Roadshow

An Antiques Roadshow expert was left stunned after inspecting a “never seen before” item

An Antiques Roadshow expert went “raving mad” for a never seen before item that was worth thousands.

The popular BBC show, filmed at Beaumaris Castle in Anglesey, North Wales, saw locals bring their antiques and fine arts for appraisal.

During the episode, jewellery expert Geoffrey Munn was shown a pendant and an aquamarine brooch crafted by Fabergé, the renowned jeweller from 1900.

The guest revealed that her friend owned the items and had asked her to bring them along for valuation.

“Well, I’m jolly glad she did because they’re very, very exciting things for me,” Geoffrey enthused, reports the Express.

The pendant featured someone’s initials encrusted with diamonds, set over a geocache ground – a machine-created sun ray effect.

Inside the pendant was an inscription in Cyrillic, loosely translated as, “Maybe it’s better not to wait.”

“Then it’s flooded with pink enamel and you can see through the enamel onto the geocache, which looks like a sunburst behind,” Geoffrey elaborated.

“I think we can possibly assume that this is somebody who could afford to go to Fabergé. Absolutely the highest level of elite.”

Meanwhile, the Siberian aquamarine brooch was encircled by diamonds, topped with a true lover’s knot.

“It’s a remarkably deep stone, and when you turn it up, you can see there’s a gallery beneath which is really quite extravagant, quite wide,” Geoffrey noted.

“The reason that it’s there is because the stone itself is actually very deep.”

The expert continued: “This is court jewellery at the highest possible level by Fabergé.”

Geoffrey then revealed that the pendant could fetch up to £10,000, while the brooch was worth a staggering £35,000 to £40,000.

“This one is an unusual prototype, never seen the like before, I’m going to say £10,000 for this one,” he said.

“And I’m going to go absolutely raving mad for this one, which is sort of predictable, and tell you that I think it ought to be worth £35,000 to £40,000.”

The assembled crowd let out a collective gasp, with the guest excitedly exclaiming: “Isn’t [my friend] going to be happy!”

She added: “My friend is out of the country, so she asked me to bring them. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to bits to hear about all that I shall tell her.”

Antiques Roadshow is available to stream on BBC iPlayer

An Antiques Roadshow specialist was taken aback after a guest unveiled what she had been using her rather valuale jug for.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.

An Antiques Roadshow expert left a guest almost speechless after discovering she’d been using a highly collectible jug as a simple watering can for her plants.

The beloved BBC programme visited Hopetoun House in Queensferry, near Edinburgh, where Roadshow expert Steven Moore encountered a visitor clutching a green jug that sparked memories of a beloved 1960s children’s series.

“Were you by any chance a fan of The Clangers?”, he enquired.

She replied: “No I wasn’t a fan”, prompting him to ask: “So was this the reason you bought this very ugly jug?”

“No, I bought it because I needed something to water my plants.”

The guest revealed she’d snapped up the piece for a mere £2.50, adding that it “certainly lives up to its purpose”.

“Right so this was last used for watering plants when?” he probed as she admitted it was just a “couple of days ago”.

Moore then warned the guest: “Well, we might want to stop you doing that.

“It’s made by one of the Ewenny Pottery’s in Wales, very conveniently dated to 1902 and even more conveniently, we have a Welsh member on our team and she tells me that this literally means ‘The Wild Pig’.”

He tried to pronounce the inscription ‘Y Mochyn Gwyllt’ but quickly chuckled: “I apologise if I’ve said that wrong!”

Moore went on: “But I think it is a wild pig, not a Clanger, although there’s some suggestion it could be a hedgehog but I’m not even going to go down that route.

“But Ewenny Pottery is very collectible so your £2.50 flower jug to a Welsh pottery collector, in the right sale, would be estimated at £800 to £1,200.”

Upon hearing the staggering valuation, the guest took a sharp intake of breath before simply responding: “OK.”

The specialist added: “So if I give it back to you, will you promise not to water any plants with it? And go buy a nice £2.50 plastic jug.”

Grinning, she replied: “I promise. I will do that.”

Antiques Roadshow can be viewed on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Antiques Roadshow fans were left amazed as one guest was told his collection of items he saved from a skip were worth an eye-watering amount of money

Antiques Roadshow fans were left in awe during Sunday’s episode at Clissold Park, Stoke Newington, as a savvy guest discovered the astonishing value of a collection he rescued from a skip.

The episode featured a remarkable find when a man brought in an archive belonging to renowned designer Althea McNish, who emigrated from Trinidad in the 1950s and became a titan of fashion and textile design.

Expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan was visibly impressed by the “treasure trove” of McNish’s work that the guest had salvaged, which included pieces designed for prestigious clients like Liberty, Christian Dior, and even the Royal Family.

Recounting his lucky encounter with the items in December 2020, the guest said: “2020, December, builders were throwing stuff away. I was a cheeky chappie, asked them if I could have a look, buy some bits and bobs, done a deal.”

Expert Ronnie then highlighted McNish’s significant impact on British post-war textile design, noting her vibrant contributions that brightened up Britain’s shores with the essence of Trinidadian colour during a dreary post-war period, reports the Express.

Ronnie from Antiques Roadshow then left the guest utterly gobsmacked after valuing their collection at a staggering sum. “I’d like to try and value this, I know that half a square metre of certain of her designs can be £2,500 or a textile design itself can be that sort of money.

