BBC Antiques Roadshow expert urges guest to alter historic diamond ring as she tips £40k bidding war
A pair of Antiques Roadshow guests could barely believe what they were hearing when they paid a visit to Clissold Park, London, to see if their collection of diamond jewellery would fetch a substantial sum.
In the episode, which is airing once again this weekend after being originally broadcast in March 2023, diamond expert Susan Rumfitt spoke with the duo about their small collection of items made up of two rings, a brooch, and a pendant.
“So beautiful sunshine, beautiful diamonds, and how did they get into your family collection?” Rumfitt pondered, to which the older man of the duo replied: “They were just left as part of an estate of an aunt a few years ago.”
“Is it something you wear?” Rumfitt asked the younger female guest, who answered: “I don’t wear them, but my mum wears them.”
Given that the pair weren’t the original owners, Rumfitt provided a history lesson on the jewels. “They’re absolutely stunning and it’s a really lovely collection showing different ages as far as jewellery design goes,” she began.
“The oldest piece is this ring that we have here. It’s a Georgian piece dating from around 1700-1800, and you can see the diamonds have a lovely cut to them, it’s what we call a rose cut,” Rumfitt explained.
She continued: “Now, there looks to be a lot of carat weight there, which is the size of the diamond, but with rose cuts, you have a flat back and a facetted surface. So again, they’re not quite as big as one thinks.
“At the time, the diamonds would have come from either India or probably Brazil,” she added before turning her attention to another item.
“Then we come to this brooch, which I just think is stunning. Really, really lovely. Again, the cuts of the stones are more developed than the actual ring, so they’ve got more facets on them, they’re what we call ‘Old Mine Cuts’.”
As the guests scanned the brooch, Rumfitt went on: “All the time, the cutters were trying to bring that brilliance out of the stones, and with this one, you’ve got an open back as well, so the light comes through the front and the back as well.
“Date-wise, we’re moving on here more towards 1820-1830 as the styles start to lighten up. Interestingly, the Georgian period was very influential on design in the Edwardian period.”
Segueing onto the next item, Rumfitt began to evaluate a diamond pendant made up of “at least a carat’s worth of weight” in diamonds, although the stones were “broken up” into several pieces.
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The briefing continued thanks to a single-diamond ring in the collection, with Rumfitt revealing they were now looking at something from the Art Deco period.
“Value is always exciting, isn’t it? Do you have any idea which might be the most valuable?” she then asked, to which the man answered: “My guess would be the single-diamond.”
Rumfitt nodded before revealing all. “So in an auction, the estimates would be… for the brooch and pendant, between £2,000 and £3,000, both periods are really popular at the moment and rising in value.”
Tipping a bidding war for the next item, Rumfitt continued: “The Georgian ring is the next valuable, with £2,000 to £3,000 but could easily get more, so we’re getting to a nice £5,000 mark at the moment.
“Then there’s the ring,” Rumfitt said before momentarily pausing. “The ring, I’ve had an extra look at it, looked at the weight of it, the colour and the clarity on which we value these pieces… The weight is approximately 2.7 carats.”
However, despite it being an already impressive weight, Rumfitt revealed the pair would want to consider a rather drastic alteration before selling.
“With a ring like this, if you were going to sell, the stone would come out,” she said. “And it might get to three carats, which is a really good weight to have.”
Rumfitt went further: “The colour, which is all about how white the stone is and whether there’s any yellow coming through the stone, is good, it’s a nice white stone.
“Prices are going up in an auction environment, so I think we’d be looking at least £25,000 to £35,000.”
Gasps emanated from the surrounding crowd before the younger of the two guests exclaimed: “Okay. It’s now my new favourite.”
“So in total, we’re looking at a minimum of £30,000 to £40,000,” Rumfitt summarised.
The young Antiques Roadshow guest signed off: “I’ll definitely be saving it for a special occasion!”