0:00:02 > 0:00:05This is my favourite time of year. We're well into the countdown
0:00:05 > 0:00:08and in just a week we'll be opening the presents under the tree,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10so tonight we're getting a bit festive
0:00:10 > 0:00:13as we celebrate some of our most magical finds from the year,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16and also seeing what happened after they were shown.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18So welcome back to Hever Castle
0:00:18 > 0:00:21as we open a selection box from the Antiques Roadshow.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14For so many of us, the best memories of Christmas
0:01:14 > 0:01:17are of piles of presents and the tearing of wrapping paper.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Those precious Christmas gifts
0:01:19 > 0:01:23can be powerful reminders of people and places from the past.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29Meet Teddy - he was given to me by my parents one Christmas
0:01:29 > 0:01:32when I was little, and I've loved him ever since.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35And it's things like this that we see so often at the Roadshow now,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38but they're classed as vintage collectables no less.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Tonight we're looking at the history of giving,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44and revealing how much some of these things can be worth today.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49'Antiques expert Judith Miller will trace
0:01:49 > 0:01:52'just when we started sharing Christmas keepsakes
0:01:52 > 0:01:56'and reveals who's responsible for many of the traditions
0:01:56 > 0:01:58'we now take for granted.'
0:01:58 > 0:01:59And there's a fabulous picture
0:01:59 > 0:02:03of the Royal Family round the tree at Windsor Castle in 1848
0:02:03 > 0:02:06in the Illustrated London News, and everybody wanted a tree.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11And our experts choose their ideal antique gift
0:02:11 > 0:02:13from the thousands of objects
0:02:13 > 0:02:15they've seen at Roadshows across the year.
0:02:15 > 0:02:16What I've got in my hand
0:02:16 > 0:02:20is one of the best ones I've ever actually seen.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22There are lots of treats involved
0:02:22 > 0:02:25with working on the Antiques Roadshow,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29and I have to say one of them is, very occasionally,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33to come across something that is THE best of its kind.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35And here we have possibly
0:02:35 > 0:02:38the most exciting doll to ever come onto the Roadshow.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41A real, real significant find.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46It is undoubtedly the oldest bronze
0:02:46 > 0:02:49we've ever had on the Roadshow.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52- Seriously?- Yea.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55This is stored in the garage!
0:02:55 > 0:02:56LAUGHTER
0:02:56 > 0:02:58It ain't going to be stored
0:02:58 > 0:03:00in the garage any more, that's for sure!
0:03:00 > 0:03:04I mean, it's the most exciting thing I've seen for years.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Thank you very much, John. Thank you.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Thank you very much. You're a wee dear!
0:03:09 > 0:03:10You're a treasure!
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Now, jewellery has to be high on many people's wish lists
0:03:18 > 0:03:19at this time of the year.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22We're starting our look back at some of the most talked-about finds,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26with a small jewel that made a big difference
0:03:26 > 0:03:27in the life of one viewer.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31It all began on a summer's day in Dartmouth.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33What we see the least of are almost holy grail
0:03:33 > 0:03:36of Victorian 19th century design, and the highest possible point
0:03:36 > 0:03:38of that, for me, is the jewellery designed by
0:03:38 > 0:03:41the Neo-Gothic architect William Burges,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44who's really the greatest genius
0:03:44 > 0:03:46of 19th-century design and architecture.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48But he also dabbled in jewellery
0:03:48 > 0:03:50specifically, and he made designs...
0:03:50 > 0:03:52'Jewellery expert Geoffrey Munn
0:03:52 > 0:03:55'made an appeal for a lost collection of jewels.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58'The challenge - could we find them?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01'Watching at home was Jill, who recognised one of the designs
0:04:01 > 0:04:05'as looking suspiciously like a brooch she owned.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09'Jill joined us some months later to show it to us.'
0:04:09 > 0:04:12So, Jill, what did you think, when you saw Geoffrey there?
0:04:12 > 0:04:15I was speechless for a second or two and I just thought,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18"It can't possibly be my brooch," but I was...
0:04:18 > 0:04:22He was looking at the first two brooches, but my brooch
0:04:22 > 0:04:25was underneath and I thought, "No, it can't possibly be my brooch."
0:04:25 > 0:04:29So I rushed upstairs and rushed back down again and I thought,
0:04:29 > 0:04:30"It is, it is!"
0:04:30 > 0:04:34Oh, so you were there, holding it up against it, trying to check?
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Well, two days before the programme came on the television,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39I'd actually be going to sell it,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42and I'd put it out on top to sell, to take to the local market
0:04:42 > 0:04:44because I thought it might be worth a few pounds.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46Oh, gosh!
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Um, so it was really incredible, because it's been
0:04:49 > 0:04:53stuck at the bottom of my jewellery case for twenty odd years and...
0:04:53 > 0:04:55And which one do you think it is?
0:04:55 > 0:04:58I think it's that one, I think it's that one.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00'So was it one of the missing jewels?
0:05:00 > 0:05:02'Time to ask Geoffrey.'
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I don't think there's any shadow of doubt
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and I think that that is absolutely...
0:05:07 > 0:05:09er, well...
0:05:09 > 0:05:11I honestly can hardly articulate it.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13I think it's absolutely marvellous.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17And it's completely different manufacture
0:05:17 > 0:05:20to what one might have expected.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23It's slightly heavier and massier than I thought the design would be,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26but in every sense of the word it is it.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29- Is it?- And so it's pulse-making, I mean honestly...
0:05:29 > 0:05:32It's the sort of, it's a Tutankhamen experience on the Antiques Roadshow.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34What is this worth?
0:05:34 > 0:05:39- Well, I think something close to £10,000.- Oh, my God!
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Oh, crikey.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44'It was such an amazing find,'
0:05:44 > 0:05:46wasn't it? How long had you been looking for that brooch?
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Well, about 30 years. I was aware of the original designs
0:05:49 > 0:05:51which were in the Victoria and Albert Museum,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53very sensitive, full of context,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56an architect and an artist making jewellery,
0:05:56 > 0:06:01bringing my specialist subject into a much wider field,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05and...and so I wanted to see it more than I can tell you.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09Jill decided to sell the brooch, and we went along to the auction to see how it went.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11There we go - the one you've all been waiting for,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15and we'll open the bidding at £5,000.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19£5,000 I'm bid here, at £5,000,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21£6,000, £7,000,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24£8,000, £9,000,
0:06:24 > 0:06:30£10,000, £10,500, £11,000...
0:06:30 > 0:06:36And on it went, far exceeding Geoffrey Munn's valuation.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40£31,000, don't have any regrets, ladies and gentlemen...
0:06:40 > 0:06:42LAUGHTER
0:06:42 > 0:06:44..£31,000...
0:06:44 > 0:06:47The recently-discovered William Burges brooch,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50then selling for £31,000.
0:06:52 > 0:06:57- £31,000!- A staggering amount.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01I daren't think any more of how I nearly came to sell it,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04because it makes me feel ill inside!
0:07:04 > 0:07:08Erm...it's...out of this world.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Jill was thrilled, absolutely thrilled.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13And it went for much more than you valued it for,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16even though it's quite a modest looking little thing, wasn't it?
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Very modest little thing, only silver, only a little touch of gold,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24four turquoise, perhaps intrinsic value £40-£60, something like that,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27but an enormous art historical value,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29because it is such a fascinating designer,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33and the valuation of works of art is highly subjective,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35it's not an exact science,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38and this proved it very eloquently, because I had thought perhaps
0:07:38 > 0:07:41of the highest possible figure I could think of,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44which was £10,000. I was a little bit jumpy about that,
0:07:44 > 0:07:49but actually by the time it was all paid up, it fetched £36,500,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53because there was a buyer's premium on top of the £31,000 bid,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55so nudging £40,000. Who was right?
