A guest at the Antiques Roadshow in Belfast was left stunned and emotional after a treasured heirloom belonging to her grandmother was revealed to be worth up to £30,000.
Crowds at Botanic Gardens gasped as the BBC’s jewellery expert Susan Rumfitt suggested the incredible five-figure sum price tag for the pendant.
The episode, which aired on Sunday, saw the Antiques Roadshow team travel to Belfast to appraise the treasures and rare collectibles regularly discovered in attics.
During the Botanic Gardens visit a guest handed over a necklace, brooch and black and white picture of a glamorous woman.
Viewing the items, Ms Rumfitt commented: “Little bit of magic here today.
“Pearls in the pendant, diamonds in the brooch, and a rather glamorous lady. Tell me about her”.
The guest explained it was her grandmother, Irene Picks, who had been married before the First World War.
Revealing her grandfather was killed in France at the beginning of the war, she said: “After he died, she (Ms Picks) went to England and married somebody called Robin Buxton and I think he probably gave her these jewels, and then my father gave them to me after my grandmother died”.
Examining both items, Ms Rumfitt said they dated back to the latter part of the 19th to early 20th century.
She said the “delicate flower brooch” with it “gorgeous cut diamonds” had came from a “good jeweller”, despite not being signed or hallmarked.
The BBC expert also said the necklace was known as a lavaliere pendant, with two drops of slightly different lengths.
Revealing a secret feature of the piece, she said: “Have you noticed there are some fittings at the back of the drops? Well those fittings enable you to take the drops off and actually wear these drops as earrings as well.
“So it’s very much a multi-functional pendant, isn’t it?
“It’s really great.”
She also suggested the little diamond coronet at the top of the piece indicated it could have been made for a special royal occasion.
“The period we’re looking at, there were cultured pearls starting to creep into the market, however, these are more than likely going to be natural pearls,” she added.
“They have a beautiful lustre to them, they’re slightly different in shape and size which, again, I think is just gorgeous, absolutely wonderful.
“With natural pearls, of course, it really is an X-ray that’s going to tell us for sure, but I’m very, very confident that these are natural pearls.”
It must be my age but I look forward to Antiques Roadshow on the BBC every Sunday
— Moneypenny (@nic_moneypenny) November 24, 2024
Especially when amazing valuations come in and genuine people are reduced to tears
Like this one where the lady has a Lavalier pendant
Unusual expression and the history behind it is interesting… pic.twitter.com/g9l6Mqqc2r
Revealing the estimated value of the brooch, Ms Rumfitt said: “If that came up at auction, I would expect it to be between £5,000 and £7,000″.
Shocked, the owner of the jewellery responded: “Wow. Right. I wasn’t expecting that. Not at all.”
But she was even more stunned when the potential value of the pendant was revealed.
“Then we have the beautiful pendant, it’s absolutely stunning,” said Ms Rumfitt.
“So, auction estimate, £20,000 to £30,000.”
Amid gasps from the crowds gathered in Botanic Gardens, the guest became emotional after the price tag was revealed.
“Oh my God. Wow. Never entered my head,” she said.
She later said it was “just one almighty shock”.
“I just always thought it was a nice pendant, and it’s worth, maybe, not a lot, not a lot, no,” she said.
“It really took my breath away, that’s all I can say.
“Unbelievable.”
