The man who brought a rare Omega watch to the show was stunned by its true worth. Photos / BBC
The man who brought a rare Omega watch to the show was stunned by its true worth. Photos / BBC
A guest on Antiques Roadshow has been left gobsmacked by the true value of his broken watch.
The hugely popular British series is back on screens in the UK, and the most recent episode saw experts travel to Swanage Pier to judge guests’ family heirlooms and treasures, reports the DailyMail UK.
Among them was a rare Omega watch that its owner admitted had been run over with a lawnmower and left in pieces.
The watch's strap alone was worth £3,000 (NZ$6,300), expert Richard Price said. Photo / BBC
But expert Richard Price quickly assured the man it belonged to that the item was still worth keeping, as it was incredibly valuable.
“As you know, this was the first watch worn on the moon,” he joked, before adding, “but there is an unfortunate word in the watch-making industry for if something is in a very poor state. We call it ‘derelict’, and this is fairly derelict. How did it get in this condition?”
The guest, an unnamed man, then told him, “It unfortunately went through my lawnmower. We had a burglary, and they must have dropped that in the grass as they left. My wife found it later in the compost bin.”
“I bought it in either late 1965 or early 1966, and it was second-hand at the time.”
The unnamed man was stunned, having expected experts to tell him to throw away the "rubbish" watch. Photo / BBC
But despite the damage to the timepiece, Price informed the couple the watch would be worth thousands once it was repaired.
“Assuming you can get these pieces in good condition with that strap, I see it being retailable for towards £18-20,000 [$NZ38,000],” he explained. “And the strap on its own is worth £3,000 [NZ$6,300].”
“I’m amazed, I’m excited,” the watch’s owner gushed. “I mean, I came along here convinced it was basically beyond repair - a bit of rubbish, really. My son will be excited because he wants to inherit it.”
Fans of the show were left shocked by the watch’s value, with one writing on Twitter, “Just the Omega metal watch strap > £3k, flippity jibbins [sic].”
Another marvelled, “I’ve been down in the garden so I might have missed it, but [that’s a] ridiculous price for a broken watch.”
Elsewhere on the episode, another guest was shocked to hear the value of a silver teapot that had been passed down to him from his great-aunt and uncle.
The miniature teapot, which fits in the palm of a person’s hand, was labelled “the nicest teapot” expert Duncan Campbell had seen on the show.
“This is the nicest teapot I’ve certainly ever seen on Antiques Roadshow, and arguably I’ve ever seen. I absolutely adore it, and I am more than a little bit envious,” he admitted.
The teapot, made in 1728, was valued at £12,000 ($NZ25,000), leaving its owners shocked.