0:07:55 > 0:07:58It doesn't really matter, this is an utterly unique object,
0:07:58 > 0:08:02great context, hugely exciting and I shall never forget it.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04It just needs the right person to come along
0:08:04 > 0:08:06who wants it that badly, I suppose.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10And you had wanted it so badly for 30 years and then it turned up.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14- I guess that's the power of television, isn't it? - Television's a unique medium.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17It creeps in at every level, it seems to invade our lives,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20to inundate us in some regard, but nothing else could do this.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22There isn't a medium on this earth
0:08:22 > 0:08:24that could have pulled this treasure out
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and shown it to me some time in my lifetime,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29so I'll always be enormously grateful for that.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31A little bird has told me
0:08:31 > 0:08:33you're setting our viewers another challenge.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37There is another long-lost object you'd like to find.
0:08:37 > 0:08:38Well, this is white-hot excitement -
0:08:38 > 0:08:41this is a uranium rod too hot to handle -
0:08:41 > 0:08:43it's an object loaded with emotional significance,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45with poetry, with poignancy
0:08:45 > 0:08:49and I would love to find it more than I can tell you.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Well, we'll tell you more about that long-lost object,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55which we hope you will help us find, a little bit later in the programme.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58You know, that brooch wasn't the ONLY object by an important designer
0:08:58 > 0:09:01that we unearthed recently on the Roadshow.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Remember our visit to Hampton Court Castle in Herefordshire?
0:09:11 > 0:09:16Silver specialist Alastair Dickenson would love to find these 19th century stirrup cups under his tree,
0:09:16 > 0:09:21not just exquisite-looking objects, but also made by the best craftsmen.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24And what I've got in my hand - I've got to say -
0:09:24 > 0:09:28is one of the best ones I've ever actually seen.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31It's got a nice set of marks down the bottom here,
0:09:31 > 0:09:35made by the firm of Hunt & Roskell, who were one of the best makers
0:09:35 > 0:09:40of the 19th century, and it's got a date letter here for 1869,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43but what has made this possibly one of the best days
0:09:43 > 0:09:46I've ever had on any Antiques Roadshow,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48is the fact in front of us
0:09:48 > 0:09:53we've got eleven more, and bulls happen to be one of the rarest forms
0:09:53 > 0:09:56- of stirrup cup you can get.- Right.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59- How long have you had these, or... - They're not mine, I'm sorry to say.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03- Not yours, ah!- I wish they were - no, they're not mine,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06but because I knew a little of the history of the herd,
0:10:06 > 0:10:09- I was asked to bring them.- I see. - They are kept very safe
0:10:09 > 0:10:11under lock and key.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14But if I tell you that this one -
0:10:14 > 0:10:18which is a wonderful bull with a great big chubby neck -
0:10:18 > 0:10:21it's a beautiful model, fabulously textured here,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24really super, super example.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29Something like this is probably worth at least £10,000
0:10:29 > 0:10:30to £15,000.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Goodness!
0:10:32 > 0:10:34LAUGHTER
0:10:34 > 0:10:35- So times twelve...- Right.
0:10:35 > 0:10:41And for a set, there's not going to be much change left out of £150,000.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Gosh, better take them home carefully.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47Like most treasures we see
0:10:47 > 0:10:50at Roadshows, the family don't intend to sell.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53We're told they're happily back home and have just been repolished,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56ready to sit on the dining table for Christmas lunch.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03Hilary Kay has spent 34 years
0:11:03 > 0:11:06working on the Antiques Roadshow and has waited all that time
0:11:06 > 0:11:10to discover this important early toy train.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13There are lots of treats involved
0:11:13 > 0:11:16with working on the Antiques Roadshow, and I have to say,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19one of them is very occasionally to come across something
0:11:19 > 0:11:21that is THE best
0:11:21 > 0:11:23of its kind,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25and this is one of those moments.
0:11:25 > 0:11:27It is a train set, obviously,
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and, for me, it is
0:11:30 > 0:11:34perhaps the expression, one of the best expressions
0:11:34 > 0:11:36of the master tin-maker's art.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39This is all hand-made out of tin,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42with occasional little pieces of brass,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44a few tiny exceptions -
0:11:44 > 0:11:46the little whistle here is turned wood,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50the lamps here are turned wood,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54the carved figures are wood covered in a sort of gesso
0:11:54 > 0:11:57and then painted, but otherwise it is
0:11:57 > 0:12:02exquisite metal-working at its very best.
0:12:02 > 0:12:09On the bottom of several of these little pieces, there is the name "Buchner".
0:12:10 > 0:12:15Now Buchner is... sounds German, is German.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19I think around 1845-1850...
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- That would fit perfectly. - ..is exactly where I would put this.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24Oh, good, so I'm quite glad about that.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Well, let's talk about value.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30- This is an incredibly esoteric thing, it is not mainstream.- Right.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34There are probably half a dozen people in the whole world
0:12:34 > 0:12:37who would want this, but they have deep pockets
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and I would be confident in saying
0:12:39 > 0:12:42that this would fetch something between £25,000
0:12:42 > 0:12:46and £35,000 at auction and for insurance certainly £50,000.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50It's still going back in the case and back in there, I'm afraid.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52- And you've got the key.- That's it.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Thank you so much for bringing it out.
0:12:55 > 0:12:56Since Hilary said this,
0:12:56 > 0:12:58we're told the train is a highlight
0:12:58 > 0:13:01for visitors to Blair Castle's nursery.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09We love those moments
0:13:09 > 0:13:11when our specialists learn something new.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13It was the magic name of Rolex
0:13:13 > 0:13:15that drew the eye of clock and watch expert
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Ben Wright at a Roadshow in Cumbria.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21But what a story lay behind its acquisition.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23My father was captured
0:13:23 > 0:13:28in June 1940, and he was in the 51st Highland Division,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32and they were captured and they had to march miles and miles and miles
0:13:32 > 0:13:35across France, Belgium, Holland.
0:13:35 > 0:13:42Finally they reached the camp - it was called Oflag 7C.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44When they were captured,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48all the watches were taken from them by the Germans,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50and what interests me so much is
0:13:50 > 0:13:54that this watch was ordered by my father
0:13:54 > 0:14:00in 1941, direct to Switzerland, Rolex, Switzerland,
0:14:00 > 0:14:05where it was delivered to him, erm...in the prison camp,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07and I do not understand how
0:14:07 > 0:14:11the Germans could let them have the watches,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and I believe that a lot of other prisoners
0:14:14 > 0:14:17ordered similar watches because it was an incredible
0:14:17 > 0:14:19morale booster for them.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21It's the most remarkable and story and I...
0:14:21 > 0:14:25I have never ever heard this story before.
0:14:25 > 0:14:26I'm surprised you haven't.
0:14:26 > 0:14:31I have never heard that you could order a Rolex from Switzerland,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34- via the Red Cross, as I understand it...- Yes.- ..whilst under guard.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36And they would deliver it.
0:14:36 > 0:14:37Isn't that extraordinary?
0:14:37 > 0:14:40Rolex sent this watch, they had no payment for it,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43and they were...they took it on trust that he would pay
0:14:43 > 0:14:48his bill at the end of the war, like any good British gentleman would.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Erm...at auction,
0:14:50 > 0:14:57without the story, it would be worth between £2,500 and £3,000.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02But with the story, with the story, it has to double in price.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04- It has to.- Oh, really? - It has to.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08- So it must be worth a minimum of £5,000.- Goodness.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11And I wouldn't be at all surprised with the full story,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and such remarkable documentation, I wouldn't be surprised if it made more.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17- Yes.- But I know you'll never sell it...
