19-05-2025
Antiques Roadshow guest struggles to speak after learning the eye-watering value of 'extraordinary' family heirloom
A guest on Antiques Roadshow struggled to speak after they discovered the value of an 'extraordinary' family heirloom.
Sunday's episode of the BBC show saw a guest present expert Joanna Hardy with a piece of jewellery made of ten gold nuggets.
'They just look extraordinary,' she commented, as the owner explained her grandfather had gifted the bracelet to her grandmother.
The guest revealed: 'My grandfather worked in Segovia, in Colombia in the Frontino mines in the '30s and '40s.
'He was an engineer so I don't believe he mined those by hand, but I think he must have got those from there.'
Joanna marvelled how the piece of jewellery was 'ahead of its time' given the art deco style that was popular in the 1930s.
The expert gushed over the nature of the bracelet and precious metal it was made of.
She said: 'Gold, it is the only metal that is just so malleable, it doesn't rust, it doesn't tarnish, it's inactive to chemical reactions so what you see here is exactly the same as when it was first found.
'It's just got that raw energy about it.'
The guest agreed and commented, 'I love it when I wear it because it's really heavy and it just fits, it's a really nice size as well.;
Joanna moved onto discussing the value of the item and pointed out 'Gold has never been higher than today'.
'So at auction, I think you'd be looking at around £5,000,' she explained.
The guest was visibly shocked and appeared to struggle to speak after realising the value of her bracelet.
She stammered: 'Oh! Okay. That's quite a lot, everybody said that I know but it's really a lot more than I thought.'
The guest was visibly shocked and appeared to struggle to speak after realise the value of her bracelet
The guest then tried on the bracelet to show how it looked on and revealed she wore it on special occasions.
'Oh my goodness it was so much more than I was expecting to be honest.
'I just thought it would be the gold rate, I didn't think there would be any extra value in what it was,' she gushed.
