All That Glisters Flog It: Trade Secrets

For many years, you've trusted the Flog It! team to value

and sell your unwanted antiques and collectibles.

I'm sure we're going to find a new home for it.

And to date, we've sold £1 million worth.

And during that time we've learned a great deal about the objects

that have passed through our hands.

In this series, I want to share some of that knowledge with you

so standby to hear some of our trade secrets.

In the latter part of the 16th century,

William Shakespeare wrote, in the Merchant of Venice,

"Everything that glisters is not gold."

His meaning - everything that looks valuable isn't necessarily so -

gold or not.

The brilliant thing about antiques is everything has a good value

because of the wonderful stories they tell.

So today's show is perfect for all you magpies out there,

as we're looking at all things sparkly.

Coming up on today's show, Mark uncovers a hidden gem...

Wow!

..Anita reveals the secrets of a very special stone...

This little baby here is worth its weight in gold.

-..Charlie needs to do some more homework...

-Shoot the valuer!

..and Will tries his hand at the precise art of medal making.

No, no, no. We've got a misclip, Will.

That's a misclip? How did that happen?

Not my fault?! I'm so glad I got you to check it.

We humans are always looking for ways to adorn ourselves.

These days the wedding ring is about as bejewelled as a man would get

but history tells us the richest and most fabulous people

advertised their status by adorning themselves

with precious metals and jewels.

So what do our experts think you should take with you

when looking for a quality piece of jewellery?

Make sure you look at it objectively.

Don't just fall in love with it cos it's sparkly and glisteny

because all that glistens might not be gold.

I would always advise you to take a magnifying glass, take a little

look so you can examine the hallmarks and the stones for any flaws.

Look for inclusions in the stones

because they do have a detrimental effect on the value.

The flecks of carbon in diamond, for example,

they can be a big problem.

Always take your loupe because you can be very disappointed when

you get home and you haven't taken it, you find out why it was cheap.

Now, diamonds might be a girl's best friend,

but there's nothing to say we fellas can't enjoy some bling.

Anita came across something for the chaps that put a twinkle in her eye.

I bought them for my husband for a special anniversary,

probably in the '80s some time.

-Were you madly in love with him at the time?

-I think so.

-Are you still madly in love with him?

-Yes!

These are gorgeous.

Now, they are 18 carat gold, so they are high carat.

You bought him the best.

We have this lovely central panel of lapis lazuli.

'Isn't that a beautiful word?'

Lapis lazuli is so easily identified by its colour.

Isn't it beautiful?

It's that mouthwatering singing blue,

mined from the bowels of the earth

and brought into the light to gladden our eyes

with this vibrant colour.

So what we've got is high carat gold, a beautiful stone

and lovely diamonds.

I like these very, very, very, very much and if I had some lovely chap

that wore cuff links I would buy them as a present as well.

But I haven't so I won't bother.

'Sometimes the older pieces, especially if it's carved,'

will be more sought after than modern examples

and our cuff links were fairly modern.

-Now, I would put a value on these of £250 to £350.

-Yes. Lovely.

Thank you again for bringing them along

-and I'll see you at the auction.

-Thank you, Anita.

620 is a pair of 18 carat gold lapis lazuli and diamond cuff links.

Start with 250 on the cuff links. 250. Bid 260.

270. 280. 290. 300.

320. 340.

-Oh, my goodness!

-No, it's 340. In the corner. 360.

380. 400. 420. 440.

Online at 440.

-Are you done at £440?

-Yes! The hammer's gone down!

-Good result!

-Isn't that wonderful!

It's a fashion thing.

Fashion changes all the time and we follow the fashion

and we pluck from the past items

which will suit the fashion of today.

And this is why these cuff links, as well as being very good quality,

were fashionable and desirable in today's market.

Lapis lazuli, spiked with gold, can be found on all sorts of pieces,

and the older ones can be very valuable.

The Egyptians used it on their scarabs and,

since medieval times, artists have taken the ground down pigment

of lapis, called ultramarine, to use in their paintings.

So look out for that telltale vibrant blue

and you could be as rich as a king.

From Anita's modern minimalist cuff links,

to an altogether more ornate piece from a fascinating era.

-Wow! Where did you get that from?

-It belonged to my grandma.

-Do you know anything about it at all?

-Not really.

-Just that it belonged to her.

-Well, it's fantastic, isn't it?

