Antiques Roadshow guest blown away by ‘special’ jewels with eye-watering five-figure value
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In an episode of Antiques Roadshow, which was originally broadcast in 2022, BBC viewers were taken to Bishop’s Palace in Somerset where expert Joanna Hardy inspected two special brooches. Before finding out more information about the item, the expert confessed the jewels gave her an immediate headrush of excitement. She told the guest: "The fact that they have come in very well-known red boxes. The impact that this brooch and these earrings have together, I think is just absolutely gorgeous.".
Curious, Joanna asked the woman how the dazzling jewels ended up in her possession. Sadly, she explained her mother had died the year before, and they were left to her. She added: "I'd seen her wear them but I didn't really know what they were and then when I got them home and I realised what they were because of the boxes.".
BBC viewers learnt the items were Cartier jewels, which were both signed on the back, something the woman was unaware of. Joanna commented that her mother must've loved jewellery, which the lady agreed with. She commented: "My father used to buy her jewellery a lot and in fact, brought all the girls in the family jewellery quite a lot so that was lovely!".
However, the guest had to clarify not all items were as special as the ones she had brought in to get valued. Curious, Joanna wanted to know when her father purchased the jewels. Guessing that the items were bought in the 1970s, the BBC expert quickly explained the Cartier pieces were from the 1940s. Joanna added: "In the 40s, because of the austerity years, obviously with the war, you couldn't get the diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. So, other stones took over with these citrines, amethysts, topaz and aquamarines, they really dominated the jewellery of this period.".
