Antiques Roadshow guest asks ‘are you joking’ after cufflink valuation

Antiques Roadshow expert Joanna Hardy was thrilled to be presented with enamel cufflinks which featured interesting depictions of drinking and women.

Noting they were Edwardian and in very good shape, she left the guest who presented the item in shock when she revealed how much they could sell for at auction.

Joanna began: “Jewellery always tells a story and when I saw these cufflinks, they certainly are depicting an era of 100 years ago of an Edwardian gentleman’s vices; Horse-riding, gambling, women, drinking. So how have you had these?”

The guest replied: “Well these are my grandfather’s. My mum’s just passed them down to me now and the story goes my grandfather was the chauffeur for Lord and Lady Trafford on the Trafford Estate where they lived.

“Mum lived on the estate and what I get from mum is that it was a gift from them to say thank you for all the hard work and service that they did.”

READ MORE: Antiques Roadshow guest refuses to sell tiny teapot bought for 50p

“Maybe he was driving to many horse racing and night club and parties do you think?” Joanna asked.

The guest laughed: “Maybe, a bit like me.”

“So you must also be wearing these,” the expert noted. “Do you wear these?”

The guest admitted they’d “worn them once” but didn’t know much about them.

Joanna went on to divulge: “These were typically Edwardian period when people had come out of the Victorian era where it had been all quite dowdy and you had Queen Victoria who had been in mourning for a long time and then you had the Edwardian period and that was just gaiety and fun and lightness.

“These cufflinks really imbued that era and they are made of painted enamel and the detail on these, you’ve kept these beautifully, because they are just so exquisite in their execution.

“There’s not one chip. It’s so easy to chip those so you’ve really done very well because they are over 100 years old.

“They are enamelled with gold backs and you’d never want to part with them I shouldn’t think.”

The guest agreed: “No, I should think not, no.”

Joanna continued: “They are highly collected to so you’d be looking at auction probably in the region of about £800 to £1000.”

“Wow! Are you joking?” the guest asked. “I thought you were going to say like £100. That’s amazing. Thank you so much. That’s kind of hit me there.”

In the same episode, a guest refused to sell a teapot they’d brought along when they learned just how much it could sell for.

They confessed the teapot had only set them back 50p when they bought its themselves.

Antiques Roadshow continues Sunday on BBC One at 8pm.