BBC Antiques Roadshow expert issues guest urgent warning over item's authenticity

Antiques Roadshow expert Will Farmer sent a guest on a mission as he promised she could "double the value" of her items.

During an episode of the BBC show, a guest brought a set of Lalique glassware with an intriguing backstory to Will's attention.

"They are just style personified," Will said as he looked at the glasses. "Fill me in. Tell me about this little group of crystal we've got here before me."

The owner explained: "Well, my father-in-law was an engineer at Royal Daulton Minton and apparently these were made for the set of James Bond: Diamonds Are Forever in 1971.

"Royal Daulton made all the china and these were glass for the tables in the dining room. So we've always wondered whether they are set pieces or whether they were of the time of 1971, whether that could be true or not."

Delving into the history of the glasses, Will said: "These are by Rene Lalique. And the design was created in 1939. But let's just unpick the path and the story a little bit.

"So, a 1939 design, the pattern is called Argos, and it's defined by this lovely simple bowl and this fabulous Art Deco band of zigzags around the bottom. So much of the era. Absolutely. They couldn't be more Deco if they tried.

"But, as a design, it's one that has been in continuous production," Will added. "So (they're) not designed for the film, but were they made to be used in the film?

He pondered: "Because if we just turn this one over and look at the mark we have under here, hand-engraved 'Lalique France'. Now, there's a definitive thing when we're looking at an ageing Lalique.

"When Rene Lalique was alive, every single piece of his work is marked 'R Lalique'. On his death in 1945, they dropped the R and it becomes generically 'Lalique'. His son takes over the running of the firm and I would argue that that hand-engraved mark is contemporary for that time."

However, Will had a difficult time finding a value due to the uncertainty surrounding the glassware's authenticity in regards to its ties to James Bond.

Will revealed: "As they are now, we've just got potentially a single place setting of Lalique stemware in the Argos pattern, circa 1939, in design, absolutely, probably made circa 1970, that are worth £50 to £60 per glass. So there's a couple of hundred pounds here.

Issuing an urgent request for the owner, the expert quipped: "But, if you can make all the ends meet, find the facts of the story from somebody who is so deeply ingrained in the world of James Bond and prove they were part of the room and stage setting, the only thing it's gonna do is double the value, easily.

"But in the meantime, they say diamonds are forever, I think style is forever. They are excellent."

As the guest left with her glasses, Will explained that he was going to do some research of his own to try and prove the Lalique's ties to the 007 franchise.

"Well, two of my favourite things - Bond and Lalique," he told the camera. "Now, I can stand here all day and tell you all about Lalique, but the one thing I couldn't do today was join the caps and make that connection with the pieces to the film.

"But that's the fun part of this job because I can do away and do that now."