0:15:17 > 0:15:18Since showing that item,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22we've been in touch with Rolex headquarters in Switzerland, who confirmed
0:15:22 > 0:15:26that British prisoners-of-war WERE sent watches in camps
0:15:26 > 0:15:27during World War II.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29They were then paid for in peacetime -
0:15:29 > 0:15:33a revelation for us all from our day at the Roadshow.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43And I reckon jewellery expert John Benjamin would vote these two women
0:15:43 > 0:15:46his favourite visitors of the year.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Their watch wasn't in great condition,
0:15:49 > 0:15:50but it did boast a great pedigree.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52They belonged to my father
0:15:52 > 0:15:55and he inherited them from my great-uncle.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57He worked in London
0:15:57 > 0:16:02and he was a maitre d' in a gentleman's residence.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05- What, like a club, a gentlemen's club?- A private gentlemen's club.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Right, right.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09He acquired them from a gentleman
0:16:09 > 0:16:13who unfortunately ran up quite a substantial account.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16He said to my great-uncle,
0:16:16 > 0:16:21"Well, have you any other means by settling your account?"
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It has to be said, it worked out rather well for the family!
0:16:24 > 0:16:25- Would you not agree?- Yes.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29When my father says, "It's worth something in scrap," and I thought,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31"I'll bring it along."
0:16:31 > 0:16:32Well, it...
0:16:32 > 0:16:35All right, well, first of all I'm going to start off by saying
0:16:35 > 0:16:38- that the bracelet is simply white metal, it's steel.- OK.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39Let's look at the case.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43The face... Now you can see, it's worn out.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47This is very difficult to touch because it's very loose.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51You can see that here there's a tiny little individual number
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- that's been stamped onto the case at the back.- Right.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57- So we're moving things up a stage, this is numbered...- OK.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59..platinum and 18 carat gold...
0:16:59 > 0:17:03- Oh.- ..and the little mark there is French.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05The reason that I wanted to unscrew
0:17:05 > 0:17:08the screws from the sides of the case
0:17:08 > 0:17:12- was to have a look at the movement. - Right.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Now you're going to be disappointed. It's not signed...
0:17:15 > 0:17:16Oh, right.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19..but the movement is by something
0:17:19 > 0:17:23called the European Watch & Clock Company Ltd.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26Shall we move on to values?
0:17:26 > 0:17:28I'm scared. I'm scared now!
0:17:28 > 0:17:29LAUGHTER
0:17:29 > 0:17:31This is stored in the garage!
0:17:33 > 0:17:38- It ain't going to be stored in the garage any more, that's for sure. - It's been 30 years...
0:17:38 > 0:17:4030 years in our garage.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- Now do you remember I told you about the European Watch Company?- Yes.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45They used to make movements for a company
0:17:45 > 0:17:46called Cartier.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47GROANING IN ANTICIPATION
0:17:47 > 0:17:51- Oh, my God! Listen now, I don't... - Are you ready?
0:17:51 > 0:17:54- I was just going to say French. - Oh, no!
0:17:54 > 0:17:55Are you ready?
0:17:55 > 0:17:58- God!- It'll be all right.
0:17:59 > 0:18:00£5,000.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02Oh!
0:18:03 > 0:18:08- Worth getting fixed, really. - Can we have them fixed?
0:18:11 > 0:18:14Still reeling after that surprising news,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Mum and daughter have taken the next step by contacting Cartier.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Next stop, Paris.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24We're in a festive mood tonight.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Ever since I've started working on the Antiques Roadshow,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I've wanted to make a special Christmas programme,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33because I love the traditions associated with this time of year.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Judith Miller, our antiques expert, is here.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Judith, thinking about the traditions of Christmas,
0:18:38 > 0:18:40we can see so much of that through the items
0:18:40 > 0:18:42that have been brought into the Roadshow over the years.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44Do you remember that painting we saw?
0:18:44 > 0:18:46It was this year at Blair Castle.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Yes, lovely festive scene,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52quite simple, just the tree with some decorations on it
0:18:52 > 0:18:55and the children around it, and very Victorian,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58because Christmas, as we know it, was really a Victorian invention.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01That's when you first got the Christmas trees,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03the decorations, the present-giving,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07really instituted by the Prince Consort, Albert,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10husband to Queen Victoria,
0:19:10 > 0:19:14and there's a fabulous picture of the royal family round the tree
0:19:14 > 0:19:17at Windsor Castle in 1848 in the Illustrated London News,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19and everybody wanted a tree.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22It's a very frugal little scene, isn't it?
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Not many presents, hardly any.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29The little girl holding what looks like an apple behind her back.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33Yes, this is a scene from, you know, sort of later Victorian life really.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35And these children, they don't have a tremendous amount
0:19:35 > 0:19:37but it's a very exciting time,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40and the other little girl with maybe a hand-made toy,
0:19:40 > 0:19:41maybe by her father,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44even the tree, possibly the father had gone out
0:19:44 > 0:19:46and cut down the tree, and the children excited,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49and you get that feeling from the painting.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52It's been looked after. Your family looked after it beautifully.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58And value, very desirable, the subject's desirable,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00the artist is well sought-after,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02certainly £6,000 to £8,000,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05could quite easily make beyond £10,000 on a great day.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09We saw an example of a hand-made toy, didn't we? That beautiful train
0:20:09 > 0:20:11at Seaton Delaval Hall.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16Yes, again, something made by a father, possibly for a son,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18and taken little elements from the home,
0:20:18 > 0:20:20a stair rail and a little leg of a chair,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22and these things never survive.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24That was a really exciting find.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26We're right at the birth of railways.
0:20:26 > 0:20:31The Stockton and Darlington, up the road, in effect, was opened in 1825.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33The Liverpool and Manchester,
0:20:33 > 0:20:38Stevenson, the great name associated with it, opening a few years later.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42It's not quite The Rocket, you know, but it's looking like it.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46If this is the world's earliest toy train - what's it worth?
0:20:48 > 0:20:49HE LAUGHS
0:20:49 > 0:20:52That... I'd never thought of it in those terms,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55it is quite literally one of those things that I won't part with.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58I'll sell most things, but certainly not that.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00- We'll never prove it. - No, of course not.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02It's either worth 20 quid
0:21:02 > 0:21:05as a piece of curiosity, or it's worth
0:21:05 > 0:21:09£5,000, you know, it's somewhere between those two,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11- but we'll never prove it. - No, never will.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14We saw some beautiful Christmas cards a few years back.
0:21:14 > 0:21:15Paul Atterbury looked at them
0:21:15 > 0:21:20and valued them at only about £5-£7.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23- Is that what they're worth now? - No, considerably more.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27When did we first start sending, receiving Christmas cards?
0:21:27 > 0:21:30It's actually, in some ways, quite a recent thing.
0:21:30 > 0:21:31People often sent messages
0:21:31 > 0:21:35at Christmas but it really wasn't until the 1840s
0:21:35 > 0:21:38when you actually had the Penny Post came in,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41and that meant that the recipient didn't have to pay -
0:21:41 > 0:21:45so some people didn't want to receive cards because they then had to pay,
0:21:45 > 0:21:46but it was really in the...
0:21:46 > 0:21:50you know, by the 1860s when there was tremendous progress with printing,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52that you got vast numbers of Christmas cards
0:21:52 > 0:21:56- and some elaborate ones.- We've seen beautiful ones, haven't we?
0:21:56 > 0:21:58There was some that Paul Atterbury looked at,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02very elaborate with the cut-outs and the images, absolutely beautiful.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Now these are the most desirable sort.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Here we have a church saying "Happy Christmas"
0:22:07 > 0:22:09and what you do is,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13you pull the ribbon, and it animates, it all comes to life
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and there inside is the church, the stained glass,
0:22:17 > 0:22:22and inside, the children praying, as a wonderful image of Christmas.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25As a total album, it might be £200, £300, £400. It's not the money,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28it's what it represents about Victorian life.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31We've seen lots of cards - haven't we -
0:22:31 > 0:22:34at the Roadshow over the years, much more modern ones - I'm thinking 1920s, 1930s?
