ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

'Antiques Roadshow' guest gets a staggering valuation for jewelry that her mom never even wore

As per the guest, even her father had no idea where the piece of jewelry came from.
PUBLISHED JUN 27, 2025
Screenshots showing the guest on "Antiques Roadshow." (Image credit: YouTube | BBC Antiques Roadshow)
Screenshots showing the guest on "Antiques Roadshow." (Image credit: YouTube | BBC Antiques Roadshow)

Objects can be lying around the house for years, and people still may not know how much they are worth. Sometimes, the item is not even used, left to collect dust, only to be appraised at a significant valuation. That is exactly what happened on an earlier episode of the BBC edition of “Antiques Roadshow,” when a guest brought two pieces of jewelry that belonged to her mother. One of those was never even worn by its former owner.

One of the items was a bejeweled bug that could be worn as a brooch and a locket with several gems attached to it. The bug was left to the guest by her mother, but the locket was one that she picked for herself, and she and her sister were going through their late mother’s belongings. “I don’t even know if it’s real. We never saw it, my mother never wore it, and my father didn’t know where it came from,” she said.

The expert was dazzled by both the items and claimed that the locket was an 18th-century revival jewellery. It had blue enamel, several diamonds, and a big ruby right in the middle. Despite never seeing her mother wearing the locket, the guest claimed that she wore it quite often and loved it. “I do wear it and I love it,” she said, which the expert thought was “marvellous.”

Screenshot showing the locket on
Screenshot showing the locket on "Antiques Roadshow." (Image source: YouTube | BBC Antiques Roadshow)

Before appraising both items, the expert first asked if the guest had ever gotten the items valued in the past. She had the bejeweled bug appraised before, but not the locket, since she did not believe it was real. The expert then revealed that the locket was worth $6,100 to $6,800. This came as a big surprise to the guest. It wasn’t as valuable as the brooch, but it was certainly worth a ton of money. "That's very gasp if you think it was sort of loose and Maa never wore it," she said.

The star of the show, however, was the bejeweled bug. “This is the most extraordinary bug,” the expert said before asking the guest about it. The guest believed that it was bought for her grandmother in the 1890s, and the expert said that the date seemed about right. He called it a bumblebee brooch and a Victorian one at that. One of the reasons why this item was more interesting than the locket was that its box was intact.

Screenshot showing the brooch on
Screenshot showing the brooch on "Antiques Roadshow." (Image source: YouTube | BBC Antiques Roadshow)

The brooch was made by a company called Lacloche Freres. “They’re a very distinguished firm running in competition with Cartier. So, there’s a maker for a superb gem set,” the expert said. This one had a large sapphire, several diamonds, and rubies for eyes, making it a truly striking figure. The guest had gotten it appraised in the past for $5,400. However, she never could have expected the appraisal value at the time of taping.



 

“I think that’s a very desirable thing. It’s very concentrated. It’s very animated. It’s by a superb maker and everybody wants this thing. Honestly, they do. And value is to do with measured want,” the expert added. He then said that the brooch was worth $13,000. The guest let out a gasp after hearing this and just said, “God.”

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The business makes a big part of its revenue from its membership plans, and it hopes to bolster them
11 hours ago
A couple of videos that claimed so have gone viral on TikTok, causing the masses to panic.
12 hours ago
The host seemingly did not want the compliment at first, but his demeanor changed later on.
14 hours ago
Fans of the show were impressed with her skills, but the Bonus Round was a bit too tough.
15 hours ago
The rumor had never been substantiated with facts but it still swirled around for many years.
16 hours ago
The entrepreneurs did not want to disclose their costs on TV, which Mark Cuban did not take well.
1 day ago
While being energetic is good, fans want the contestants to be more genuine than they seem.
1 day ago
The item was a stick that had memories of the guest's grandfather carved into it.
1 day ago
The host had no idea about the popular cartoon series and his expressions were hilarious.
1 day ago
Despite messing up, the co-founders of Eco Nuts wanted a Shark to work 16 hours a day for them.
1 day ago
The contestant said she was bad at it but there is no excuse for mistaking a continent for a country
2 days ago
Corey Harrison did not know much about the jersey, but he got a lot of help from the expert.
2 days ago
The contestant would have become the first man to achieve the big prize.
2 days ago
The question was about some of the most popular boy bands of all time.
3 days ago
The guest did not create a fuss but was adamant about the authenticity of his item.
3 days ago
The host's speech made for a sombre moment but he found a way to make that funny as well.
3 days ago
Fans once again called out the puzzle, which, according to them, was too tough.
4 days ago
The guest wanted a five-figure sum at first but was left disappointed by Harrison's stubbornness.
4 days ago
Rick Harrison was not as careful with this item as one would have expected him to be.
4 days ago
The contestant got a couple of chances to answer, and Harvey was left unimpressed on both occasions.
4 days ago