Geoffrey Munn’s Jewellery Valuations That Left Owners Speechless | Antiques Roadshow UK

It's a wonderful, spectacular display of natural beauty, isn't it? And very flattering. So you think your wife had problems. Think of Princess Yusupova walking around with this. The value is quite dizzy, I must say. Goodness me. That'll give my husband a shock. Now, when you were given this, did you think it was a brooch? Yes, I did. I only ever saw my grandmother wear it as a brooch. So I didn't think it would be anything else. And, of course, it's got the pin across the back. Also, at the back, there's a little clue to the fact that it was to be worn in another way. Have you ever unscrewed this or not? Oh, no. And there it falls away. And that's the key to another function, to this very, very pretty jewel. It looks almost freer without it, doesn't it? Yes. And in the fitted box in which this was originally sold, there would be a long tortoiseshell cone. And it could be screwed into the back there. And in the same box, too, would be some enormously long white feathers called egret's feathers. Egrets. Yes. So you'd be the belle of the ball before you were married. You'd be wearing it in your hair like this. Oh, really? Yeah. And it would have huge white feathers jutting out of the top, and you'd be the belle of the ball wearing your egret. Oh, wow. The word egret is a corruption of the word egret because the feathers came from the egret, the white egret. Very spiky, very sort of shaving, brushy-looking feathers. Yes. And very, very elegant. This was what a girl would wear before she was married in her hair, before she was entitled to wear a tiara. Only married women can wear tiaras in their hair. Right. And this would be part of etiquette in what date do you think? Come on. I honestly have no idea. Have a go. It was my grandmother's, and I believe that she inherited it. But other than that, I wouldn't have an idea. No, well, we're pushing it a little bit further back. We're pushing it back to the 1890s, probably 1870s to 1890s. Wow. And it's hugely versatile. I mean, it has lost its feathers. They perished long, long ago. In fact, most of the egrets perished. They were a threatened species because they were hunted to nearly extinction to get these wonderful, wonderful feathers. That's gone. The velvet case is gone, in which this would fit snugly. The tortoiseshell comb is gone. Well, it's a positive blaze of diamonds, isn't it? I mean, it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. It's a bit sparkly. You can see along the bottom here what we call a gallery, which just raises the diamond work up when it's worn as a brooch, away from the material to let the light come through, pierced by hand, drawn out with a little diamond work and then filed away by an apprentice. Then the silver settings are let into this in tubes of silver, and each diamond set into it, pushed round, rubbed round, and then cut down. They call them cut-down settings. So it's a hugely sentimental one for you, really, isn't it? Oh, yes, yes. It's something that will be passed on to my daughter and hopefully on to hers. Well, that's wonderful. But I think we've got to just try and make a stab at value. I think let's put it down at £3,000 for insurance. Goodness me. That'll give my husband a shock. Well, it's the right sort of shock, isn't it? All you've got to do is look after it, and all you've got to do is wear it for him, really. Yes. You look very posh indeed. Lucky chap. Well, as far as I know, it belonged to my great-grandmother, but I don't know anything more about it. She came from Yorkshire, and I suppose ladies of her status would have worn tiaras quite often and brooches like that. A typical form for a mid-19th century piece of English diamond work, and technically it's interesting because on the back it's of gold, and yet on the front it's set into silver, and it was to be worn in candlelight, and so there wasn't much concern about the front tarnishing, which it does a tiny bit. Have you worn it? Because it's got lots of memories of you, I bet it has. Possibly at army dances, but I don't go to those sort of things nowadays. As a brooch or in your hair? Oh, no, as a brooch. It's a wonderful, spectacular display of natural beauty, isn't it, and very flattering. Wonderful, wonderful thing. It's high Victorian. Yeah. It really couldn't be a more elegant form, and perhaps put it down on your insurance policy for £8,000, something like that? More than you thought? Shall I tell you how much it's on my insurance for? Do, go on. £400. Well, it's only 20 times the amount. This is true. My goodness, what a wonderful, wonderful, colourful jewel to see. What do you know about it? Well, I