0:22:34 > 0:22:40Well, one of my very, very favourite out of all the ones I've seen on the Roadshow,
0:22:40 > 0:22:44was, I think, Rupert had this sort of this fabulous piece of original artwork
0:22:44 > 0:22:45by Kate Greenaway
0:22:45 > 0:22:48and it's such a typical scene of Christmas
0:22:48 > 0:22:53with Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, at the bottom of the bed.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54Really emotive.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58When did we first start seeing Santa Claus in the costume we now associate with him,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01in red with the fur trim and a big white beard?
0:23:01 > 0:23:05There are many images of him in red and white,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08but there's also images of him in green and white, but I think
0:23:08 > 0:23:12when the whole red Father Christmas came in, was actually the Americans,
0:23:12 > 0:23:17around 1900, that's when we started to get a lot of these images,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and the Germans were making dolls with the red outfit on as well.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24- We have it hanging at Christmas. - At Christmas?
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Yeah, just every Christmas since I can remember, we just bring it out.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33- You treat it like a Christmas decoration almost?- Yeah, it comes out with the decs at Christmas.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Extraordinary. I'd want to look at it all the year round,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39but I suppose it's quite a nice thing to do,
0:23:39 > 0:23:41- in a way.- Yes.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46- Well, in my opinion, it's worth at least £6,000 to £8,000.- Right. Gosh.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Judith, we'll be talking about all things Christmassy a little more later, but first,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55if there's one question I get asked
0:23:55 > 0:23:57all the time about the Antiques Roadshow,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01it's, "Do people sell their objects after they've been valued?"
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Well, the answer is - not often.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05But there are exceptions.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14It's a really unusual thing to bring to a Roadshow, lovely thing to see.
0:24:14 > 0:24:15Where did you get it?
0:24:15 > 0:24:20I had a dear friend, an elderly friend, who died last year
0:24:20 > 0:24:24and she requested that I choose several things
0:24:24 > 0:24:29from her home, and this was one of the items that I chose.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32'John confirmed that this was a cloisonne glass from China
0:24:32 > 0:24:37'in the 19th century and landed the owner with a staggering valuation.'
0:24:37 > 0:24:39Chinese cloisonne can be quite valuable.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41I think if you put that in auction today,
0:24:41 > 0:24:43it would be £8,000 to £10,000.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45LAUGHTER
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Goodness me! Wow!
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Owner Diana tested John Axford's valuation after the show,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56and his prediction was spot-on -
0:24:56 > 0:25:00confirmation of just how keen the Chinese market is right now.
0:25:01 > 0:25:02Geoffrey Munn's valuation
0:25:02 > 0:25:05on a collection of 18th and 19th century gold boxes
0:25:05 > 0:25:07also took their owner by surprise.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Luckily, he was sitting down.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13So it's a bewildering collection to value.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Let's have a stab at valuing these in the front,
0:25:16 > 0:25:18and then move backwards from there.
0:25:18 > 0:25:26- This gold box is probably worth today £5,000-£6,000.- Crikey!
0:25:26 > 0:25:28And this one here in the middle,
0:25:28 > 0:25:29a micro-mosaic box -
0:25:29 > 0:25:32it's a very bold one, I think that that's going to be...
0:25:32 > 0:25:34£15,000.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35Cor!
0:25:35 > 0:25:36LAUGHTER
0:25:36 > 0:25:41And this one, a Russian cigarette case, very exotic,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43very beautiful in the 18th-century taste,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45overlaying a hard stone core,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49well, um...£20,000 for that.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51LAUGHTER
0:25:51 > 0:25:57And so, I suppose, all the gold boxes on this table must be,
0:25:57 > 0:25:58when you add them all up,
0:25:58 > 0:26:02it must be nudging between £50,000 and £60,000.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04My goodness!
0:26:04 > 0:26:06The gentleman has since sold six of the boxes
0:26:06 > 0:26:09and he's already £55,000 richer.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Roadshow favourite David Battie found one of his most exciting objects at our show
0:26:21 > 0:26:25in Saltaire, screened earlier in the year.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27- Do you like it? - It's my favourite piece.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Where do you think it comes from?
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Meself, I would say Chinese, but I'm not...I'm not a hundred per cent,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38I know my grandad did mention Chinese, he had tried to look up.
0:26:38 > 0:26:39- It is Chinese.- Is it? Right.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41What age do you think it might be?
0:26:41 > 0:26:44I don't know, 200-year-old, is it?
0:26:44 > 0:26:52It is undoubtedly the oldest bronze we've ever had on the Roadshow.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57- Seriously?- Yes. The question is, exactly when this dates from.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58Right, yeah.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02I think with these cords on here...
0:27:02 > 0:27:03Yeah.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08..we're beginning to look as if it might be Yuan dynasty,
0:27:08 > 0:27:09which followed the Song,
0:27:09 > 0:27:17and that ran from 1279 to 1368.
0:27:17 > 0:27:19I think that's when it dates from.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20Right, yeah.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22It's just brilliant.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25You know, we're looking at something which is
0:27:25 > 0:27:28pushing a thousand years old, you know.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33- If this were in a smart dealer's catalogue in London...- Yeah.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38..I could see it having a price tag
0:27:38 > 0:27:44- of somewhere between £10,000 and £15,000.- Seriously? Seriously?
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Yay.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50That's really unbelievable to be honest.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51Thank you, Grandpa.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Yeah, thank you very much, yes.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56After that valuation, the owner decided to sell his bronze.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58We'll take it to auction shortly.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59Remember this handsome box
0:27:59 > 0:28:01containing Queen Alexandra's tea cup?
0:28:01 > 0:28:03..the original wrapping.
0:28:03 > 0:28:04We've got the brown paper.
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Buckingham Palace paper.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10And it says, "Buckingham Palace '03." 1903.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14And this is it. Made in Germany...
0:28:14 > 0:28:19Ceramics expert Lars Tharp told owner Brian that his cup was attractive but...
0:28:19 > 0:28:23These were actually mass produced, they were mass produced.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27You've got this lovely portrait in the bottom, they were made
0:28:27 > 0:28:28in their hundreds of thousands...
0:28:28 > 0:28:33Perhaps surprisingly, Lars thought the cup was only worth a few pounds, but a sharp-eyed viewer
0:28:33 > 0:28:35contacted us after the show to say
0:28:35 > 0:28:38the wrapping, with Buckingham Palace stamps,
0:28:38 > 0:28:41is rare and worth at least £400-£500 alone.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45Lars will begin his philately course soon.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50Well, I bought the guitar in 1982 off a friend of mine who had a band.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Guitar owner Clements brought this Gibson earlier in the year.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58His question, was it once played by Bob Marley?
0:28:58 > 0:29:01And one of them bought it off the Marley team
0:29:01 > 0:29:03after the concert at the Hammersmith Odeon.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08Rock and Pop specialist John Baddeley told us if Bob Marley's link could be proved,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10it would make a world of difference.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Put that magical name on it, "One used and played by Bob Marley,"
0:29:14 > 0:29:20you could be talking a figure of probably £25,000-£30,000.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22We had lots of responses after the show,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24and now Clements has proved it WAS owned by Bob Marley
0:29:24 > 0:29:26and went on tour for five years.
0:29:26 > 0:29:31So John Baddeley is happy with his valuation of £25,000 to £30,000.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34And finally, remember this unlucky man
0:29:34 > 0:29:36who proudly brought his newly-purchased
0:29:36 > 0:29:38tea caddies to see us,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40in Northern Ireland.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Expert Christopher Payne smelt a rat as soon as he saw them.
