30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Antiques Roadshow guest pulls a face as she believed ring worth a staggering fortune was ‘plastic'
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WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An Antiques Roadshow laughed as the ring she thought was 'plastic', was actually worth a small fortune.
Expert Geoffrey Munn was on hand at Eastbourne Bandstand during filming of another episode of the BBC daytime series.
It was here he met a woman who presented a brooch, as well as two rings, one of which was part of the other piece of jewellery.
The guest explained: 'It was left to my daughter by my mother-in-law and she's got very narrow, very small beautiful fingers and she couldn't wear that one.
'So we thought it's better to use it so she could wear it. We haven't damaged anything, we've just taken out very carefully and made it into a ring to fit her.
'And then I put that one [another jewel] in, just to have something. And I kept the original box.'
(Image: BBC)
'They've both got very, very interesting histories, I think I want to deal with this one first,' Munn commented as he pointed to the green ring inside its matching green box.
The owner commented: 'That belonged to my other daughter from my mother-in-law again.'
When asked who purchased the ring, she said: 'I don't know. My mother-in-law was born and brought up in France, by Greek origin, and then she married my father-in-law in 1925 and she came to England.
'So they often went to Paris so it could have been my father-in-law or her father, I don't know.'
The expert remarked: 'I think it probably dates from her time in Paris and she was clearly a very discriminating buyer, because Boucheron is one of the most famous firms in the world for making jewellery, in tandem with Cartier and Faberge.
'So it's the highest possible level of craftsmanship and here we see it.
'This is a plaque of jade isn't it, mounted in platinum, with a sort of stylised ribbon behind it in sapphires and diamonds.
'But this is superbly tight work, very meticulous, very shrill picture of perfection indeed.
'And the disc of jade, it actually anticipates the art deco period where there was a whiff of the Orient brought in to the rather geometric style.
'I suspect this is just a hint before that breaks out, maybe [in] 1920 this was made and then by 1925, 1927, things have got much more geometric and robust.'
Munn then diverted his attention to the second ring which he said was a 'beautiful expression' of the art deco period.
He said: 'It's made of rock crystal which is nothing to do with glass at all. And it's a stone and its lapidary work and it almost looks like a machine-made object.'
The guest laughed: 'Yes it does, I thought it was plastic!', as Munn replied: 'Well it most definitely isn't, it's ice-cold, water white, rock crystal -', with her interjecting that it 'looks plastic' for a second time.
He explained that it had been retailed by French jeweller Rene Boivin but was made by jeweller Suzanne Belperron who was a manufacturer of his.
(Image: BBC)
'So you'd have a water white rock crystal art deco ring with a water white diamond in the middle, an older cut diamond, and it's a sort of essay in colourlessness, isn't it? And the return of light and scintillation,' Munn commented.
'Two stones, one valuable, one perhaps not valuable but decorative.
'And these are stunning evocations of Parisian glamour, aren't they? It's exactly what people want today and with want comes dizzy value.'
Beginning his appraisal, Munn stated: 'I think for this Boucheron brooch here, made of actually tiny, tiny sapphires and diamonds and jade of no particular value, is nudging £18,000.'
Upon hearing this extortionate figure, the guest was left speechless, pulling a face as she said: 'What? Ooh', looking around confused.
He continued: 'But that's not the end of it. Because the diamond here, intrinsically it's worth another dazzling £15,000.
'And it was jolly fortunate you kept the original context of this and you were very careful to have done that.
'I'm going to sigh a breath of relief, because this is a very, very exciting moment indeed. You do have something that's at the centre of jewellery collecting at the moment.
'People want this jewellery, this colourless art deco statement, more than you can ever imagine.
'So I think if you were to put that diamond back in there, a value of £55,000 to £60,000 would be appropriate.'
The guest once again pulled a face as she 'ooh'd' at the stunning figure before laughing: 'Yes. Ouch.'
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