It's actually a little brooch, of course,

and these are diamonds in here. And it's mounted, I think, in platinum.

-Right.

-It's what we call Belle Epoch jewellery.

'The Belle Epoch era really typifies, for me,'

the late 19th and very early 20th century.

So we're going from that quite heavy, chunky Victorian jewellery

to a very fine, more European French style.

It's very light, the stones are very good quality.

It was probably made somewhere between 1900 and 1915.

From 1900 onwards, platinum became much more widely used.

When you're mounting a stone like diamonds,

they're much better to be mounted in a white metal.

'They reflect the inner beauty of the diamonds and just the quality,

'even though it wasn't marked, meant it was platinum, not silver.'

-Have you ever worn it?

-Never?

-Not once?

-Not once.

-That's a shame!

What do you think of it, Alex?

I like the shape of it, the way it looks a bit like a flower.

Yes, it does, doesn't it? The petals on the outside.

It's super quality and it's actually quite valuable.

I think if we were putting it in for auction

we should put somewhere in the region of £400 to £600 on it.

-Wow!

-That's wonderful, isn't it?

The Belle Epoch was a time of freedom and hope

at the dawn of a new century.

Were the bidders just as optimistic?

450 on the floor. Any advance on 450?

460 on the phone. 460.

-On the telephone.

-470. 480.

-490.

-Brilliant.

-490. 500 on the phone.

520. 540. £540.

All done at 540? All done at 540? 540.

And it's gone down. We'll take that, won't we, 540?

-Yes!

-Happy?

-Happy, happy.

What a great example of how a piece of jewellery

can convey a mood and a time!

You can learn to "read" the design to help identify the age of an item.

The cameo as a motif was highly prized by the Georgians.

Elaborate jet pieces found favour with the Victorians

after the death of Prince Albert.

And, as we've seen, flowers and natural images

were the touchstones of jewellers at the turn of the 20th century.

Sometimes the story behind a piece of adornment can be

just as valuable as the item itself.

Our expert with the Midas touch, Michael Baggott, struck gold

when he came across a very special watch.

The watch comes from my grandfather, who was called Eli Pope.

-This is his picture, there.

-Oh, right.

He built this five wheel bicycle

and he raced with it on road and on the old Crystal Palace track

and he won...he got this medal for winning a race.

-So rather than a cup he got a watch.

-Gold watch, yeah.

We've got an inscription, which is nice.

It says, "1 mile bicycle handicap won by E. Pope."

When you've got a piece that someone will bring to Flog It!

and say, "This belonged to my grandfather and he did this."

If it hasn't got that inscription,

you're taking that story on trust and however sincere and truthful

that is, in the antiques business you have to be able to prove things.

I think he possibly used to carry it around when he was racing

-because it's got a fair few dents in it.

-Yes.

But it's appropriate to a cyclist and someone that is timed

because it's got a special feature to it.

-Do you know what that special feature is?

-I know it's a stopwatch.

It is. Any idea of what the watch is made of?

-I think it's gold plate or something.

-Gold plate.

The back plate is plated for strength

but actually, the case and the bezel are 18 carat gold.

So it was a worthy thing to win

and it's marvellous to have the history with it.

It's very difficult to value this because it's got a little chip

to it which knocks the value of the watch per se.

Condition is always very important so the condition of this watch,

without its story, would have impacted greatly on its value.

The story actually equalised that and did it a little bit better

but you should always be aware of condition.

Especially when buying time pieces.

We should be in the region of about £150 to £250 on it. Would that be...

-Yes, yes. Thank you.

-A great pleasure to see it.

I have got to start the bidding here at £300.

-Fantastic!

-£300.

320 on the phone. 340.

360. 380. 400.

-420. 440. 460.

-Can't believe it!

480. 550 now. 580.

580 on the phone. 600, can I say?

At 580, then, if you're done?

-Oh, pedal power! £580!

-Wowee!

The fact that this watch was a presentation

for a very unusual sporting event is always going to add interest.

It's not just for a watch collector, it's not just for someone who

values the gold, it's for someone who values the story.

Watches are a potential gold mine for collectors

and our experts are brimming with tips.

Go for the flashy ones and the rare ones

and the movements that do all sorts of things.

And there are some major makers to go for, of course -

Rolex, Patek Philippe, Omega, Longines -

good Swiss makes that we see regularly.

Just because it says Rolex doesn't mean to say it is a Rolex.

With high quality watches the finish is absolutely superb.