0:29:44 > 0:29:45Did you pay a lot of money for them?
0:29:45 > 0:29:47Wouldn't think to tell you.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49You're not going to tell me?
0:29:49 > 0:29:51LAUGHTER
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Well, I wonder if there's a recourse.
0:29:53 > 0:29:54Don't think so.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57I'm not sure that I really should
0:29:57 > 0:30:00be giving a value on the Antiques Roadshow of these,
0:30:00 > 0:30:03because I don't want to give any credence at all
0:30:03 > 0:30:06to the fact that these are... these are fake pieces,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09they shouldn't be on the market. They're not old.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11I'm afraid you were sold a pup.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13Looks like it.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Tell me what you paid for them.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20The larger of the two was £1,500 before fees,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23the smaller one was £1,100 before fees.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Thank you for being so frank with us.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29So you're talking roughly £3,000.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31All's well that ends well.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36We're delighted to report that the auction house has now fully refunded the gentleman -
0:30:36 > 0:30:39a salutary lesson for us all to tread with care.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47As you'll know, often it's not what an object is worth that makes it special.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51We readily show pieces with little or no financial value
0:30:51 > 0:30:54that have huge personal importance.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Perhaps the most powerful example of this
0:30:56 > 0:30:59was during our special Remembrance Sunday programme.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02It was a letter written during the Second World War,
0:31:02 > 0:31:06a moving confession from a husband to his wife, opened after his death.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11He volunteered as an air gunner and then did this in secret without my nan knowing.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13So he volunteered.
0:31:13 > 0:31:14He volunteered.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19I mean, when we talk about going into the bombers, as a gunner,
0:31:19 > 0:31:21- I mean, that was the most dangerous job.- Yes.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Whether you were a rear gunner,
0:31:23 > 0:31:27or wherever it was, I mean, you were very, very easily picked off
0:31:27 > 0:31:31by the Messerschmitts or whoever was defending the target.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34It was my nan's nightmare, to be honest, and they discussed it,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36and she said that was the one thing
0:31:36 > 0:31:38that she really was afraid of him doing.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42So this is a photograph of your grandfather, of Teddy,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44and your nan on their wedding.
0:31:44 > 0:31:49That's right yes, Maisie and Teddy on their wedding day.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51So the entries in the log book finish in 1942?
0:31:51 > 0:31:53Yes.
0:31:53 > 0:31:54What happened?
0:31:54 > 0:31:57He was shot down in Halifax with the rest of his crew.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00So all the crew were...?
0:32:00 > 0:32:02All the crew were dead, yes.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05But then what about this? What is this?
0:32:05 > 0:32:07It's the letter he left, explaining to my nan
0:32:07 > 0:32:12why he...why he felt he had to put himself forward,
0:32:12 > 0:32:15that would go to her, in case anything happened.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18I can tell you that holding this in my hands,
0:32:18 > 0:32:21actually the hair on the back of my neck is rising,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25because this, to me, is an incredibly powerful document.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30- Now I don't know if I can read it. - I'll try.
0:32:30 > 0:32:31You try.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34- I'll try. - So you've got it transcribed there.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37- Yeah. - Read a little bit out to me.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39"When you read this letter,
0:32:39 > 0:32:42"one of two things will have probably happened.
0:32:42 > 0:32:48"Either I shall be home, off operations, or I shall be missing.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51"That is why I want to write this letter, dearest.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54"Now this is where I have to confess to deceiving you, darling.
0:32:54 > 0:32:56"I've never done it before,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59"and I hope I never will have to do it again.
0:32:59 > 0:33:01"I hope you understand..."
0:33:01 > 0:33:02I'm sorry.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04"..but I couldn't... I couldn't help it.
0:33:04 > 0:33:11"he main thing was that I didn't say what aircraft I was flying in.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14"Well, they were the big four-engined Halifaxes.
0:33:14 > 0:33:19"Understand, darling, I was to fly over Germany of a night,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22"and also sometimes of a day.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24"It was the one thing you dreaded, wasn't it?
0:33:24 > 0:33:27"That was the reason I didn't tell you.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30"I hadn't the heart, darling, I love you too much.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32"At the moment, there are only two months to go
0:33:32 > 0:33:35"before our baby comes into this world.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39"If you do happen to get this letter in unhappy circumstances..."
0:33:42 > 0:33:46"..which I pray to God you won't, remember, darling,
0:33:46 > 0:33:51"unhappy moments often turn into happy ones, and never give up hope.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54"Remember, don't give up, and keep your chin up, darling.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56"Au revoir, not goodbye, beloved,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00"yours, with all my love, my dearest, Teddy."
0:34:03 > 0:34:05Sorry.
0:34:10 > 0:34:11Sorry.
0:34:15 > 0:34:16That's quite some letter.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25Not very much more one can say about that actually, um...
0:34:25 > 0:34:27We've only really read a part of it
0:34:27 > 0:34:30- because it is an incredibly powerful document.- It is, yes.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Um...
0:34:33 > 0:34:39..and it's all about the ones that are left behind.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41We had a strong reaction from so many people
0:34:41 > 0:34:43to the programme and that item in particular.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47What we didn't have time to explain is that Teddy's wife,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50the woman who received that letter, was watching too.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Now in her late 80s, Maisie Newman-Smith lives in a care home
0:34:53 > 0:34:55in Norfolk, and I went to see her.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02I think everyone who watched the programme with the letter from Ted
0:35:02 > 0:35:04that he wrote to you was so moved by it.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06- I know I was.- Yeah.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08- Did you see it on the programme? - Yes, yes.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10And what did you think?
0:35:10 > 0:35:14Overwhelming, overwhelming, you know, it brought it all so back to me,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18you know, and it was, you know... I had a little weep.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22- Oh, I think lots of people had a little weep actually.- Yes.
0:35:22 > 0:35:29But he was such a brave young man, and so happy, so happy.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31And he was 21 when he wrote you that letter.
0:35:31 > 0:35:3221, yes, yeah.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37I met him when I was 16 and he was 17 and we were, you know,
0:35:37 > 0:35:42sort of girl and boyfriend and had a happy time together.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45And what kind of man was he?
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Very happy, and loved to laugh, and he loved to sing,
0:35:49 > 0:35:50and he was tone deaf.
0:35:50 > 0:35:51THEY LAUGH
0:35:51 > 0:35:57And we were just happy boy and girl together, you know.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01He was going to take his articles and he would have become a solicitor
0:36:01 > 0:36:04and our life was planned out, you know, what we would do,
0:36:04 > 0:36:08we'd get married and have a life, you know, the usual thing.
0:36:08 > 0:36:14But that's how it all was going to be, but then Mr Hitler intervened, didn't he?
0:36:14 > 0:36:20In the letter, he wrote that he'd become an air gunner in Halifax bombers.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Yes, in the Halifax bombers, yes.
0:36:22 > 0:36:25- And he didn't tell you because he didn't want to worry you.- No, no.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27- He was worried about the deception. - Yes.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31- What did you think when you read that? You had no idea. - I couldn't believe it,
0:36:31 > 0:36:36you know, I was absolutely stunned, but I understood how he felt.
0:36:36 > 0:36:41I understood and I thought, well... How did I feel?
0:36:41 > 0:36:47Stunned at the time, in fact, I think I went through a zombie period, you know,
0:36:47 > 0:36:51where I just... Life just went on and I didn't feel anything.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53And you were how old? You were what, 20?
0:36:53 > 0:36:58You must have felt your life, your future as you'd imagined it, was over.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00But it wasn't over.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03I met Thomas Evan Newman-Smith and had a happy life.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05So you married?
