An Antiques Roadshow guest was left in shock as a family heirloom was given a huge value.
Expert Geoffrey Munn casted his eye over the opal and diamond necklace, which was brought in by a member of the public when the BBC show visited Birmingham for their latest episode.
The guest explained how the item belonged to her great Auntie Kathleen and then was passed down to her through her mother, as expert Geoffrey explained how even the box was "almost a miracle in its own right", having dated it back from around 1900, but he expected an even greater surprise when he got a chance to see what was inside.
"When I see a box like this, it's a bit like a picture frame to me because it tells me what I hope to see within. It dates from about 1900 and in a way it's almost a miracle in its own right. But we hope to see a miracle within, don’t we?" he explained.
"And we're not wrong, isn’t that marvellous an opal and diamond necklace. And so how does it come to you?"
The guest then added: "It was my great Auntie Kathleen's who lived in Harrogate. She was somebody who collected antiques whenever she had any spare change she’s buy some antiques. My mother inherited it and then I subsequently inherited it from her."
Geoffrey then went on to explain the necklace's significance, adding: "Opals are completely magical stones.
"These are not pigments. What they're doing in the sunlight here is that there refracting the white light into a spectrum and that's done by the internal structure of the opal. And in a sense, the true colour of these opals is not what you see, you're seeing the internal structure breaking down the light. So their miracles of natural science really, they're very beautiful and mounted in gold. And just to fix the eye on this necklace when it's in wear, tiny diamonds just firing off in the half-light of the evening, in which this is worn."
The lady explained that her daughter was getting married in October and wanted to wear it at the wedding.
"Everything about this presentation, this wonderful box and the way the jewellery has been made, the handwriting on it tells me that it's an English piece made in about 1900 and we see retailed here in Leeds but possibly made in the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter, but 1900 for sure," Geoffrey gushed about the stunning piece, before revealing its true value.
"People want these things and value is a measure of want. It's certainly not an exact science, but I don't hesitate at all in telling you that this necklace is worth £8,000 today," he said, leaving the guest shocked.
