Antiques Roadshow guest floored by value of 'novelty' ring she thought was 'worthless'

ok.co.uk:

Two Antiques Roadshow guests received a shock when expert John Benjamin revealed the real value of their 'novelty' ring. The episode originally aired on Sunday 5 November and viewers were stunned at the value of the items.The cousins brought three pieces to the show in Nottingham, including a Victorian ring.

Examining the collection, John turned his attention to the beautiful green stone, which was surrounded by diamonds.The guest explained: "So my mum was given it as a birthday present, from our great great aunt, she was gifted it as costume jewellery." Baffled, John asked: "Right, that is a costume ring.

I am going to ask a question, I want you to put it on, do you think that is costume jewellery?" Examining the ring, the Mirror reports the guest replied: "Urm, I think yeah, it doesn't have a lot of weight in it." Laughing, John exclaimed: "It is an emerald!" leaving both of his guests gobsmacked.The expert continued: "It is an emerald!

It is a splendid emerald from South America surrounded by old Victorian white cut diamonds mounted up in 18-carat gold, made in around about 1975 to 1980." While the history of the piece was fascinating, viewers couldn't wait to find out how much the ring was worth. "Your costume ring, your inconsequential piece of glass jewellery, I don't know £4,000," John said as the girls' mouths dropped open. "That is a lot more than I was expecting for that one," the cousin exclaimed, clearly taken aback by the valuation.