'Dazzling' Silver Ring Has Connection To Queen Victoria | BBC Antiques Roadshow UK

Well, this is a dazzling collection of jewellery that you've brought me today. Tell me about it. Tell me about the ring first. The ring belonged to my great-grandmother. Who happens to be this lady here? That's that lady there, yes. In her court dress, perhaps, with fine lace and pearls, and that signals a pretty elevated status, doesn't it? She was married to a guy called Clement Smith, and he was Queen Victoria's vicar. And tell me about his life with Queen Victoria. Did it go right to the end, or...? He gave her her last communion. Goodness, and what an enormous event that was, an earth-shattering event. And then he would come home and tell her all about it, and she would be wearing this very ring. Yes. And do you wear that one? I do wear it, but because it's silver, I'm a bit scared of wearing it. I think you can wear it safely. It's in very robust condition. I've seen it, and I think it's for you. I think you would quite enjoy that, wouldn't you? And then what about this one? This one's a bit more personal, I think, to you, isn't it? It was given to me as a wedding present from my husband. Goodness, and that's quite a wedding present, isn't it? And were you startled when you opened the box and saw it there? Yes, a bit. But what's its significance to you? It's the interlaced Ls of Lorne and Louise, which is what the Argyll and Sutherland Highlander regiment was. Yes, your husband's regimental cipher. Cipher, yes. Rendered in platinum. Here we see platinum and diamonds and rubies and enamel. This is a miracle of craftsmanship, this thing. Now, these two objects are strangely apart. They're both diamond-set jewels, very refined ones from two very different eras, and they do carry two very different values. Normally, an array of five stones like this would be based on the weight of the stones if they were recut, and this would be a complete travesty because this is a mid-19th-century ring, looking absolutely wonderful as it is, and I don't think anybody would dream much of doing that. So, very pretty, original condition, enviable, marketable. So, £3,000 to £5,000. And the value of the regimental badge is completely topsy-turvy in this regard because it would be an enormously expensive object to make today. You can have these made by the great jewelers up and down Regent Street, and it would be very costly indeed. It would probably cost £8,000 to £10,000 to make a brooch like this. But in a similar way to buying a great couturier dress or a car, as soon as you take it home, the value diminishes enormously because it's such specific interest. And so, commercially, it's not so terribly exciting. It's certainly worth £800 today. Wow. And it ought to be worth dramatically more than that, really. But what a joy. Thank you so much for bringing it. It's wonderful. Thank you. Thank you.