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Yes, yes, and, um...when I met him,
0:37:09 > 0:37:14and he was the most kindest, loveliest man that you could wish to meet,
0:37:14 > 0:37:19understanding and kind, and he gave me back my life.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Well in his letter, Ted did say, "Let the world see that smile that I love so much,"
0:37:23 > 0:37:24and I guess that's what you did.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29Yes, I did, yes, I did, but we were young together,
0:37:29 > 0:37:36happy together and the time we had very precious
0:37:36 > 0:37:40and you know, he believed... he really believed in what he was doing,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44and by doing that he was going to make things better,
0:37:44 > 0:37:48and that's what I always think, you know.
0:37:48 > 0:37:49He was a valiant young man.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet Maisie,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05such a wonderful, positive person about life.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08And following that Remembrance Sunday edition,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10we're planning another special programme.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13This time, to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
0:38:13 > 0:38:15with a programme looking at royal stories.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18So what kind of objects are we looking for?
0:38:18 > 0:38:19Well, remember this?
0:38:20 > 0:38:24These are pictures of the Christmas broadcast, Sandringham 1957.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Now that was the first time
0:38:26 > 0:38:28- the Queen did it on television. - That's right, yes.
0:38:28 > 0:38:33- The Christmas broadcast hitherto had a long tradition of being on the radio.- That's right.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36Suddenly there it is and, of course, in the technology of the time,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40it was live, she had to do it almost as you and I are doing it here.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42That's right, yes.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44So what are these to you?
0:38:44 > 0:38:46Well it's part of the history of my father.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48He was the superintendent of lighting
0:38:48 > 0:38:52- for outside broadcasts for the BBC during the '50s and '60s. - A very important person.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54Yes, he was.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56So he was there. These were his sets.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59He actually chose the Queen's dress as well
0:38:59 > 0:39:02and set the set up so it would appear proper
0:39:02 > 0:39:05when you actually watched it on the television.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08Television was in black and white in those days.
0:39:08 > 0:39:12Today we see in colour but in those days it was about tones rather than colours.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Dresses that might be the right colour might be the wrong tone for black and white television.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19- So he said, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, you can't wear that."- He did, he did.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22- A very tough man obviously. - Yes, yes.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26Um, and then who... who took the photographs?
0:39:26 > 0:39:29The ones of Prince Charles and Princess Anne are taken by my father.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32Other members of the crew would have taken the background pictures
0:39:32 > 0:39:35but it was my father that took all these pictures here.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39- So he was the cameraman in a sense of recording a scene.- He was, yes.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44- So there we have the Queen, on that occasion, 1957...- Yes.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48..wearing the dress that he chose and so he was there, snapping away,
0:39:48 > 0:39:52- without any... - Without any prohibition - he was a very lucky person.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54- No royal protocol?- No.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57I think it was a very impressive exciting part of television history,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00and these very much bring it to life.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03We've got lots of things here, we've got television history,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07we've got royal family in a very intimate and informal way,
0:40:07 > 0:40:10so we've got this very exciting archive.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12Seeing those pictures gives a remarkable insight
0:40:12 > 0:40:15into the Queen's first televised Christmas message
0:40:15 > 0:40:19and we're looking for other stories that are associated with royalty -
0:40:19 > 0:40:21objects or memorabilia.
0:40:21 > 0:40:22If you've got something
0:40:22 > 0:40:24you'd like to share with us,
0:40:24 > 0:40:25then do contact us
0:40:25 > 0:40:26either in writing at...
0:40:33 > 0:40:35..or by email at...
0:40:41 > 0:40:45But tonight we've come over all Christmassy on the Roadshow,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47and I think some of you at home may be about to groan
0:40:47 > 0:40:51when you realise what you've thrown away or reduced in value,
0:40:51 > 0:40:55because our antiques expert and Roadshow regular Judith Miller
0:40:55 > 0:40:58is about to reveal the most expensive childhood toys.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00For example, look at this extraordinary find -
0:41:00 > 0:41:04an incredibly early doll once cherished by someone
0:41:04 > 0:41:08nearly 300 years ago, shown at our Swindon show earlier this year.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10She is a seriously
0:41:10 > 0:41:16early English doll and, as such, she's quite a major discovery.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20You can imagine on the Roadshow, dolls are coming in here
0:41:20 > 0:41:25in vast numbers, and here we have possibly the most exciting doll
0:41:25 > 0:41:28that's ever come onto the Roadshow.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33- A real, real significant find - I mean, you know...- Wow!
0:41:33 > 0:41:37I find this deeply moving, that something so inherently fragile,
0:41:37 > 0:41:42almost ephemeral, has survived for nearly 300 years like this.
0:41:42 > 0:41:47There have been a number of dolls of this importance on the market
0:41:47 > 0:41:53in the last few years both in London and in...one in fact, in Las Vegas.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58And based on the price of those dolls, I have a fairly accurate idea
0:41:58 > 0:42:02of what I think she would make in a saleroom.
0:42:02 > 0:42:03Right.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06And that figure is...
0:42:06 > 0:42:08£20,000.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Oh, no!
0:42:13 > 0:42:16Judith, it was amazing to see that doll, wasn't it,?
0:42:16 > 0:42:19that had survived, what, 300 years or so?
0:42:19 > 0:42:22And so rare, I mean, only the very richest families could afford
0:42:22 > 0:42:24a doll like that, but of course as we move through time,
0:42:24 > 0:42:28into the late 19th century, when toys became mass-produced,
0:42:28 > 0:42:32and some of them would be very cheap at the time,
0:42:32 > 0:42:35they were called "penny toys" for that very reason.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40Some of them now, particularly if they're in good condition, will be worth quite a bit more money.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45- Well, I have to say that these are sought-after today.- Really?
0:42:45 > 0:42:49They jolly well are and I think that what you've got here,
0:42:49 > 0:42:50I mean, some are worth a hundred or so...
0:42:50 > 0:42:52No!
0:42:52 > 0:42:54..and some are worth considerably more.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58- No! No, you're... No, really?- No.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03- No, see, I knew you were telling me fibs.- I mean, looking at things,
0:43:03 > 0:43:05- they won't be worth... - They're fragile.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07..and they're in rubbish condition.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Yes, they are!
0:43:09 > 0:43:11What you've got here is going to be worth
0:43:11 > 0:43:12getting on for £2,000.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14What!
0:43:14 > 0:43:16Oh, give me a seat!
0:43:16 > 0:43:17LAUGHTER
0:43:17 > 0:43:20Condition's always so important, isn't it?
0:43:20 > 0:43:23And what about cuddly toys, which we see so much of now
0:43:23 > 0:43:26in our Christmas sacks and Christmas stockings.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29When did they first start to become popular?
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Well, of course the great name, isn't it, is Steiff?
0:43:31 > 0:43:35We see a lot of Steiff bears on the Roadshow,
0:43:35 > 0:43:39and they were started to be produced about 1900,
0:43:39 > 0:43:41just into the 1900s and of course they were also produced
0:43:41 > 0:43:45by American manufacturers at the same time.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47That's really where we get the whole name "Teddy Bear"
0:43:47 > 0:43:52because the great story of Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt going out on a hunting trip
0:43:52 > 0:43:57and he, you know, wouldn't shoot this bear and so there was a cartoon done
0:43:57 > 0:44:01and it was called "Teddy's Bear" and of course the manufacturers thought,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04"Here's a good idea, we'll make a small cute bear,"
0:44:04 > 0:44:07and Steiff at the same time were making their bears
0:44:07 > 0:44:10and they just absolutely took off.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14And remember, those really rare Steiff skittles
0:44:14 > 0:44:16'that we saw here at Hever Castle?'
0:44:16 > 0:44:17So whose were they?
