Antiques Roadshow audiences were left stunned when an expert revealed the staggering value of a woman’s ring on this week’s episode.
This week, the much-loved BBC programme was shown at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, and one episode featured a woman bringing two rings from her late mother.
One of the rings had once been recovered from a gas station sink, making the story even more unbelievable.
Expert John Benjamin started with the question: ‘You brought two rings, one with blue stones and one with a white stone. Family rings?’
The guest replied, “Yes, my mother’s. Well, unfortunately my mother passed away a few months ago. I knew she had the rings, but she hadn’t worn them in a while.
Antiques Roadshow audiences were left stunned when an expert revealed the staggering value of a woman’s ring on this week’s episode
This week the much-loved BBC show headed to Wrest Park in Bedfordshire, where one episode featured a woman bringing two rings from her late mother
‘My father bought the white one for her a few years ago, many, many years ago.
“That other one, where that other one came from, I’m not sure.”
The guest then told the story about the petrol station: ‘She said once she went to visit her friend at the big one. She was on her way to Brighton and when she stopped at a petrol station and went to the ladies’ toilet, the tank fell off her finger and down the drain.
‘Luckily it was very early in the morning, she went outside and someone came along and opened the trap and luckily the trap fell out.’
Of the larger ring Benjamin said: ‘I looked at it with my lens and there are indeed some minor internal errors.
“It has a little bit of color. The best diamonds you can buy are colorless, known as D color.
‘The color of this diamond is probably about J color, so you can see it’s a couple of degrees lower on the scale.
“But the overall impression it makes, for a ring that disappeared down the sink, is pretty good.”
One of the rings had been rescued from a gas station sink at the time, making the story even more incredible
Expert John Benjamin confirmed that it was in fact a 4.3-carat brilliant-cut diamond (left) from the 1950s and said it was worth a whopping £20,000.
Benjamin subsequently confirmed that it was in fact a 4.3-carat brilliant-cut diamond from the 1950s and was worth a whopping £20,000.
When they heard that, the audience went from one surprise to another and the guest pulled a surprised face.
She laughed and said, “Wow. Okay. That’s really nice. I’m glad she got it out of the sink!”
Earlier this week, another Antiques Roadshow guest was so stunned she had difficulty breathing when she heard the value of her ‘dumb’ grandmother’s Olympic gold medal.
Appraiser Adam Schoon told the good news to Julia, who had brought along a collection of swimming medals.
Her impressive collection of awards included a gold medal from the 1924 Paris Olympics, which had belonged to her grandmother Lucy Morton.
Julia explained that Lucy had started swimming at the age of 10 and had competed in the Olympic Games in Paris, but no one expected her to do very well.
She brought a picture and said, “That’s my grandma Lucy Morton. She started swimming when she was about 10 years old.”
“What happened was that her father said, ‘You’re too much of a dunce at school, you don’t seem to be doing very well,’ and he decided, ‘Let’s try swimming.'”
The BBC expert was intrigued by the catch and noticed there were also several medals from smaller races.
He said: ‘Back to her remarkable rise, because it is littered with gold medals.
‘I saw that there are a number of medals here that she would have won for, I suppose, county races, national races. She sets world records.
“They’re all 15-karat gold, but all these smaller medals ultimately make up this one.”
Adam then pointed to the largest medal, an Olympic gold medal, and Julia happily explained its background to him.
She said: ‘In 1923 they became very interested in her and asked her to take up swimming in preparation for the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.
‘She trained and went to Paris in 1924. She wasn’t expected to win or anything.
‘Unfortunately, I have heard that some Americans have been infected with a virus.
‘She made it to the finals of the 200m breaststroke and everyone was cheering, apparently. She crossed the finish line and had a chaperone with her, who said, ‘You won!’
‘Got her out of the pool, put her in her robe. She was actually the first female swimmer to win a gold medal in swimming for Great Britain.
“I’m really proud of her. At that age, at that time, women didn’t do that and to actually swim at 27, I think that was quite old.”
The appraiser was very impressed and told the guest that she should be rightly proud. He also said that Julia might be surprised by the value of one medal from her grandmother.
He explained that the medal was quite rare and that although it was made of silver, only 304 copies existed.
He said: ‘It was designed in Paris by a man called André Rivaud, it was made at the Paris mint and there were only 304 of them made, as far as I know.’
Julia said her grandmother Lucy continued swimming even after her own career was over.
The impressive athlete served as coach of the Olympic team and mentored other swimmers in the country.
She said, ‘She loved it. It was her life.’
It comes after another Antiques Roadshow guest earlier this week was left so stunned she struggled to catch her breath when she learned the staggering value of her ‘dumb’ grandmother’s Olympic gold medal.
The impressive haul included a gold medal from the 1924 Paris Olympics, which belonged to her grandmother Lucy Morton
Finally, Adam revealed how much he thought the medal was worth.
He said to Julia, ‘So when it comes to value, Olympic medal, £15,000?’
The guest was so stunned by the news that she had difficulty breathing, but she couldn’t help but laugh at the enormous amount.
“What? That one medal?” she gasped.
The expert suggested that all the other medals could be worth another £15,000, making Julia’s total treasure worth at least £30,000. However, the appraiser added that the most valuable item was Julia’s grandmother’s journal.