know that it was most probably acquired by my grandparents. My grandfather was a well-known goldsmith and silversmith in the early part of this century. I think that's older. He obviously simply acquired it, I imagine, because he fell in love with it. Well, I can quite see how you would. And, well, it's a stunning example of Victorian jewellery. It's its absolute best. And it's a type of jewellery that's often called Holbeinesque. There was a fashion throughout England in the 1860s to emulate the Elizabethan age, and so this is a Holbeinesque jewel in every sense of the word. Even the use of the peridot in the centre is typical of Renaissance jewellery. The reason that we call it Holbeinesque is because it's loosely based on Holbein's designs, which are held in the British Museum. But in a more precise way, it's based on a well-known jewel which is kept at Southside House. And there is a jewel called the Gresley jewel, which must have been famous in the 19th century because parts of the decorative devices are repeated in homage to that jewel, these stylised flower heads are on the Gresley jewel. Yes, this is enamel work, is it not? It is. It's called champ-levé enamel. It's again a Renaissance technique where the gold is engraved and then it's flooded with these very vivid colours. And it's something that one would expect to see on English Renaissance jewellery. At Southside House, the Gresley jewel contains miniatures by Hilliard and it opens from the side to reveal portraits of Queen Elizabeth within. In the 19th century, homage to it, we find on the back Tudor roses. Yes, I see, yes. In vivid red and green champ-levé enamel. And what a wonderful thing it is. It's in pristine condition. I think what's interesting to know about Howell & James is that it was a very famous firm. What date do you assume it was? Well, I have been told it was about 1870. And again, the term Holbeinesque was applied to it. But any more than that, we knew nothing else. I don't know if it's even ever been worn. That may explain its pristine condition. Well, I think in a way that's what would appeal certainly to anybody these days. And the value is quite dizzy, I must say. I think if it came up at a specialist auction, one could expect to pay £8,000 for it. And if somebody was really greedy, perhaps £10,000. It's such a dazzling example. Nice to know. It's a pleasure. Thank you for looking at it. Originally, it was my grandmother's. And when she died, the family gathered round the table and had to sort out her jewellery. And my mother, being the eldest, had the first choice. She chose this. It's platinum set with pure white diamonds in what are called mille-graines settings. They're called mille-graines, literally 1,000 grains, because 1,000 grains apparently hold each of these absolutely pure water-white diamonds into the framework of what is a wonderfully articulated jewel. Yes, yes. I'm almost sure it's French. It's such fantastic craftsmanship, made in about 1900, and of dazzlingly refined craftsmanship. Today, it's exactly the sort of diamond jewellery that people want. It's not ostentatious. It's wearable. And it's beautifully made. And it's pure white. So it's a very valuable thing indeed. It's worth about £8,500 to £10,000 for insurance. My wife had it for, I don't know, five, six years. It's probably come down through the family. She was quite happily wearing it as a bit of costume jewellery. A bit of costume jewellery? Yeah. And what did she wear it on? Denim jackets. Denim jackets. Anything that she thought, a nice sparkly thing. And then we took it to a jeweller's in Chancery Lane to get the clasp sort of repaired a little bit. And he turned round and said, you do realise it's the real thing? The real thing. And so she's not worn it since, more's the pity. Diamonds and denim. Yes, exactly. She really thought a bit about the design. I did notice that the two ends unscrewed, but that was... Well, they unscrewed because there was probably not only this brooch but a cascade of them running the front of a lady's fiercely corseted dress in about 1900. So you think your wife had problems. Think of Princess Yusupova walking around with this. Not bad, is it? No, not bad at all. Not bad. Now, I say Princess Yusupova because I can tell that this is a Russian brooch by the safety clasp. There's a strange little sort of twist, like a question mark at the end, which is a brilliant device because it stops the owner pricking her finger. Or, more accurately, her ladysmaid pricking her finger because you've never put this sort of thing on yourself in pre-revolutionary Russia. What we call a stomacher because it runs along the front of the stomach of such a lady. I don't think how