0:44:17 > 0:44:24They were my father's, and he was born in 1906 and they were his toys.
0:44:24 > 0:44:29So he was born in 1906 and so we assume that he was given these
0:44:29 > 0:44:32- when he was five or so.- Yes.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36That's 1911, and they would have been new for him then.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38I would imagine so, yes.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41Was the family well-to-do, or what was their...?
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Just ordinary family.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45'And these were so early and rare,
0:44:45 > 0:44:48'and I think the lady said that they didn't really have'
0:44:48 > 0:44:51much money in the family, well, they must have had,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53because those were expensive toys then,
0:44:53 > 0:44:55and of course very expensive now.
0:44:56 > 0:45:01Your father, born in 1906, this is about when he was five,
0:45:01 > 0:45:05- so they've only had one careful owner, or two now, with you.- Yes.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07And do you have the balls to go with this?
0:45:07 > 0:45:11- No, sadly I haven't.- Did you have them when you were a child?- No.- No?
0:45:11 > 0:45:15- No.- I don't think it's going to make a huge difference actually.
0:45:15 > 0:45:21They were really expensive in their day, these sorts of things.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23- And they're still very expensive. - Are they?
0:45:23 > 0:45:26Somewhere around £8,000 and £10,000.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29No! Really? Really?
0:45:29 > 0:45:30Even without the balls?
0:45:31 > 0:45:33Even without the balls.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36One of my favourite Christmas presents
0:45:36 > 0:45:38that came along on the Roadshow was...
0:45:38 > 0:45:42Do you remember that toy model village that had been given to the lady's father?
0:45:42 > 0:45:46And she herself had never opened it. It hadn't been opened in something like 100 years.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49It was a fabulous gift and an amazing story.
0:45:49 > 0:45:56As you can see, it was a present for my father, but I found it just a few weeks ago
0:45:56 > 0:45:59on the top of a wardrobe in our family home,
0:45:59 > 0:46:03and it was wrapped up in brown paper
0:46:03 > 0:46:08and I didn't know what on earth it was, opened it up,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12and thought it looked as if it had never been played with.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15We were a naughty, because we just had to put the thing...
0:46:15 > 0:46:16Get it out the box,
0:46:16 > 0:46:17put it all together
0:46:17 > 0:46:18and just let her see
0:46:18 > 0:46:20what it really looked like.
0:46:20 > 0:46:21Yeah, so what do you think?
0:46:21 > 0:46:24I think it's beautiful.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27Yes, very nice indeed.
0:46:27 > 0:46:28It's amazing.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Yeah, this really looks as if it hasn't been played with, doesn't it?
0:46:31 > 0:46:36Well, spectacular condition, and valuation...
0:46:36 > 0:46:38I think this would easily sell
0:46:38 > 0:46:40to a collector for
0:46:40 > 0:46:43£800- 1,000.
0:46:43 > 0:46:48Some of the stories about the Christmas presents we see are very moving, aren't they?
0:46:48 > 0:46:52Like the Mickey and Minnie dolls that were given to that little boy
0:46:52 > 0:46:55who died of influenza
0:46:55 > 0:46:59and afterwards his parents wrapped the dolls in his pillow case.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02Very, very sad, it really was, and, of course,
0:47:02 > 0:47:08the thing again about Minnie Mouse, is that she's such a rarity.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12Mickey is much more... We see Mickey far, far more often than we see Minnie
0:47:12 > 0:47:17and the condition, because obviously this poor little boy was ill, so once again
0:47:17 > 0:47:18the condition was spectacular.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23But this one, in this condition, and it's Minnie, which is rarer
0:47:23 > 0:47:29than Mickey - I would not hesitate putting £3,000 to £4,000 on her.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Wow, well, she's quite pricey, isn't she?
0:47:33 > 0:47:36- I just think she's heaven. - Great.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40Of all the toys that we've seen at the Roadshow this year, say,
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Judith, which one would you have most liked to receive?
0:47:43 > 0:47:47Got to be Mr Turnip Head, the Pelham puppet.
0:47:47 > 0:47:50Anyone who was a child in the '50s will have had a Pelham puppet
0:47:50 > 0:47:52and I was given one called Gretel
0:47:52 > 0:47:55and I don't know where Gretel is now,
0:47:55 > 0:48:00but even if I had Gretel, she would be worth a maximum
0:48:00 > 0:48:04of maybe £40 to £50 because she was very, very common,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08whereas Mr Turnip Head was so rare, and I loved the little granddaughter.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11Would you like to know how much he's worth?
0:48:11 > 0:48:13- Because he's very old. - He's very old.
0:48:13 > 0:48:15Very interesting.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17Yes, and as old as Granny and I.
0:48:17 > 0:48:19Yes.
0:48:19 > 0:48:21So, that's not very old.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23LAUGHTER
0:48:23 > 0:48:27Before we let that one slip, but, um...
0:48:27 > 0:48:29would it surprise you,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32if I told you that he would probably sell for about
0:48:32 > 0:48:34£1,200.
0:48:34 > 0:48:35Oh!
0:48:35 > 0:48:39NO! Goodness gracious.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43Well, I must say, I've never seen another one, ever, ever.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47Well, he's more special than I ever thought he would be.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49It's a rather tragic note, though,
0:48:49 > 0:48:53Fiona, when your child opens the present on Christmas Day,
0:48:53 > 0:48:58you've got to say to them, "OK, keep it in tremendous condition.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01"Don't play with it much, and keep that box."
0:49:01 > 0:49:03Seems a bit mean, but thank you, Judith.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05And while we're looking back on our year,
0:49:05 > 0:49:08let's spare a moment for some of the more curious items
0:49:08 > 0:49:12to come our way like this oddity, sprung upon Penny Brittain.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14- Beautiful.- Is that worth £100
0:49:14 > 0:49:16and made in Austria?
0:49:18 > 0:49:20SHE LAUGHS
0:49:21 > 0:49:25What on earth is that?
0:49:25 > 0:49:27- Erm...- I hardly...
0:49:27 > 0:49:30- I'll whisper in your ear.- Oh. - (It's a mummified dog's willy.)
0:49:32 > 0:49:35A mummified dog's willy.
0:49:35 > 0:49:37LAUGHTER
0:49:37 > 0:49:39And I'm holding it.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46'Sorry about that, Penny, but we just couldn't resist it.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49'I've also had my fair share of bizarre finds.'
0:49:49 > 0:49:51I mean, what level of fame
0:49:51 > 0:49:55do you have to have reached where your rejected loo roll
0:49:55 > 0:49:59becomes something that is sold at an auction?
0:49:59 > 0:50:02- I mean, my goodness! - Obviously The Beatles, yeah.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04- And you've got this letter here. - Yeah.
0:50:04 > 0:50:05"Toilet Roll.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08"Most of things went very smoothly with The Beatles at Abbey Road
0:50:08 > 0:50:10"but not this roll of toilet paper
0:50:10 > 0:50:14"which they complained was too hard and shiny." They also thought it disgraced...
0:50:14 > 0:50:16Well, these two books were given to my husband
0:50:16 > 0:50:21when he was nine years old and he was at prep school in Farnham in Surrey.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25He was told that they would be his summertime reading, age nine.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27They were chucked into his cupboard
0:50:27 > 0:50:31and totally forgotten about, and 25 years go by
0:50:31 > 0:50:34and I get married to this nine-year-old,
0:50:34 > 0:50:36and look what I found inside.
0:50:36 > 0:50:37Oh!
0:50:40 > 0:50:44- Better take them out and see what's in there.- Oh, brilliant.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47'And what about those pillars at the British Museum
0:50:47 > 0:50:49'that the owner paid £50 for?
0:50:49 > 0:50:52'He'd been told they were part of Nelson's famous ship HMS Victory.'