If you've got any doubts about it at all,

if it doesn't feel right, walk away from it.

Pocket watches are incredibly undervalued,

particularly 18th century ones.

So if you wanted to start a collection,

start a collection of those.

Phillip Serrell also found a shiny trinket which had a story to tell -

though not one you'd expect.

Everybody at home is watching this and thinking that's a bangle.

-Is that what they're thinking?

-Probably.

We know different. Dog collar.

'If you want a bit of bling for your dog,'

I mean, today you might put him in the latest designer coat

or cover but 100 years ago,

you'd have bought him a really ritzy collar, wouldn't you? And they did.

You can just see there how the clasp operates and it's almost...

It's silver plated. You've got some marks here which are plate marks.

And then we've got in script around the border,

-Lady Constance Trentham, which is very Gosford Park, isn't it?

-Yes!

I think it's a very, very rough rule of thumb -

anything that's inscribed or decorated

is going to be worth more than a plain Jane.

Not always but most of the time.

And I think that little bit of inscription around the collar,

for me, that just added to it.

And people collect dog collars.

There is a big demand for these. You can have them in silver.

You can get some really early 18th century ones that are in brass

-with sort of really Walt Disney spikes coming out.

-Poor dogs!

But they're good, they're attractive things

when they've got a lovely patina.

I reckon that this will make between £60 and £90 at auction.

And I think if you get two people who are really avid,

then it could go and make well over £100.

I love this. It's really, really cute.

-We're looking at £60 to £90 for it. Great valuation.

-It will sell.

I like dog collars. Strange little thing I don't tell many people!

679 is the electroplated dog collar. What a charming little thing there,

engraved for Lady Constance Trentham.

And she must have had a tiny little dog.

Start with 50 bid. 55. 60. 65.

70. 75. 80. 80 bid. Any more, now, at £80?

At 80. 85. 90. 90 still here. At £90. Any more?

At 95. 100. 100 still with me.

Will take a ten. At 100. All done now at £100?

Yes! Hammer's gone down! That's sold. £100.

And bizarrely, I think that's one of those things

that would be worth a good bit more today.

Big area of collectability because it's different. It's different.

People want different things.

How many of your friends have you been to and they go,

"Look at my silver plated dog collar."

It doesn't happen, it's different.

Charlie Ross's eye was caught by a bit of sparkle

that could so easily have been overlooked as old costume jewellery.

-You don't like it, do you?

-No. I don't.

-I can tell.

It's been sitting in a box somewhere, presumably.

-Yes, actually. In the teapot. Yeah.

-Right.

It's first half of the 20th century.

1920s, 1930s, I think. Do you know where it comes from?

No. I know nothing at all about it.

Looking at all of those stones, I think

probably what is now Sri Lanka, what was Ceylon.

Because those stones were indigenous to Ceylon or Sri Lanka,

as it is now, and I'm lucky enough to have been there.

That it was likely that piece of jewellery was made there

because all those stones, or the majority of those stones,

'would have been natural to Sri Lanka.'

We have got a citrine and a garnet, then a smokey quartz,

really rather a splendid sapphire.

Then we've got a cabochon amethyst.

By cabochon it's rounded. It's in the form, really, of a bead.

Amethyst.

Then we've got the zircon and then,

although it's a slightly different colour,

-we've got another garnet at the end.

-Right.

Garnets come in different shades of orangey red.

So how did Charlie know he was looking at the real thing,

and not a worthless glass imitation?

Have I got a bit of glass in my hand?

Have I got a semiprecious stone in my hand? What do I do?

Pick up a piece of glass, put it into my hand,

semiprecious stone in that hand, close your eyes

and ipso facto you will find the glass warming up

and the semiprecious stone will remain cold.

-Have you had it insured?

-No.

-No.

No, I didn't think it was worth anything.

-Did you think it was a bit of costume jewellery?

-Yes.

So you thought it was worth £10, I suppose?

Didn't think it was worth anything at all.

-Anything at all?

-No.

So, it will come as a pleasant surprise to be

-told that it's worth £100-£150.

-Lovely, yes. Thank you.

Charlie knew a semiprecious bracelet when he saw one,

but it quickly proved to be more precious than even he expected.

220. 230, 240,

250, 260,

270, 280.

-Oh, they love it.

-290, 300.

310, 320.

330, 340.

Oh, crumbs.

350, 360, 370, 380.

And we're still going.

390, 400.