it could have been more beautiful. What's the look? And just underneath here, there's a break in the design, which I think is where the second and third and I don't know how many more brooches went down to meet it. A tiny little groove here. And also observe the beauty of this gallery here, the Pierce Gallery, and the fact that the back of the brooch is made of gold and yet the front is of platinum to give the whiteness of the effect. I think it's probably quite a late brooch. It's 20th century. The Russians, it's curiously sort of feudal life they were living there and in the early 20th century, things couldn't be more sumptuous and more bejewelled and more exotic, really. So this is a fantastic context, really, isn't it? I'm just going to look a little bit for hallmarks. Russian hallmarks almost always appear on the clasp of the jewel and along the pin, which is strange, and yet there are more here. And it's jolly good that I did check that, actually, because there are the initials of the maker there, Theodore Laurier, who is a very well-known Art Nouveau jeweller, making things in the manner of Lalique, serpents and butterflies and that sort of thing. So this is a slightly conventional one for him, but a very beautiful one. Now, what did the jewellers have to say about it? They must have admired it very much, I think, didn't they? Well, they did, yes. They said it was a lovely piece and he even turned around and said, I'll give you £5,000 scrap for it. I said, no. £5,000 scrap? I said, no, I don't think so. No, no, I think scrapping it's not the right word. I think we've gone beyond scrap. No, it's too beautiful to break down. Fabulous context. Well, you know, if he's going to offer you £5,000 scrap for it, double it up for insurance. £10,000. £10,000? For insurance, yeah. Dear me. Well, I think it's very rare to find such a strong clue to the authorship of a collection of jewellery of this sort. H. Wilson, Platt, Kent. Tell me, how do you come by these marvellous things? Well, these two were wedding presents for my mother and father in Tehran in 1912. And of course, my father was Henry Wilson's brother. The first thing we've got to say about Henry Wilson is that he's the towering genius of the arts and crafts movement in more ways than to simply jewellery. I think we ought to just look at some of the... Yes. ..the sources of inspiration for these, because it's very bright colouring, very Pre-Raphaelite colouring, something in a way that's rather at odds with English taste, because it's in the English medieval taste, which is very bright, vibrant colours. Here we have a brooch in the form of a Tudor rose, but also a rose for love. Some carved Mother of Pearl in what I think are later mounts. These are very, very beautiful. Oh, yes, they are later mounts. Yes, they're not Henry Wilson mounts. No. They're very beautiful scenes and possibly emblematic of the seasons. This is a crowned head here, which may be the thorniness of winter. I think he was... The designs that I've seen show that he's very interested in the transition of the seasons. Yes. Very much so. He was a great philosopher, wasn't he? Absolutely. So there we are. And a devotional jewel. Mary and the Christ Child got a lot to do with his architectural work. The important thing about this one, and the reason that I've left until last, is that it's got a rather noble origin, the design. It relates to a jewel in the form of a hat badge that was designed by Albrecht Dürer, and it's still... The design exists in Germany, and he must have known about it from engravings. And he's completely obsessed with the idea of the stag and Diana and the moon, and this occurs over and over again, and they are emblems. She is our goddess of the hunt. And he's borrowed this from Albrecht Dürer, who was not only a painter, but also a goldsmith too. That's very interesting. I didn't know that. And it's rather a neat evolving of the stag. I think it's a devastating group. I've seldom seen anything more exciting brought to me. It's one that I feel intensely interested in. And, of course, the idea of valuing it is almost a heresy, and I think what we'll just do is run through it very quickly. I think, for instance, these have got to be worth £750 of anybody's money. I mean, one would be thrilled to find them. Yes. £600 for such an object like this. £2,000 for this and more. Yes. Maybe three. £5,000 for this one. It's terrible, isn't it? It's hard to get through, so I think poor old Wilson's ghost will never, ever forgive me. And £8,000 to £10,000 for this one. Couldn't be sweeter. I had no idea. I'm not sure I wanted to know. No, I know you didn't, and that's because you have Henry Wilson's blood in your veins.