BBC Antiques Roadshow guest blown away as expert slaps 5-figure value on jewellery despite authenticity concerns
An Antiques Road Show guest was left stunned after her collection of rare jewellery was valued for a whopping five figure total.
In a classic episode of the BBC favourite, the guest had an eclectic collection of jewellery comprised of ruby earrings, a rare diamond Rolex watch, and several crystal embezzled broaches dating back to the 50s.
However, there were concerns that despite the jewel’s impressive appearance, whether or not the vintage collection was authentic, as the pieces were all gifted to the guest.
“There were two comments you made when you saw me laying our your jewels here”, host Joanna Hardy said. “One was ‘gosh I haven’t seen these for a very long time’, and the second thing was you were hoping that they were all real?”.
“I seriously hope they are real!” the guest nervously laughed in response.
“It’s quite an eclectic mix here, so how did you get hold of these” the antiques expert probed.
“They were all presents actually”, the guest admitted. “In the late 90s I had a boyfriend and he’d quite often buy me diamonds so this is where they all came from.”
Hardy begun with a beautiful set of ruby earrings, which she claimed may have begun as cufflinks: “The ruby earrings here, I reckon they started off life as a pair of cufflinks.”
“Oh really? Wow!” the guest replied in shock.
“And then you have a pair of earrings”, the expert pointed to a pair of flared diamond ear climbers. “What’s interesting is one is made for the left ear, and one is made for the right ear. That came in around the 50s”
“I do like the shape of those”, the guest admitted, “they’re very pretty and have a nice shape”.
“Exactly, they really do go up the ear beautifully. So you do wear those?” the host probed with hope.
In a shock admittance, the guest revealed: “I haven’t worn any of this, or actually even got it out the cupboard in a very long time.”
Joanna spotted a diamond encrusted Rolex, dating back to the 1920s or 30s, before she focused in on two rare broaches.
“This one is about 1925, lovely diamonds”, she said pointing to a rectangle diamond encrusted broach.
“So they are real? Phew!” the guest jovially exclaimed, Hardy reassured her: “They’re all real, everything is real”.
The antiques expert then homed in on a rare flag pin covered in sapphires, representing the Royal London Yacht Club.
The guest was left gobsmacked after the expert valued the flag pin for a whopping £3000.
“Wow!” the guest replied in shock. “Wow, that’s amazing.”
As well as the broach pulling in a high valuation, another diamond drenched pin was valued at another staggering price.
“This would be at auction in the region of three to four thousand pounds”, the antiques specialist delivered, leaving the woman completely shocked.
“Wow! Golly! And I didn’t even know if it was real, so thank you for that!”
After leaving the eager guest waiting long enough, Joanna delivered her final verdict on the collections valuation: “So, collectively, you’re looking in the region of around thirteen to fifteen thousand pounds.”
The guest was overwhelmed by the news, saying: “Wow. That’s a very nice surprise.”