Antiques Roadshow expert warns 'you have to believe it' over whopping brooch valuation

An Antiques Roadshow guest couldn't believe the true value of a family heirloom when the BBC show visited Brodie Castle in Wales.

Expert Geoffrey Munn began: "The sun is coming out and here we see gold, and we see rubies and we see diamonds but what does it mean?"

"So, it's a brooch which I inherited via my mother, from my great-aunt and they come from Silesia, which is today Southern Poland," the guest replied. "They had to flee from the Russians during the end of the war and they made it over to West Germany. She was a cook and housekeep to Prince Ernst August of Hanover for 37 years."

The expert explained the brooch was a "very typical gift from a royal personage" before adding that the item's hallmarks reveal its origin.

The brooch was a family heirloom (BBC)

Pointing out the hallmark, the guest said: "So, it's Russian and it's got a 56 kokoshnik mark I believe which is 14-carat gold and it's got an assayer's mark of Ivan Lebetkin in Moscow between 1899 and 1908."

The expert joked the guest's knowledge was making him "redundant" as he added: "I think I am going home!"

Geoffrey told the guest: "You got it all right and the style of it is absolutely typical of pre-revolutionary Russian style. And then as soon as you say pre-revolutionary Russian style, then one thinks of one particular marker which, of course, was Carl Fabergé and everybody wants to hear that name because for context and for value.

"Sadly, I'm not going to tell you that, because maddeningly, this brooch neither of us can find a maker's mark on it, can we?"

The expert was impressed by the guest's knowledge (BBC)

Geoffrey told the owner of the brooch that it most likely was created by one of Fabergé's competitors.

"It comes from exactly the same period, exactly the same place, with exactly the same clientele, so that is a rose by any other name that smells as sweet but perhaps not as sweet financially which is the real rub," he explained. "The craftsmanship is the same, the quality is the same."

The expert revealed the brooch was worth up to £8,000 as the guest replied: "Speechless! I never believed that! Wow."

"You've got to believe it," the antiques expert hit back.

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