'Antiques Roadshow' guest gets a $1 million valuation for his item — then says 'it's not for sale'

Items on "Antiques Roadshow" often get appraisals that leave their owners surprised, but sometimes even guests are absolutely stunned after coming across something extremely rare. One such item was a Faberge ornament that became one of the most valuable items to ever appear on the show. The regimental jewel took the show's Jewelry expert, Geoffrey Munn's, breath away as he couldn't help but marvel at its beauty. Eventually, Munn valued it at £1 million or approximately $1.27 million at the time, according to Artnet. 

In the special episode, Colonel Stamford Cartwright brought the item to the show on behalf of the squadron, known as B (Staffs, Warwick and Worcs Yeo) Sqn, The Royal Yeomanry. "We call it the regimental jewel. The regiment, the Worcestershire Yeomanry, later to become the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars, was formed in 1794 to protect these shores against a Napoleonic invasion," he said about the origins of the regiment. He further explained that while the regiment was formed only to fight within the United Kingdom, it was sent overseas in 1899, during the Boer War.

"It was decided that some of the Yeomanry, as volunteers, would be mobilised. And when they left the shores, the countess of Dudley, whose husband, the Earl of Dudley, was a member of the regiment - he was second in command - she presented each and every soldier that went out with a sprig of pear blossom, worked in silk, that they were to wear in their hat as a reminder of the county that they had left, i.e. the pear blossom emblem of Worcestershire," he explained. He added that when the regiment returned in 1903, she presented this "sprig of pear blossom," manufactured by Faberge as a gift to them.

Taking over, Munn explained the various details and the construction of the item. "This looks for all the world like a glass vase. And there's a stratagem here that it's filled with water, and this is the meniscus, the top of the water, but in fact, it isn't. It's a solid block, which is apparently glass, but it's certainly not - it's stone. It's rock crystal. It's icy cold even on this hot day, and it's immensely difficult to carve - it's much, much harder than glass," he explained. 

He further added that the real magic was to make it look as if the sprig is supported, but in reality, it is drilled down into the rock crystal for the stalk to receive it. "The stalk is made of gold. And it's almost as if we can see from time to time that new buds are going to blossom on here. That would be quite surreal, wouldn't it?" Munn exclaimed. He noted that the flowers of the piece are made of enamelled silver and tiny silver stamens, and they had a diamond as a dewdrop in the centre.

"The leaves are made of Siberian Jade, from the Ural mountains. And then we have the original fitted box, which is made of holly wood - literally the wood of the holly tree, from Siberia," Gunn explained. "And then, just to get the message across, she probably asked Faberge to put a triumphant laurel here in green gold tied with the red-gold bow," he said. 

The guest confirmed the assumption, saying that it was the battle honour that was awarded to the regiment in South Africa. Munn noted that it helped to date the item, and it belonged to a time when some of Faberge's best creations happened.

He then shared that the item is still presented as the centerpiece on dinner nights when the officers and the regiment are assembled. "It's perhaps suffered over the years being stuffed under the bed on occasions at the end of the evening or missed the odd bread roll," he added. This detail took Munn's breath away as he knew how valuable the item was. "It's making me utterly breathless because I find Faberge things on the Antiques Roadshow but nothing of this scale," he said.

Noting that it was a "towering masterpiece of the goldsmith's art by the most famous goldsmith of the 20th century," Munn estimated that the item was easily worth a million pounds or $1.27 million at the time. The value stunned the Colonel and his soldiers, who stared at the expert with wide eyes. "Goodness gracious. Well, I'm supposed to say now, it's not for sale. I'm just the custodian," the guest said.