

APPRAISER: This is how it broke off of the tree.

He did a little bit of polishing and then just the slightest amount of carving to delineate the beak of the bird.

I want to point out this photograph of Charles Loloma.

He seems to be wrapping this for your dad.

(laughs) I can't believe we have the original invoice.

Someone seems to have suggested in 1976 that it may have risen from $65 to $300.

GUEST: Oh, okay, yup.

APPRAISER: This photograph and this invoice immeasurably adds to the historic importance of this sculpture.

The jewelry, on a retail basis in particular, because of the Lander Blue on the other side, very, very desirable.

On a retail basis, this would be worth, in the neighborhood, of $20,000.

(laughs) GUEST: (laughs) Interesting.

APPRAISER: I think this sculpture would value at about $35,000.

GUEST: Hm.

Interesting.

(laughs) APPRAISER: Do you think your dad overpaid?

(laughs) GUEST: My dad would be proud.

(laughing) APPRAISER: I'm sure he would.

I'm sure he would.

GUEST: I have to thank my mother for saving the bill.

I don't think it was my father.

(laughs) APPRAISER: She, she did good.

GUEST: She did good.