'Antiques Roadshow' expert loved the guest's jewelry so much that she wanted to 'run away' with it
Vintage artifacts and collectibles on “Antiques Roadshow” never fail to amaze, but some of them are just a cut above the rest. Such items are so special that experts get excited when they see them. On an earlier episode of the BBC edition of the show, one guest brought a brooch and a pair of earrings. The whole set looked stunning and was made by one of the biggest jewelers in the world. The expert said that she wanted to run away with them at one point.
The guest said that she had inherited the jewels from her mother after she had passed away. The earrings and the brooch came in separate boxes, and it was the name on the inside of those boxes that was the most important. These were Cartier jewels, something the guest had not known about before inheriting them. The jewels were made of citrine, a stone that was all the rage back in the 1940s.
The expert said that both the earrings and the brooch were made around that time, even though the guest’s father had purchased them for her mother in the 1970s. The jewels also had the Cartier signature inscribed on them. When asked how her mother wore the jewels, the guest revealed that the brooch usually went on her suit, which she wore when she went to watch some racing.
“She used to wear them on a suit, usually. My father had race horses and they used to go racing a lot, and she’d often wear them on the lapel of her suit or something like that,” she said. Cartier jewels usually have diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, but that was not the case with this one due to World War II, according to the expert.
“In the ‘40s, because of the austerity years, obviously with the war, you couldn’t get the diamonds and the rubies and emeralds, and sapphires. And so, other stones took over. With these, citrines, amethysts, topaz, aquamarines, and they really dominated the jewelry of this period,” she said. The expert then revealed the earrings had been altered and weren’t in their original form.
That doesn’t mean they’re not worth a load of money. When the time came for appraisal, the expert said that the pair of earrings, despite being altered, were worth £10,000 ($13,705.55). The guest wasn’t expecting this kind of a valuation and just said, “Lord.” However, the brooch was about to give her the biggest shock of the segment.
“This brooch, which I would run away with, I just think it’s spectacular. I mean, I love it. I love the colors,” the expert added. She then revealed that the brooch was worth a whopping £30,000 ($41,116.65) at auction. The guest’s eyes opened wide after hearing this. She admitted that it was a lot higher than what she had initially expected.
“Goodness me. That is a lot more than I thought,” she said with a big smile on her face. It’s safe to say that Cartier never fails to amaze its customers.