“From what you’ve told me and what you’ve described and what I know, I think this archive that you’ve brought to us here is worth in excess of £250,000… in excess of and it needs to be calculated.”

The owner was visibly shocked, expressing their amazement: “That’s blown me away! It’s just been an incredible journey of learning and knowledge, I’ve loved every minute.”

They gratefully added: “Thank you, you’ve made my day, honestly!” to which Ronnie responded with equal enthusiasm: “Well, you’ve made mine too!”

Social media buzzed with excitement over the episode, with one Twitter, now X, user exclaiming: “First time I’ve heard of Althea McNish, but this collection seems amazing, #AntiquesRoadshow” and another chiming in: “Hope it can be properly archived/ displayed.”

Another tweet read: “Incredible valuation of £250000 for the Althea McNish archive on the #AntiquesRoadshow.”

Catch more surprising discoveries on Antiques Roadshow, airing Sundays at 8pm on BBC One.

Antiques Roadshow expert John Benjamin was on hand to deliver a valuation on a pair of drop earrings and a sapphire ring

On Sunday’s Antiques Roadshow, expert John Benjamin gave two hopeful guests some disappointing news at the stunning Wollaton Hall in Nottingham.

The episode featured locals bringing in their treasures, with a pair of guests presenting family Art Deco jewellery for valuation. At first glance inside an old tin, John discovered exquisite platinum drop earrings and a sapphire ring.

One of the guests related the tale of his mother receiving the jewels from a friend, who was acquainted with a man with connections to France.

John, upon closer inspection, found a significant alteration: “Someone who has owned these in their history has taken them to a jeweller and said: ‘I’m not sure if I like the fittings!’

“So what they’ve done is they’ve removed the original fittings from the back and they’ve soldered on these long gold sort of posts with nine carat gold screw fittings at the end”, reports Edinburgh Live.

While examining the ring, John revealed a surprising fact about its authenticity, revealing: “Here’s an interesting point, in the 1920s, when that was made, synthetic rubies and sapphires were beginning to appear on the market.”

He delivered the blow when he declared: “The sapphires on the shoulders in the ring are actually synthetic. They’re not real. So, there we are.”

During the valuation, he revealed: “Here’s the bad news, those drops, today, if they were having the original fittings on them. I think would be worth between £4,000 and £5,000.

“But because the fittings have been changed, I think we’ve got to now drop that price to probably £2,500 to £3,000 simply because of a clumsy conversion.”

Regarding the sapphire ring, he estimated: “The ring about £1500.”

This led to one of the guests quipping: “How much is the box worth?” which prompted John to respond with a chuckle: “Priceless, absolutely priceless the box!”

In another segment, art expert Rupert Maas appraised a monochrome painting of Princess Daisy of Pless, an icon of Edwardian high society.

The owner explained how her father had found the artwork in a Watford junk shop for a mere £13.50.

Rupert encouraged her to keep it on display, especially after revealing its surprising value of £2,000 to £3,000.

The owner was shocked, saying: “Really? Gosh! I was thinking you were going to say a couple of hundred,” to which Rupert acknowledged it wasn’t a huge sum but definitely a significant increase from what was paid.

Antiques Roadshow continues on Sundays at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Antiques Roadshow expert Joanna Hardy was left gobsmacked as she shared the true value of a guest’s family heirloom – and even admitted that the item had made her ‘tingle’

An Antiques Roadshow expert was left astonied as she revealed the astonishing value of a guest’s treasured family heirloom.

The beloved BBC show rolled out another episode on Sunday (May 18) with Fiona Bruce once again steering the ship. This week, the team set up camp at the majestic Beaumaris Castle on the Isle of Anglesey, North Wales.

Eager individuals flocked to flaunt their cherished items to the Antiques Roadshow connoisseurs for appraisal. But the atmosphere intensified when expert Joanna Hardy stumbled upon a simply “extraordinary” bracelet.

Basking in the sunlight, Joanna exclaimed: “This bracelet is just glistening in the sun here,” and marvelled at its appearance with “And we’ve got the gold nuggets which is as if they’d come out of the ground. I mean they just look extraordinary.”

The owner of the bracelet recounted its history, saying: “This was a bracelet that my grandfather gave to my grandmother.”, reports Edinburgh Live.

She continued with tales of her grandfather’s time working at the Frontino mines in Segovia, Colombia during the ’30s and ’40s as an engineer, stating: “And my grandfather worked in Segovia, in Colombia in the Frontino mines in the ’30s and ’40s.

“He was an engineer so I don’t believe he mined those from hand, but I think he must have got those from there.”

Joanna discussed the jewellery’s avant-garde style for its era: “It would have been ahead of its time for the ’30s. If we think about ’30s jewellery and the Art Deco jewellery and its diamonds and it’s all very geometric.”

The guest had also brought along photographs of her grandparents from their time in Colombia. Further enamoured by the piece, Joanna commented: “It’s just got that raw energy about it.”

The guest expressed her affection for the heirloom, revealing: “I love it when I wear it.”

Regarding the item’s value, Joanna revealed: “Gold has never been higher than today, so at auction I think you’d be looking at around £5,000.”

Instantly, the guest was taken aback and exclaimed: “Wow!” Overwhelmed and struggling to articulate her surprise, she continued: “Okay, wow… that’s quite a lot more than..”

She then expressed her astonishment further by saying, “Oh everybody says that I know. It’s really a lot more than I thought. Thank you very much!” Joanna, delighted by the guest’s response, shared in the excitement: “Oh you’ve made me tingle as well!”.