At £400. With the lady at 400, now. At £400.

-Are we all done?

-Oh, gosh.

At £400.

Bang, that hammer's gone down.

£400!

Shoot the valuer!

If you're going to sell a bit of jewellery, for goodness' sake,

make sure you know what it is.

Yes, and any good auction house, of course, will give you a valuation

prior to sale and will tell you whether something is genuine or not.

So, how can you tell a diamond from the rough?

As well as Charlie's warmth test, try the breath test.

If you breathe on glass, it will fog up,

but a diamond will remain clear as day.

What else should you bear in mind?

Remember to take your loupe,

which will help you to identify the four Cs...

Colour and clarity define the quality of a gem

and how many faults or inclusions it has.

Have a go at studying the gem through your loupe,

but, it is a specialist field,

so ask an expert if you are in doubt.

With a little research, you can

learn to identify one of the hundreds of cuts out there,

from the traditional rose, to the curved cabochon.

You can learn about the carat,

which is the weight of your gemstone,

by using a simple and inexpensive card to measure it.

And by examining the four Cs, along with the quality of the design,

you could be going for gold.

Nothing fires the imagination of the Flog It! experts more than

a military medal and the stories associated with them.

But why is one medal more desirable than another?

Expert and auctioneer Will Axon has seen a fair few in his time,

and he jumped at the chance to visit the place that's been

responsible for striking them for more than 200 years.

Well, they've let me in.

Here I am. The Royal Mint.

Everyone thinks coins, don't they,

when they think of the Royal Mint, but I am here to

look at something that interests me more than coins - medals.

But, before Will got to handle the medals

awarded for service in the Armed Forces,

he met one of the foremost experts in the field of mint medals,

Kevin Clancy, curator of the Royal Mint Museum.

It really began about 200 years ago with the Waterloo Medal.

And you have an original Waterloo Medal here?

Cos I know, from my auctioneering background, that they

-are highly collectable, aren't they?

-We do.

-The Royal Mint made all the Waterloo Medals.

-Well, come on.

Let's get down to it. Let's have a look at them in the flesh.

All sorts of medals flashing there in front of me.

Wow, look at this. There, of course,

is the Waterloo Medal.

And you've got various versions, is that right?

That's right. The nature of our collection is about how

a coin or medal has been produced.

But to think, how would you commemorate Waterloo?

What device would you use?

That's a creative problem that someone's got to solve.

And, in this instance, it's the winged figure of Victory.

Which we can see here.

With the word Waterloo underneath and the date.

And it's become an extraordinarily

potent symbol of campaign medals.

This is the start, this is where it all began.

Now, if we're talking medals for bravery or gallantry,

there's one that tops the list, isn't there, the VC.

Now, tell me you've got one of those here.

We have an example of a Victoria Cross in the collection.

Wow, look at that!

From our point of view it's one of the only official

-medals that the Royal Mint hasn't made.

-It was made by Hancocks?

By Hancocks. It was from the word go, 150 years ago, and still is.

This is as high as it gets as far as the gallantry awards are concerned.

Let me just see. What do you reckon? Do you think I could...

Do you think they'd notice if I sneaked out with that?

Now, Kevin, I'm no medals expert, but you've seen and handled so many,

you must have some top tips that you are able to pass on to our viewers.

Condition is hugely important in anything you're buying,

of course, particularly medals, I would say, and coins.

The way in which you look after it subsequently

is again very, very important.

Beyond that, it is in some ways where your heart and, let's face it,

where your pocket might lead you.

Your interests could go in all sorts of directions

in relation to medals.

The stories are fascinating.

It's something that can illuminate the past

in a way that few other objects can.

Here at the mint, they produce medals for present-day conflicts.

But perhaps surprisingly,

they're currently also making Second World War medals.

One of these is the Arctic Star.

From 1914 to 1945, Allied convoys sailed across the Arctic,

to deliver four million tonnes of vital supplies to the Russians.

Conditions were amongst the worst faced by any Allied sailor,

with extreme cold and ferocious pack ice.

The loss rate for ships was higher than any other

Allied convoy route, with 3,000 sailors losing their lives.

After a successful campaign,

the veterans have finally been recognised for their heroism.

It's estimated that 120,000 of them

or their next of kin are eligible to receive the Arctic Star.

Will had an unprecedented sneak look at the process

of making this most deserved of all medals.

When you think that these people have waited 68 years to be appreciated.

