Antiques Roadshow expert marvels at worthless | TV Shows

An Antiques Roadshow expert marveled at what was believed to be a “worthless” gemstone, telling its proprietor that it was a show “first.”

John Benjamin, an expert on the BBC model of the beloved show, left a visitor speechless when he dropped a jaw-dropping revelation about her supposed “worthless” sapphire brooch.

The lady revealed she had introduced the brooch to a number of jewellers, who questioned its authenticity, but Benjamin wasn’t satisfied it was pretend.

John started, “Now, when we were sitting at the table back there, you said to me, ‘I’ve got a brooch that’s always been known as the big blue blob.’ And sure enough when you see it residing there in this case, it’s a big blue blob.”

The visitor went on to clarify the merchandise’s historical past, saying she inherited it from her grandmother and wore it on her marriage ceremony day.

“Well, the brooch itself was made about the mid to the end of the 19th century, so it is about 130, 140 years old,” Benjamin added. “The style of it is actually quite ordinary. It’s a cushion and it’s got a big blue cushion stone surrounded by white stones.

“Then we transfer on to the issue, which is what really is the blue stone, and you’ve been told by some jewellers to take it away, it’s worthless.”

The guest revealed, “It’s costume jewellery. They didn’t believe us. They were quite rude to me and my husband. Some people said it was paste, some people said they weren’t real diamonds, and some people said they were real diamonds but they weren’t good quality.”

Benjamin continued, “So you’ve been told by a number of jewellers that it’s an inconsequential piece of costume jewellery mounted on a piece of blue glass worth nothing.

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“So if I had been to say whoever these jewellers had been they had been speaking absolute garbage, would you be completely satisfied to hear that?

“This is not a piece of jewelry of no consequence at all, it is a piece of significant consequence because the stone in the middle is an absolutely enormous sapphire. Cushion-shaped sapphire.”

The visitor gasped as the expert urged her to contemplate the dimensions of the gem because, he said, “usually if someone has a sapphire ring, it’s a small stone on the finger.”

However, he added, the visitor’s sapphire weighed about 25 to 30 carats. Benjamin said, “In the world of gemstones that’s quite big actually.”

“It comes from Ceylon, which is, of course, Sri Lanka today. Ceylon sapphires are typically this very bright cornflower blue color. The white stones – you were told blithely by a jeweller that these were paste. They’re diamonds, mounted up in gold and set in silver and it’s in its original fitted box and it’s an absolute screamer, it really is.”

Benjamin then revealed the valuation of the merchandise, and the proprietor was completely surprised.

“Now I have to be honest with you, I’ve done this show for so long I’ve never seen a sapphire of this size ever bought onto the Antiques Roadshow, this is a real first time for me,” he said.

“If I were to take such an item of jewelery and consign it to an auction I would expect it to make between £40,000 to 50,000.”

The visitor was visibly shocked and uttered, “Oh my word, I don’t want to swear. Blooming heck!”

“Blooming heck indeed, it’s an absolute beauty. What else can I say about it? It’s fabulous,” Benjamin added.