Antiques Roadshow expert warns guests their watch could be fake
Antiques Roadshow expert Richard Price issued a warning to one couple after he admitted he wasn't sure whether the watch they'd brought along for valuation was real or fake. The expert began by asking the guest where she got the watch, to which she replied: "It's my dad's watch, my late dad. He decided to buy this watch back in 2008 I think."
Sharing where the watch originated, Richard said: "Right. So go back 90 odd years when the British Army were in India, and they used to play polo, and the problem is, if you were wearing a watch... an ordinary round watch, and you got walloped by a mallet, it just got destroyed."
"So somebody said, 'I wonder if anybody could make a watch that we could actually reverse the case'. Had you ever realised that the case flipped around inside out?" Richard asked as the guest agreed: "Yes, I knew that."
"Okay, well on the original reverse, so that would have been metal, the normal stainless steel back and this is a stainless watch, it's not white gold or platinum. And then you can see the movement...very, very pretty watch, technically beautiful."
However, things took an unexpected turn when Richard shared his worries about the watch.
He said: "So, what slightly worries me and you're going to hate me for saying this.
"These have been beautifully copied. I would be tempted if it were mine to send it off to actually be verified.
"But if it's right, what do you hope it might be worth?"
One of the guests replied: "Can I have a guess? I would say it's worth about £6,500."
Clearly impressed by his knowledge, Richard went on: "Actually, that's really not a bad guess at all because I was gonna say between £6,000 and £8,000 retail."
The guest added: " That is fantastic. We had a bet before we came on and I said around £6,000 and £6,500. So I thought that's just on the mark then."
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
