An Antiques Roadshow guest was left shocked by the true value of her Cartier heirloom.
The woman brought a pair of earrings and a brooch given to her by her late mother in for evaluation, with Joanna Hardy casting her expert eye over it and the guest was left pleasantly surprised by the cost of the jewellery.
Joanna shared: "People often ask me what do I look for in jewellery? Of course, it's craftsmanship and it's good design. But sometimes a jewel will give me that immediate head rush of excitement and that's what these jewels have done to me.
"And the fact that they have come in very well known red boxes the impact that this brooch and these earrings have together I think is just absolutely gorgeous. So how did you acquire these fabulous jewels?"
The guest then explained it was given to her by her mother, who recently passed away.
"Well my mother died last year and she left them to me. I've seen her wear them but I didn't really know what they were and then when I got them home I realised what they were because of the boxes," she added.
Joanna then replied: "The red box with the Cartier signature inside and of course they are Cartier jewels and they are both signed on the back. I’ve had a good look she obviously clearly loved her jewellery."
The expert as stunned by the beauty of the jewellery but did reveal the earrings had been altered.
She shared: "When I turn [the earrings] over, these have been altered, they didn't start off as pierced, which they are now, they're now for pierced ears and you can see here, the ring around it and that is indicating to me that there would have been a clip, that would have fitted in there. It’s Cartier London and they’re 18 karat gold. These Citron's came in a variety of colours as you can see this great sort of lovely graduation of these very rich golden brown colours."
It was then she gave the staggering evaluation, leaving the guests absolutely speechless.
"The earrings because they'd been altered you'd be looking in a region of about £10,000," she said, "And then this brooch, which I would run away with, I just think it’s spectacular. I love it, I love the colours. At auction, I could see there would be a little bit of a fight over this and I would say you're probably looking in the region of around about £30,000."
"Goodness me that is a lot more than I thought," the shocked owner replied.
