AR: Guest shocked over diamond ring valuation
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An Antiques Roadshow mother-daughter duo were taken aback when their family ring, which was kept in a sock for safekeeping, was given a five-figure value.
Expert Joanne Hardy was welcoming guests to bring their jewellery to be appraised but two women almost didn’t go up to her to have their beautiful diamond ring appraised on the BBC show.
The guest explained: “We weren’t actually [going to come over].
“We passed by you and realised there was no queue so we thought, well actually my daughter said, 'That’s a jewellery place, should we show her the ring? Why not?’"
She then went on to elaborate on how they came across the piece of jewellery, saying: “The ring was my mum’s, we’re pretty sure it was given to her by my late grandfather and we were helping out, clearing out stuff and in the sock drawer, we stumbled upon this ring that was wrapped up in a sock.”
“No! I don’t believe that. And it could have gone in the washing machine," Joanne exclaimed.
The guest continued: “We could have just bundled everything up -” before Joanne interrupted: “Given it to the charity maybe - oh my goodness!”
“When I said ‘Mum, is this your ring?’ and she said: ‘Oh yes I kept it in there so I don’t lose it.’”
Speaking in detail about the ring, Joanne began: “It is absolutely superb. Made from platinum, it is about 1915, the diamond is what we call a transitional cut.
“It’s a soft, really soft look about it. You’ve got the facets but nothing sharp, the modern bling cut, to me, is quite brash but this has such an air of sophistication.
“It is nearly a 4 carat so it’s a really large size. The clarity, it has just a very tiny little flaw to the side, it’s natural so it’s nothing you’ve done.
“You will need to re-tip the claw, there’s one claw there that has come adrift.”
Ready to give her appraisal, Joanne concluded: “But if you were at auction, this would be in the region of £20,000.”
The mother and daughter guests’ jaws fell and they looked at one another in silent amazement.
“Wow. Oh gosh. Wow," the mum said before her daughter joked: “I won’t be taking it off my finger.”
Her mum added: “We better get that claw fixed quickly. Wow. Wow.”
Joanne then commented: “It is such a stunning, stunning ring. It’s absolutely lovely.”
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
