ONE of the guests on Antiques Roadshow was left completely gobsmacked by the value of their family heirloom.
One unsuspecting couple brought a pair of jewellery items to be appraised on the long-running BBC show.
Fiona Bruce presented the latest edition of the beloved format with her team of experts.
The group of specialists set up shop at Cromford Hills in the idyllic area of Derwent Valley in Derbyshire.
Harrogate jewellery specialist Susan Rumfitt was on hand to give her take after 25 years of experience in the business.
A husband and wife duo brought two items to the TV personality, a bracelet and a stunning pendant.
The wife remarked that her husband did not think much of one of the items as he labelled it ‘a bit of tat’.
She explained: “My husband said, ‘my mum had a lovely Opal bracelet. You might like it’. So we dug it out, and that was that.
“But in this big box was loads of stuff, and I dug to the bottom and found that. And my husband says, ‘you don’t want that, it’s a load of tat, just a piece of glass.’ I like it.”
The expert then enquired why he thought the seemingly stunning item was more akin to costume jewellery.
The husband noted: “It’s very big for a sort of precious stone.”
She then started to explain the context around both of the pieces and where they originated from.
“Okay, so start with the bangle first, which you know, are opals. So that’s really, really beautiful.
“Well, as we can see, there are these wonderful opals all graduating in size, which have got diamonds in between, which really help to bring out the beautiful play of color, the greens, the blues, flashes of oranges that we see around each of the stones.
“It really is totally magnificent. And the added bonus, of course, with any piece of jewelry, is having the original fitted box.”
She then explained that the bracelet came from Wartski’s in London, a ‘hugely important’ firm that sold expensive Faberge items.
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“I’ll put you straight now. This isn’t a piece of Faberge so that will calm things down just a little bit!,” she joked.
Susan added: “But it really is a superb example of jewelry from the late 19th century. We’re talking round about the 1880s / 1890s.”
The Antiques Roadshow star then turned her attention to the pendant, where she noted the opinions of the husband.
“So this dates from the Edwardian period. What we do have are diamonds, which are set at the top here, and they are set into platinum at the front to give that likeness and delicacy and to give strength to the design.
If that came up to auction, we would be looking at an estimate of £8,000 to £10,000.
Susan Rumfitt on the items
“And you need strength when you are supporting a big stone, as we have here. It’s actually aquamarine, right?
“It’s got a really good strength of color, and the colors even all the way through the stone as well. So all in all, it’s moved quite a way on from tat, which is, which is really good.”
It was then time for her expert evaluations and the couple were completely blindsided by how much both items were worth.
The ‘piece of tat’ pendant was given a value of between £3,000 and £5,000, which left the couple shocked.
However, the bracelet would have fetched even more if they tried to sell it at auction.
Susan stated: “The opal bangle, of course, it’s a magnificent piece.
“As I say, it’s got the beautiful clay of colors in the Opal. The opals are in good condition. They haven’t been worn.
“They’ve had the lovely box to keep them in. If that came up to auction, we would be looking at an estimate of £8,000 to £10,000.”
The husband’s jaw dropped at the huge value of the item as he exclaimed: “I didn’t expect that …. That’s incredible.”
Previously in the segment, the duo explained how they decided to give the items to their daughter.
Upon hearing the experts comments, the wife jokingly remarked: “Our daughter did well didn’t she!”
To which the expert replied: “Didn’t she just!”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
