Two Antiques Roadshow guests received the shock of their life when they realised how much their mother’s ring was worth.
The couple weren’t really interested in having the jewels appraised, but they decided to give it a shot because there was no line at one expert’s table.
And, well, let’s just say they’ll be grateful.
‘The ring was my mum’s,’ the guest explained as she showed it off on her little finger.
‘We’re pretty sure it was given to her by my great-grandfather.
‘We were helping her, we were cleaning stuff out and, in the sock drawer, we stumbled upon this ring that was wrapped up in a sock.’
‘No! I don’t believe that!’, exclaimed stunned expert Joanna Hardy.
‘It could’ve gone in the washing machine, or to charity!’, she added, baffled.
‘I said, “Mum, is this your ring?”, she said, “Oh, yes. I kept it in there so I didn’t lose it”,’ the guest recalled.
Describing the silver dazzler, Joanna said: ‘It is absolutely superb. Made in platinum, it’s about 1915.
‘The diamond is what we call a transitional cut, there’s a really soft look about it, there’s nothing sharp. It has such an air of sophistication.’
‘It is nearly a full carat, so it’s a really large size,’ she added.
Joanna did notice a’really little defect’ on the side of the ring.
She emphasised that it was ‘natural’ and not anyone’s fault, but she advised the women to get the claw corrected if they wanted to sell.
How much would it be worth? Well…
‘If you were at auction, this would be in the region of £20,000,’ Joanna told them.
Naturally, the pair were speechless.
‘Wow, oh gosh,’ one said, immediately going wide-eyed in disbelief.
‘It is such a stunning, stunning ring,’ Joanna added.
‘We better get that claw fixed!’, the owner joked.
Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays on BBC One and iPlayer.