-Exactly.

-That's a long time to wait.

So there must be a sense of honour amongst anyone working here.

Yes, there's real pride here.

People are really proud of what we make in the Royal Mint,

especially the medals.

I tell you what, is there any part of this process that

I might be able to have a go at?

You can have a go, if you think you're up to it.

If you're going to trust me with a 360-tonne press?

Yes, yes, you'll be fine.

-This is it here, is it?

-Yeah, don't forget your glasses.

No, I've got my safety goggles. Right.

-So I've got a nice stack here.

-Nice, shiny blank.

OK, you put it in the press.

-Locate it in the die.

-Yeah.

-Locate the star now.

-Locate the star...

-That's fine.

-I think that's about right.

-Where's my hammer? Oh, no...

-The green.

-Just press once?

-Yeah.

Right, now press it again.

-Oh!

-There we are. Take it out, Will.

-Is it safe?

Yeah, yeah, it's fine, yeah.

That's fine. No holes, no scratches.

That's great, Will.

So now it needs to go to the clipping?

It needs to go to the clipping, yeah.

Now I need to clip this excess.

I'm assuming this has got to be pretty accurate, otherwise...

Yes, it has.

Make sure you locate properly, Will.

-You happy?

-You better check it.

It's fine, now, Will.

What you mean "fine now"? It wasn't before?

-So down comes my safety?

-Yeah.

Press the foot pedal.

-OK?

-Slightly nervous, isn't it?

I suppose you're pretty used to it.

-My medal, in theory.

-Your medal's coming out.

Let's have a look. Front...

-Yeah, yeah.

-That's OK, Will.

-Is that OK?

-Yes, that's OK.

It's got to be cleaned later. No, no.

-We've got a misclip, Will.

-That's a misclip.

-We've got a misclip.

-How did that happen? Not my fault!

I probably didn't locate it...

-Oh, I'm so glad I got you to check it!

-This is a reject.

-We'll make another one.

-Really?

-We'll make another one, yeah.

Just a few more to go, Will.

Once Will's got that right,

the medal is pierced and polished.

Rhiannon, you're on the final process.

-Yes, I am.

-The ribbon.

Well, I've got a medal here.

-Any chance I could swap that for one with a ribbon on?

-Course you can.

That's very kind of you.

I'm glad you are doing that fiddly work and not me.

-And that's in the box it will be presented to, yeah?

-Yes, it is.

Wow, look at that.

Stunning, isn't it? The finished product.

To think that I've had a small part to play, even if it is

just helping to strike a medal, that...

You know, it's in some way respectful

to what they gave for their country

70 years ago, but still relevant, really

and worth commemorating, certainly.

With medal collecting, valour is the crucial element.

If you're going to start your own collection, here's a tip.

Home in on a battle or the era that intrigues you most

and enjoy getting to know the stories of gallantry

behind that scrap of metal.

Anita Manning is probably the most

stylish member of the Flog It! team.

She loves colour and is also rather partial to a bit of adornment.

MUSIC: "Theme from Jurassic Park" by John Williams

I love jewellery.

It doesn't need to be gold and it doesn't need to be diamonds.

I love ambers.

And for me, they're very, very, very special.

Now, amber is a precious substance

and it is made of the fossilised resin

of giant and ancient pine trees

40 to 60 million years old.

And it's the type of thing which reaches

very high prices in the auction.

But, when something is very precious like that, we often find that

things are copied and that there are imitations

and we find these in the sale rooms and we also find them

in my little collection of amber, as well.

And I don't mind them too much.

I mean, it's very handy

to be able to identify the true amber.

And, in this one here,

it looks in the spectrum of ambers,

but, in actual fact, it is a Bakelite.

How do we tell the difference?

There's first the hot pin test.

If you heat a little pin

and put it into the amber in a place where you can't see it,

maybe near the string hole, if it's amber,

it will emit this wonderful pine perfume,

whereas, if it's plastic or Bakelite,

the smell will be really horrid.

People worshipped amber, because it was a sun...

They called it a sun-reflecting stone.

And, if we look at something like that,

which has depth and colour

and substance and great beauty,

this is the real amber.

And this little baby here

is worth its weight in gold.

So if you've been inspired by all these glistening treasures,

then why not hunt out some bling on your own?

That's the beauty of these antiques -

they can be worn and shown off,

not just left gathering dust on the shelf.

Join us next time for more Trade Secrets.