Grandmother’s Victorian Jewellery Collection Surprises Owner At Valuation | Antiques Roadshow UK

Quite often, jewellery is just kept in jewellery boxes or in its own fitted case, as we see here, but we've got a lovely photograph of a young couple and the lady is wearing the brooch that we see here on the cushion. What's the connection between the lady and gentleman in the picture and yourself? The lady is my grandmother in 1940. So do you know how she got hold of that, was it a wedding gift? I don't know, I'm assuming it's a family piece because she's had it on her wedding day so hopefully it's been passed down. But what about these two, do they belong to her as well or are these things that you've collected? No, no, these belong to her sister Amy, my great-aunt, and they were given to me on my 21st birthday. Oh I love it when they hear stories like that. So this belongs to you as well now? It belongs to my sister and myself. Well the brooch dates from round about 1900 to 1910 and it's very much in the style of the garland style of jewellery that was highly fashionable and it's all about, as we can see, clusters of diamonds, lovely little pendant swags that move and real delicacy. And on the reverse of the brooch as well there's a little screw back fitting which you can take out and then that would have attached to a hair ornament. This multifunctional jewellery at this period was really fashionable. Contrasting completely because we've got really good colour here with the very, very pretty pendant and of course the bangle. These are gold, yellow gold, and they're sat with turquoise and turquoise is seen as the true colour of the forget-me-not flower. So there's a hidden meaning within this jewellery of forget-me-not. So it's an extremely romantic piece of jewellery together with the bracelet that we see here which also is set with the turquoise but some of it has gone back to its original colour of green which it is before it's highly polished. It's a natural occurrence and you can't do anything about it but that's that's what actually happens. Whereas this one we can see is probably being kept in its box lid shut and in very good condition. So date wise earlier than the diamond one round about 1880 for this and also the bangle 1870-1880. Are they English? They are English indeed yes they've got all the marks to say that they would have been made somewhere in Britain during this period and to build up sets of jewellery during the Victorian period was the height of fashion. You didn't have to buy everything at once you could piecemeal it together until you get your whole set or perure of jewellery as we call it. Well of course values are always really important and with regard to the pendant it's easily wearable it's colourful it's got a contemporary almost feel to it with the contrast of the turquoise against the gold. This in an auction environment you would be looking at about a thousand to fifteen hundred. So the bangle sadly because of the discolouration of the turquoise it does slightly devalue it but even so again I think you'd be looking at a thousand to fifteen hundred for a piece like that because it is it is pretty. And finally the diamond brooch which would have been part of a tiara in an auction environment because of all of the construction of it and the beauty of it I can see this selling for between two and three thousand pounds. I'll have to tell my sister. You will because she will be watching the programme so you better come clean beforehand. I will do yes definitely thank you.