0:50:52 > 0:50:57This sort of story is crucially dependant upon provenance and evidence.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59Do you have the paperwork?
0:50:59 > 0:51:00No.
0:51:00 > 0:51:06- First valuation is £50, becomes £500 on the basis of that story.- Right.
0:51:06 > 0:51:10If you can get paperwork
0:51:10 > 0:51:15from the Victory, from maritime historians, saying, "Yes, we can guarantee
0:51:15 > 0:51:21"these were in the ship and came out in 1930," you have then got something hugely valuable.
0:51:21 > 0:51:26I would say ten times that, £5,000-£10,000 per pillar.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29But, sadly, tests proved they are not from the Victory
0:51:29 > 0:51:33but they are of the same age and Portsmouth Harbour are now keen to try and work out
0:51:33 > 0:51:37which 18th-century ship they might be from.
0:51:37 > 0:51:40And Paul also found another curious item -
0:51:40 > 0:51:44this ordinary table had possibly the biggest story to tell.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48Once owned by clean up TV campaigner Mary Whitehouse,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52it was brought in by her son Richard to Layer Marney Tower in Essex.
0:51:52 > 0:51:57This is the table upon which she prepared her campaign.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01Yes. The table would be covered in papers. I didn't understand what any of them were.
0:52:01 > 0:52:06They were strewn all over the table, she'd always be on the telephone
0:52:06 > 0:52:09and she was brilliant at manipulating the press,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12and getting stuff into the press that she wanted to talk about.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14- She was great at her own PR, wasn't she?- Yes.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16What was she like as a mother?
0:52:16 > 0:52:18What was she like to live with?
0:52:18 > 0:52:21We certainly felt side-lined and secondary to the campaign.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24- Yes.- So it's rather unfortunate that she started the campaign
0:52:24 > 0:52:26when we were young teens.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29- It was a crucial time for you. - Yes, you know,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32no sex and violence when that's the only thing we were really interested in.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35- Yeah, you wanted to go and see The Clockwork Orange.- Right.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39But I think the greatest witness to history we've seen this year
0:52:39 > 0:52:41must have been this beer jug,
0:52:41 > 0:52:43discovered by John Foster at Lulworth Castle in Dorset.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47At school, the one person we all learned about was Oliver Cromwell.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49You ask anyone, that's who they learned about.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52It's unusual and unbelievably exciting
0:52:52 > 0:52:56to have Cromwell's name round the top of this jug.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58The great thing about this is obviously Cromwell,
0:52:58 > 0:53:03one of the most controversial political and military figures in English history,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07I mean, really defeated the Royalists during the Civil War,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10turning England to a republican state for a short time.
0:53:10 > 0:53:13I mean, it's got everything you need.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17And as a jug or a jack, I mean, it's an exciting thing.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19And really would have a good value.
0:53:19 > 0:53:22I mean £3,000-£5,000 something like that.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26But with this connection,
0:53:26 > 0:53:31with Cromwell, I would have thought comfortably £20,000 to £30,000.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34Yeah.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37- Good beer, mate.- Shall have to fill that up with beer.- Exactly, exactly.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40Well, I mean, it's the most exciting thing I've seen in years.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44And we hear that Cromwell's beer jug will be heading
0:53:44 > 0:53:47to a big auction house for sale next year.
0:53:47 > 0:53:48Watch this space.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54We started our look back on the year with that exciting discovery
0:53:54 > 0:53:57after Geoffrey Munn appealed for a long-lost brooch
0:53:57 > 0:53:59designed by William Burges.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02His dream came true, it turned up
0:54:02 > 0:54:06and made a hefty windfall of £36,500 for its owner, Jill.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10Now Geoffrey I understand you have issued an even bigger challenge
0:54:10 > 0:54:12for something even more exciting.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14It certainly would be extraordinarily exciting
0:54:14 > 0:54:17because this is the only piece of precious metal work
0:54:17 > 0:54:19designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22really the foremost character in British art in the late 19th century.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26It was made as a memorial to his blighted love affair with Elizabeth Siddal.
0:54:26 > 0:54:31He drove her mad with anxiety and through his infidelities
0:54:31 > 0:54:35- and his neglect.- She was his great muse, wasn't she?- Yes, absolutely,
0:54:35 > 0:54:38and he drew her and painted her a thousand times
0:54:38 > 0:54:41and she's part of our inner psyche now,
0:54:41 > 0:54:43we see her in the Tate Gallery,
0:54:43 > 0:54:45we see her reproduced in every catalogue,
0:54:45 > 0:54:49she has a very fragile beauty, striking red hair,
0:54:49 > 0:54:53but it wasn't enough for him and he was straying elsewhere
0:54:53 > 0:54:57and she became very, very anxious and resorted to laudanum to numb her senses
0:54:57 > 0:54:59and it ended her life.
0:54:59 > 0:55:05After that had happened, his grief was followed by crushing remorse
0:55:05 > 0:55:08and he looked for a way to commemorate her,
0:55:08 > 0:55:11and this took the form of a gold watch for his own pocket,
0:55:11 > 0:55:15decorated with all kinds of allegory and symbolism
0:55:15 > 0:55:18relating to their tragic love affair.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22- Does anything remain of this watch? - Yes, there is, we know an enormous amount about it.
0:55:22 > 0:55:25We have the original design by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
0:55:25 > 0:55:26which you see here -
0:55:26 > 0:55:28pen and ink and it's annotated in pencil
0:55:28 > 0:55:32with strict instructions to the craftsmen how to make it.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35- Oh, so this is his handwriting? - Yes, indeed, so every time
0:55:35 > 0:55:38Rossetti opened this watch from his pocket,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41he would see himself next to tears being perpetually circled
0:55:41 > 0:55:45by the spectral image of Elizabeth Siddal.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47And this was made, what, in gold?
0:55:47 > 0:55:49In gold, decorated with black enamel
0:55:49 > 0:55:52and we have a photograph of it taken in 1927
0:55:52 > 0:55:57and so in a sense we know absolutely everything about it,
0:55:57 > 0:55:59and nothing at all - it's a great enigma.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02And you've been looking for this for how long?
0:56:02 > 0:56:06Well, it's 33 years. In a sense I know everything about the watch, you'd say,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08"Well, why do you want to find it?
0:56:08 > 0:56:10"You have the original design by Rossetti,
0:56:10 > 0:56:13"you have a photograph of it - you even know who made it
0:56:13 > 0:56:16"and that it was finished in 1862 so what's new?"
0:56:16 > 0:56:19But one could hold it in one's hand and one would know
0:56:19 > 0:56:22that this was the thing that Rossetti had treasured
0:56:22 > 0:56:24and what a massive emblematic function it had
0:56:24 > 0:56:26within his own existence.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28How much do you think it might be worth?
0:56:28 > 0:56:31Well, it's an extraordinarily difficult object to value
0:56:31 > 0:56:33and I'd be very hesitant about it.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39- So let's start at £40,000 and go up.- It could be more.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42You don't ask for much, do you, Geoffrey? My goodness.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44Search your house, look under the sofa,
0:56:44 > 0:56:48see if you can find this long-lost watch, and if you do,
0:56:48 > 0:56:51contact us, or better still bring it along to one of the Roadshows.
0:56:51 > 0:56:54We're just planning our next set of visits around the UK
0:56:54 > 0:56:56for next year and we'd love to see you at one of them.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44That's just about it for this Christmas Special,
0:57:44 > 0:57:46our thanks to our hosts here at Hever Castle,
0:57:46 > 0:57:50and look - they've even laid on some instant snow for us.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00From all the Roadshow team, a very merry Christmas,
0:58:00 > 0:58:01and we'll see you next year.
0:58:26 > 0:58:28Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:28 > 0:58:30E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk