Bexhill-on-Sea Flog It!

Forget Silverstone.

The very first motor racing event to take place on British soil

happened right here, in this seaside town.

Thousands turned out to witness the spectacle in 1902 and today,

we're hoping for the same amount of enthusiasm here in Bexhill-on-Sea.

Welcome to Flog It.

Here we are in Bexhill-on-Sea, the birthplace of British motor racing.

I tell you what, there are so many people in our queue, hundreds,

I'm going to step it up a gear to get down to the front.

They've come here

to ask our experts that important question, what is it worth?

We're going to take the best items off to auction

and hopefully there's going to be surprises later on in the show.

-But they're all here because they want to?

-ALL: Flog it!

'And gearing up for their grand prix performances

'are antiques experts David Fetcher...'

I tell you one thing, they're not £1 million.

I don't know what they are, but it's not £1 million.

'..and Michael Baggot.'

-That's electric-plated Britannia metal.

-So I'll throw that away then?

No, you put a plant in that, don't you?

You put a plant in that grows over and hides it. That's the trick.

'Today's show brings us a menagerie of animals.

'A wise old owl, ready to melt a few hearts.

'A golden chick with a pearl egg.

'And a magnificent bronze elephant.

'They say that elephants never forget,

'but will it be the elephant

'that ends up getting the most memorable price in the saleroom?

'Stay with us to find out.'

Everybody's now safely seated inside the pavilion.

We've got a full house. We're going to have a fabulous day.

'First, it's that elephant,

'and it looks like Michael has met his match...in Hazel.'

No, no, no. I charge for kisses.

I charge double. THEY LAUGH

I didn't expect to see a zoo in the queue this morning,

but this fellow leapt out at me.

He did, didn't he?

-Is he the only one?

-He is, yes.

You haven't got a whole herd of them back home?

I've got a big one at home

and I've got a big Japanese bronze jardiniere with elephants on.

-Have you?

-Yes.

-Why didn't you bring those in? Why this one?

I don't want to part with those!

-That one, I can part with.

-So where did it come from then?

From a boot sale. About five, six years ago.

-Three pounds. Three pounds?

-Three pounds.

When you bought it, did you buy it thinking, "Oh, I like the look

of that elephant," or did you think, "Three pounds, I must get this"?

No, I bought it cos I loved him. I absolutely loved him.

That is the best and only reason to buy anything,

is because you love it and it appeals to you.

When you got it home, did you know where it was from, when it was made?

Yeah, I knew it was made of bronze because of the weight of it.

And I knew it was Japanese

because there is a signature on the bottom of one of the feet.

You're absolutely right.

If we turn him up, and he's very heavy, cast bronze,

we've got a two-character signature on the foot.

What we also would have had... As I turn him up, we can see,

there's a bit of broken tusk there.

So, he would have had ivory tusks on him.

-He's not the first class of Japanese bronze.

-No.

What you've got to understand about when this fellow was made,

and he was made towards the end of the Meiji period,

maybe into the Taisei period, so you're looking at 1900 to 1920.

-Oh, right.

-The Japanese were better than anybody else

at working metal at the time.

I mean, it hit an absolute zenith.

But while this is a lovely cast bronze, and it's all textured,

it's not as good as the best that they could do.

Oh, really?

But still, for £3, it doesn't really matter, does it?

-No, I think he's gorgeous anyway.

-Any idea of value?

Because you knew he was Japanese. You knew he was a bronze.

But I've no idea of his age and absolutely no idea of his value.

I think we'll put him into auction, minus his tusks

and with a little loss of patination,

in the region of £70 to £100. We'll put a fixed 70 reserve on him.

I'd expect him to do the top end, a little bit more,

even without his tusks. Why are you selling him, Hazel?

Well, because he's too beautiful to be stuck in a cupboard,

and I'd like to move him on so someone else can enjoy him

and see the beauty of him. Because I just think he's gorgeous.

-So, basically, we're freeing him from captivity.

-Yes, we are.

Well, let's look for a lovely, large place to roam after the sale.

-Hope so.

-Thank you so much for bringing him in.

-Thank you, Michael.

Nice story and an appealing item.

I always feel a little bit like a detective

at a Flog It! valuation day.

Someone's got a treasure here, haven't they?

-And we're going to find it.

-Yes.

-Well, I hope it's me.

I'm going to look in your bag next. But look.

That's the best news I've had all day.

Hey, we've got a livewire here, Len. Do you know each other?

-Only from sitting here for hours.

-You see?

Come to Flog It! and make friends, all like-minded people,

all enthusiastic about antiques.

And that's what it's all about really, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Len, I like your owl. I've seen these before.

-You have?

-Yes, Spanish pottery.

-Yes.

-And I've seen this particular model.

And I know the modeller, as well. Antonio Ballesta.

-Yes.

-But I've not seen that colourway before.

-I think it's almost worn off.

-Do you think so?

-Yes.

-What makes you think that?

-Because I've never seen another one like it.

-You know about these owls, do you?

-I collect owls.

-You collect owls.

There are a lot of people that collect owls,

and that's the only reason why I'm talking to you. For me,

it's not a great piece of pottery, it's not a refined piece of work.

It's a collectible.

It's sort of 1971 to 1979, somewhere around there.

-But because it's an owl, I want to hold it, can I?

-You may indeed.

Look at that, isn't that cute?

You cannot help but want to love that little fellow.

-Do you like that?

-Lovely.

Would you give that space on your shelf at home?

-I'm not 100% sure, but I do like it.

-It's fun, isn't it? It is fun.

If you had kids, they'd love it.

I do believe that's one of the early ones, and it may even be a one-off.

In which case, that bird -

if you'll excuse the pun - is going to fly away.

I think, to be realistic,

you've got to put that into auction with a value of £50 to £70.

On a good day, it will sell for £100, if it is that rare.

But you have to have two people that collect owls,

someone like you that falls in love with it, and they bid

against each other and push the bidding up to get to £100.

-Happy with that?

-Yes.

-Good, job done.

Over to you, David.

Hello, John. It goes without saying that you're a sports fan.

Yes, very much so.

Broadly speaking, we've got memorabilia here that relates

to football, golf and other sports.

-Yes.

-Let's concentrate on the football.

-All right.

Over to you.

Well, the story on this is that I managed to get these boots,

claret and blue, West Ham, for those who don't know,

from Alan Sealey, actually, from his family.

We used to play in East London in a team together and the four of us -

four guys from Fairbairn House Club - went to the match.

And at the end of the match, we decided that we would wait

around to see Alan, congratulate him because he scored the two goals,

so he was a bit of a hero.

So, I have these boots, and Bobby Moore, Martin Peters,

amongst others, signed them. On here, is Moore, Hurst and Peters.

While somebody was signing, a pound note came floating down

on the ground and I looked up and Brian Dear,

who was one of the West Ham players, had just said,

-"Have a drink on me, lads."

-Wonderful!

What a nice gesture for one of the players to throw you

a pound note and say, "Have a drink on me, lads."

-And to get a drink for two and six pence.

-That's another story.

-We're just showing our age now. Remember those days?

-Yes.

Just one of two points about this.

This programme has got a bit of damage. And the other thing,

the Bobby Moore signature,

which is quite a crucial signature, is a bit smudged, which does...

For the purest, that's not good news.

I don't think it matters for the general collector.

And, of course, people our age remember that Peters, Moore

-and Hurst played in the World Cup final in 1966.

-That's right.

-And you've got something here which relates to that too.

-Yes.

This is signed too. Are they all there?

Unfortunately, Bobby had passed away by then

and Jack Charlton didn't play.

This was at a Pro-Am golf tournament and the nine players,

Nobby Stiles, they're all there.

-The nine who still survived.

-Right. Fantastic.

One other thing which catches my eye here is the final tie,

the Cup Final ticket stub

for the 1958 FA Cup final.

That was... The Manchester United team that played in that

-was the team that had suffered the Munich air crash.

-That's right.

They just got a team together, really,

in a couple of months, and they reached the final.

And this one relates to the World Cup semifinal in '66.

When we won at Wembley, beat Portugal.

So, it's a fantastic collection. Why are you selling it?

-Well, you know, I'm not going to last forever.

-No.

I've got two sons, so I really don't want to split between the two.

-So, I think, at this time, flog it!

-Yep, flog it, that's the word.

I must say, I find it very difficult to value a collection like this.

I'm going on a hunch, really.

I feel the collection ought to do £200, maybe £300.

I would like to go for an estimate of 180 to 220

-and a reserve of 180...

-Yes.

..and hope that we make a bit more. I'm confident we will.

Let's hope we have as good a result as England had in 1966.

-Yes, very much so. Thank you.

-I'll see you there.

Well, I think David really enjoyed that item, don't you?

Michael has also tracked down something to his liking.

People will know now - from watching Flog It! -

I have an automatic silver-detecting machine in my fingers.

So, I leapt on you on the queue with these wonderful spoons.

Full set of 11.

-Yes.

-If you're selling.

Incomplete set of 12, if you're buying.

-Where did you get them from?

-A local auction house.

I just saw the name Tiffany on them and thought I should buy them.

That's as good a reason as any. You've let the cat out of bag there.

We have got a set of 11 American spoons,

and they are indeed marked, not with the hallmarks you get

on British silver, but stamped with the retailer's name, Tiffany,

and the word sterling.

You've also got at the end of that, just over that leaf, a little M.

Now, that M means Moore.

It was a Mr Moore who came in as a designer

for Tiffany in the late 1860s, early 1870s.

And all of his designs are stamped with a little M.

There are various styles of M to tell you

what they were designed for and in what particular range.

And there are also a huge number of patterns.

This one, I don't know off the top of my head,

but it's got roses on it.

-Yes.

-So rose, or wild rose pattern, seems a reasonable assumption.

-Yes.

The other thing you don't get with American silver is a date letter.

-Oh.

-So, we have to look at these as we look at other antiques

and date them stylistically.

This particular lap-over-edge shape came in about 1870, 1880.

So, I would date these anywhere from that date up until about 1900.

-Right.

-What's very interesting, I don't know if you've seen it...

-Have you seen that little mark there?

-No.

That's a little French export mark.

So, at some stage,

these were made by Tiffany probably for their sale in the shop in Paris.

Oh, right.

-So, you bought them at auction.

-Yes.

Because they were Tiffany, they cost an absolute fortune, didn't they?

-Well, I paid £80 for them, or thereabout.

-£80?

-Yes.

-That's about £10 a spoon.

-That's what I thought.

You did your maths very quickly on the spot.

I think a set of 11 of those

are going to be worth £10 or £15 each.

-Right.

-So, let's put £120 to £180 on them.

-Excellent.

Let's put a fixed reserve of 120. Does that sound good?

-Are you happy with that?

-That sounds very good. Excellent.

So when you spied them in the auction initially,

it was sort of an investment potential?

-Well, sort of. Just the name, really.

-The name swings it.

Let's hope that name works for us at the auction again.

-Thanks very much indeed.

-Thank you. Thank you very much.

I just love discovering the treasures that people

bring along to our valuation days.

Well, one way or another, it is a bit of racing memorabilia,

albeit a game.

But I do like Scalextrics. Wonderful bit of history.

Our experts have been working flat-out,

now it's time to up the tempo.

This is where we put those valuations to the test.

We're off to auction, and here's a quick recap of what we're taking.

I'm sure you'll all remember Hazel's charming bronze elephant.

And Len's lovable owl should pull some heartstrings at the sale room.

David is not the only football fan on the South Coast,

so John's collection of ephemera should soon have a new home.

As will the 11 silver Tiffany spoons.

Just a short trip of 12 miles or so along the South Coast

is the elegant town of Eastbourne.

Well, this is where it gets exciting,

the moment we now put those valuations to the test.

And today, we are the guests of the Eastbourne Auction Rooms.

On the rostrum right now, our auctioneer. Hello there. Paul.

Good luck. You can take it away. Let's join up with our owners.

Stay tuned for some surprises.

The atmosphere is building as the sale room fills up.

Our first item cost owner Hazel £3,

but what will she sell it for?

I absolutely love this little bronze Japanese elephant.

Missing its ivory tusks, but according to Michael,

we could get around £70.

Yes. I mean, if you're saying we just have to go over £3...

-We are lucky.

-We ought to get up to that 70 figure.

-I'm getting excited for it.

-We are all getting excited.

Let's hope we can get the bidders excited right now,

because it's going under the hammer.

The Japanese patinated bronze elephant.

It's signed to the base, 20 centimetres in length.

There it is, there.

Nice elephant, there. Bid me what you like on this one.

Who's got what? £70 to start that. Do I see £70 to start it anywhere?

70 I've taken on the internet.

At £70 only. Is there five? Do you want to go to five, sir?

-At £70 only.

-£70.

-Internet has it at £70.

-And five bid now. 75.

-Come on.

-£80 on the internet.

-At £80 only.

-Well, they sold it.

-Yeah.

85 is bid. 90 now. 90 has it. At £90. Net bidder has it at 90.

At £90 only. Is there five in the room? £90.

You're all out in the room then at £90. I sell it to the internet then.

-Hammer's going down!

-Are we all done?

-It's £90! You've turned £3 into £90!

-Brilliant!

Next up, Len, who has raised the reserve on his owl. But why?

Len, I think you've got high hopes. You know that. It's a collectible.

And I know you've actually put the reserve up an extra £20,

-haven't you?

-Yes, I have.

You feel that selling it at £50 would be too little.

-Definitely.

-We've got a fixed reserve of £70.

-We're going to have a hoot of a day.

-Exactly. Good line.

The porcelain owl,

green porcelain owl, factory marked at the base.

There it is. A lovely one. There it is, too. And where are we here?

£60 on bid. At £60 only. And five.

Bid at 65. Is there 70 anywhere? At £65. I'll take 70 from you.

-At £65 only.

-Come on.

-Anybody else coming in at 65?

OK, that's a bid of 65 there. I'll have to put that forward.

-We're £5 short!

-Not quite there.

-£5.

-At £65, not sold.

It would have gone at 65 if you didn't meddle.

-Yes.

-Meddling fingers, Len. Now you're disappointed, aren't you?

For a fiver. I would have given you a fiver, do you know that?

-If we had sold that for 65.

-Can I have a five?

-No, you can't.

Whatever next!

Take this bid to 280, will you? 270 then.

Well, it's the name, isn't it? Tiffany. It attracts the buyers.

It attracted Tony that day at the auction room, didn't it?

Tiffany and Co. "I've got to have it."

I hope that's what we have here today in Eastbourne.

-We've got 11 silver spoons going under the hammer.

-Yes.

We've got a few bidders here, look, dotted around the room.

I'm thinking it might go in the room, do you know that?

A few people with cups of tea that need stirring, as well.

I could do with one right now.

11 Tiffany and Co sterling silver teaspoons,

the stems decorated with flowers,

housed in an unassociated case there. There we go.

And where are we here? Who's got £80 to start those?

Do I see 80 for those anywhere? 80 bid on the net. And five.

-90... At £85, 90 is bid. And five.

-Come on!

-100.

110 bid. 120 now. At 110 only. At 110, is there 20?

-At £110 only, is there 120 anywhere? 120 is bid now.

-Come on.

-There's this one.

-At 120 only. Anybody else than at 120?

All done and I sell it on that bid of 120.

-Well, that's all right.

-Well, just!

-It's a return on your money.

-It is.

And I think somebody in America is probably doing cartwheels,

so everybody wins.

And now something for the footie enthusiasts.

-Big business, football memorabilia.

-Yeah, it's coming on, of course.

There's so much money in football now.

I remember when there was less money in football and far more in cricket.

And it was the cricket memorabilia that sold.

Cricket memorabilia still sells,

but football is certainly coming on as a collectors' field.

Bobby Moore as well, big name.

-Unfortunately, that's not mentioned in the catalogue.

-Sadly not.

-That was a disappointment, but we shall see.

-We shall see.

I bet the West Ham fans have picked up on this.

We now move to the football autographs, including Hurst,

Peters, the famous one, Bobby Moore,

signed programmes of Boys of '66 hardback book, all sorts there.

We're straight in at £180.

At 180. 180 it is. At 180. Commission bid has it at 180.

Take 90 from you. 190. 200. 210.

£200. 210. 220. 230. 230 on the phone. 240 with me. 250.

They picked up on the Bobby Moore.

Commission has it at 240. 250, I'll take.

At £240. The commission bidder has it at 240.

250 on the phone. 260 with me. £260 with me.

Commission bidder has it at 260. Anybody else coming in?

At £260, you're out on the telephone now. At 260. Anyone else?

At £260, it sells then.

-Yes!

-Pretty good.

-Well, I'm delighted.

-Yes.

-Back in the net.

Picked that one out.

-Happy?

-Yes. I was a bit...

-A bit apprehensive.

-We were. Thank you.

What are you going to put that money towards anyway?

Well, I'm going to put some of it toward the Bobby Moore Cancer Fund,

because without Bobby Moore, I wouldn't have sold it.

So, I'll put some money to them.

And we're going on holiday next year to California.

So, a little bit to go towards that.

-Good for you, John.

-You'll enjoy it, won't you?

It's nice to know that some of that money is going to charity.

One thing you are guaranteed to find in places like this

all over the country are collectors.

And believe me, they are a breed apart.

While we are up here in the area filming,

I had an opportunity to go off and explore

the story about an unforgettable collector who did not live

far from here. Take a look at this.

Collecting is a real bug.

Once you've got it, there's no stopping it.

Believe me, it's so addictive.

Of course, there is one major problem.

Sooner or later, you're going to run out of space to store it all.

It's precisely at this point, back in 1955,

that antiques dealer and collector Dennis Eyre Bower decided to do

something radical about housing his own personal collections.

So, he borrowed £6,000 from the bank and bought himself a castle.

And this is it. Chiddingstone Castle.

Dennis hoped to finance the running of the castle

and pay off his debt to the bank by charging visitors half a crown.

He had antiques from his four areas of interest on display

to the public.

Buddhism.

Egyptian art.

Stuart and Jacobean artefacts.

And the exquisite Japanese collection.

His acumen for antique collecting being much better

than his grasp of property management.

It's true to say that his obsession with collecting had

a disastrous effect on every other area of his life.

In the 1920s, he was reprimanded by the Midland Bank,

his then employer, for sending out runners to place bids for him

in the local auction rooms.

I'd like to show you a photo of him here.

Look, there he is, with his bank colleagues.

I bet he was a big hit with the ladies.

He does look like trouble, doesn't he?

It comes as no surprise, in 1943, at the age of 38,

he quit the bank for his overriding passion, antiques,

and he became an antique dealer.

Dennis's relationship with women also suffered largely,

taking second place to his passion for collecting.

Although he had many girlfriends and lovers,

neither of his two marriages lasted very long.

The first was annulled after only one year.

The second after only five weeks.

So it seems that Dennis left a trail of disappointed women behind him.

Well, to crown it all, not long after taking over the castle,

Dennis met and fell in love with a beautiful young lady half his age.

He was so in love with her, but one day,

when she threatened to call off the romance, he was so upset,

he ran to see her, picked up one of his antique guns, took it with

him, dramatically threatening to kill himself if she called it off.

Well, don't ask me how, but somehow, accidentally,

he managed to shoot her.

He was so horrified by what he did,

he turned the gun on himself and tried to kill himself.

After waking up in hospital,

he found he was under arrest for attempted murder,

because the young lady survived, but also attempted suicide.

Dennis was sentenced to life imprisonment and spent

a number of years in Wormwood Scrubs before finally being freed in 1962,

when he returned to live at Chiddingstone Castle

among his collections.

You could say that his eye for the ladies brought him nothing

but trouble, but we should all be grateful for his eye for antiques.

I have arranged to meet Julia Hart, curator of Japanese Art

at the Victoria and Albert Museum and also a trustee of Chiddingstone

Castle, to look at some of Dennis's Japanese collection.

There is a wonderful collection of Japanese artefacts here.

-Absolutely.

-We're surrounded by them.

-Was this Dennis's main passion then?

-Yes.

His father had a collection of Chinese ceramics and Japanese swords.

From that, really developed his love for Japanese art.

-So this is his niche.

-Yes. One of his niches.

One of his niches. What a great collector.

I mean, this is what

I would normally associate Japanese lacquerware with.

Things like the sake bowls there, with the typical reds.

-And, of course, the little writing box there.

-Yes.

Lacquer is basically the sap from a tree that grows in East

and Southeast Asia.

By making incisions in the bark, the sap oozes out.

-They can draw it off.

-Yes.

It's collected and then it's processed. After that, it's coloured.

When you're talking about lacquer and the depth of coat in the build-up

of the lacquer, it's normally about 20 to 30 different coats of lacquer?

Yes, you normally have a thin wooden base and on top of that,

you build it up with layers of lacquer, essentially.

Then you start on the decorative layer. So, it's a long process.

-And it's expensive work.

-I bet.

And the vessels themselves, let's look at this little box.

Now, that's obviously made of wood to start with

-and then covered with these lacquer processes.

-Yes.

Looking here, that geometric design is so mathematically correct.

-Absolutely.

-That's some discipline to achieve there.

Yes. Really testing the lacquer skills to be able to work with these

minute pieces and place them individually.

-This is some of the best work I've ever seen in my life.

-Yes.

-Let's talk about the little sake cups.

-Yes.

They are little drinking vessels. The equivalent to our wine glasses.

-Right.

-What age are they?

-They are 19th century.

There are many examples of this type of work produced on sake cups.

-Sake, of course, is clear.

-So you can see the image through it.

You can see the design.

Sometimes, they have decoration on the back, so that when you drink,

the other person would see the design on the back.

Do you respect Dennis as a collector, a connoisseur?

-Did he have a good eye?

-Absolutely.

-I agree with you.

I think he was an English eccentric,

who happened to be in the right place

at the right time in the right period.

He was buying Japanese

art at a time when it was no longer especially popular.

-It wasn't fashionable, so the prices were low.

-The prices were low.

He was buying on modest means.

And, with a very good eye, he was able to buy some spectacular pieces.

Well, old Dennis may have had a turbulent private life,

but I tell you what, boy, was he a good collector and dealer!

He had a fabulous eye for detail. He followed his own instincts.

He bought items when they weren't fashionable,

so they were affordable. There's a lesson for us all there.

He bought only quality and items that weren't overly restored.

And his legacy is here today for us to enjoy at Chiddingstone Castle.

People are still arriving at the pavilion in Bexhill

to have their unwanted collectibles and antiques valued.

Let's see who David is talking to at the table.

-Hello, Dougie.

-Hello.

-What a wonderful lorry you've brought along here.

-Yeah.

-Do you collect these?

-I do.

I collect all sorts of different toys, tinkertoys mostly now.

-But I've got a few of these larger ones.

-OK.

And when did you buy this?

-Oh, about in the 1970s, the early 1970s.

-OK.

Tell me a bit about it.

-I'm sure you know far more about these things than I do.

-Oh, right.

-It obviously has a clockwork motor.

-It has a clockwork motor, yes.

That's the key to wind it up. This is the key to take it all apart,

because it is actually a kit.

I've never taken it apart,

I'm worried about not being able to put it back together again.

-I don't think I would.

-So, it came preassembled.

-It came like that.

-You bought it preassembled.

-I bought it like that, yeah.

-OK.

It's very old, it's 1950s.

The firm who made this, Shackleton, I've been told,

made them for four years, from '48 to '52.

-And then they went out of production for some reason.

-Right.

-They never made them after that.

-OK. So, the Shackleton firm...

-And I see you brought along here the maintenance instructions.

-Yeah.

-Also in good condition.

-Yeah.

Nice to have those, I think they add value.

It's very good to have them. It's a pity the box is missing now.

Yes, of course. But Shackleton were in business just for four years.

That's right. So I've been told.

-So that must add to the scarcity, obviously.

-Oh, yes.

I've never seen another one.

-We need to think about what it might be worth.

-Yes.

Before we do that, if it's in your collection,

why are you thinking of selling it?

Well, I'm going on a holiday to Las Vegas after Christmas.

-Las Vegas, right.

-And I need as much spending money as I can get.

-Right.

And this goes towards that.

I love your waistcoat, that'll go down well.

-It's not bad, is it?

-It's fantastic.

Anyway, I think this is going to make between £100 and £150.

-Yeah.

-I'm being a bit conservative.

-Yeah, I think so.

Nonetheless, we'll keep the estimate down to 100 to 150.

-That's fine.

-We'll make the reserve £100.

-That's fine.

So, it won't sell for less than 100 and let's hope it makes a lot more.

-Yep, that's fine.

-I'll see you at the sale.

-I'll be there.

-Thanks very much.

-And I can just picture Dougie in Las Vegas.

It looks like Michael has had a lucky find

with a piece of jewellery.

I see you brought this lovely little brooch along today.

-Why aren't you wearing it?

-It's just something... I never wear normally.

I don't wear a lot of jewellery. I love it.

I like to get it out once a year out of the jewellery box,

look at it, see it's safe and that's it.

-So, it gets an airing every 365 days.

-Usually, yes.

It's a beautiful thing to look at and handle.

I mean, look at the ingenuity of making a little brooch

out of a wishbone.

-Very pretty. I like the idea.

-And then you've got the chick there.

I don't know whether that's quite morose or not, before and after.

-I never thought of it like that.

-No, I've just got a very dark side to me.

I think the pearl is meant to represent an egg.

That's what I thought.

But they couldn't quite find a pearl that was egg shaped enough,

so they just put that one in.

Have you got any idea when it was made, where was made?

-We just guessed that it was probably Victorian.

-Definitely Victorian.

-It's about 1880, 1890.

-Is it?

-They're not marked.

Because a lot of small gold work wasn't marked at this time.

-It was simply because it would damage it.

-Right.

Because it's not marked, we don't know what carat it is

-without testing it for definite.

-Right.

But, by the colour of it, it's going to be nine carats.

Right, OK.

The nice feature is that they've gone to a bit of trouble.

-All the feathers are picked out on the chick.

-Yes.

All beautifully engraved. And the eye is just a little garnet or ruby.

Not a valuable stone, but a lovely touch, lovely finish to it.

-We have to consider its gold value at the moment.

-Yes.

-Because gold is very high.

-Yes.

But I want to put it at a figure that is above its gold value.

Because if that was melted down, it would just be a waste, really.

-Of course.

-So, let's say £80 to £120.

-All right.

I think the gold value in there's probably about 60 to 65.

Let's put a fixed reserve of £80 on it.

And see where it goes from there.

-It's a great thing to buy for £80 or £90, isn't it?

-It is.

It would be nice to think that somebody would actually buy it

and use it more often.

-A chicken fancier?

-Yes.

-A roast chicken specialist? I don't know.

The wishbone thing is actually something that goes back

to my childhood.

My sister and I always used to fight over who was going to win

when you break it with your little finger

when we used to have roast chicken or turkey at Christmas.

-And she always won.

-She won, but you got the brooch.

Exactly.

Let's hope the auctioneer eggs on the bidders in the sale room.

As the day draws to a close, David has spied one last item.

-Hello, Brian.

-Hello, David.

-Thank you for coming along today.

Are you a naval man or a birdwatcher?

-No, nothing like that at all.

-How did you come to own this?

Well, I acquired it when my mother died about 12 years ago.

I was going through her possessions and found this in a drawer.

And just took it home and put in a drawer in my house.

And then thought, it's still sitting in a drawer,

I might as well bring it along to you.

Well, thank you for bringing it in.

Certainly, it has a naval connection.

-We can see it's a one, two, three, four draw telescope.

-Right.

The component parts,

each individually fashioned and engineered.

These three parts being brass,

which has been gilded,

-which just gives it that extra piece of quality.

-Right.

It just indicates that this is an object really made

for a serious purpose. You know, if you were naval officer,

your life could depend upon a telescope. So, you know,

they were for a serious purpose.

I think this will probably have been given to a naval cadet

on his passing out, on attaining his commission,

-more or less as a keepsake, really.

-Right.

It's manufactured by a very well known maker, Dollond.

Dollond made optical instruments,

and are perhaps the best maker there is of telescopes.

-Any idea how old it might be?

-I'm quite interested to know.

I have no idea, actually. Is it of great age?

-I would date this to the first half of the 19th century.

-Right.

More than likely pre-1830s.

-So we're talking about something that is recent, really.

-Yeah.

They're very collectible objects. Any idea what it might be worth?

I haven't, really. I'd be interested to see what you think.

OK, I'm about to tell you. When I have told you,

have you any thing in mind to spend the money on?

I've got the desire to go to Machu Picchu.

So, that's one of the things I want to take up in my life.

-That South America, isn't it?

-It is, Peru.

-OK.

-I don't think were going to get you to Peru.

-No, I don't think you will.

But it might go some way towards it.

It will get you perhaps to the airport. But we'll do our best.

-I reckon this is going to make between £100 and £150.

-Right.

With good luck and a following wind,

I can see it making a bit more than that.

-That would be very nice indeed. Thank you, David, very much.

-Thank you.

Gracious, yet another Atlantic voyage!

Well, our experts have now made their final choices for items

to go off to auction for the very last time.

So, it is time for us to say farewell to this magnificent

host location, the Delaware Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea.

See you in the auction room.

APPLAUSE

I don't think Sue will need any extra luck with her golden pearl

wishbone brooch, it's a lovely thing.

And Brian's telescope is eminently collectible,

so I'm looking forward to our second trip to the auctioneer.

The question is, will the bidders be queuing up in Eastbourne

to buy Dougie's flatbed lorry?

Before we see exactly what it's worth and meet up with Dougie,

here's what the auctioneer had to say about it

yesterday at the preview date.

This belongs to Dougie.

Now, we've only got £150 or so riding on this.

Now, seven years ago, he took that to the Antiques Roadshow

and they valued it at £500 to £700.

So, has it gone down that much in value?

The market has dropped.

-I mean, we did sell a boxed example.

-Same lorry?

-Same lorry.

Boxed example. Nice clean box with it, as well.

-I think it made around about 400 a couple of years ago.

-Boxed?

-Boxed.

-So, the prices have really dropped.

-They have dropped, yeah.

That's incredible, isn't it? I mean, that's a rare little lorry.

It is a rare little lorry, yes.

I was rather hoping you would say,

"Look, I think our experts are wrong,"

and you've put the price back up to £400 to £600.

-No, I think your experts are...

-Bang on.

-Bang on.

Yeah they are, aren't they?

Well, that was auctioneer Paul's view of it.

It's coming up later in the show,

so stay watching and see what the bidders think.

-It's going out at 70.

-Good luck, Brian.

We've got a jam-packed auction room.

Does somebody want a 19th century three draw telescope?

We're going to find out right now. I like it, it's quality.

I think you got the price spot on.

Of course, we want to sell this because you're off to, where?

Aiming to go to Machu Picchu.

Let's hope you can sell this. Confident? He's confident.

As you say, it's nice quality, beautifully built,

-beautifully engineered, if you like.

-Yeah.

It's going under the hammer right now.

It's a 19th-century mahogany round Dollond three draw brass telescope.

There it is. 35 centimetres in length there. And where are we here?

We're going to start this at £65.

At 65. There it is. At 65. 70. Five. 80.

-No, 75 it is. At 75.

-I think there's another fellow coming in.

80 is the bid on the net. At £80. And five now. 90 is it.

90 is the bid on the net. And five. 95. Take 100. On the net, at 95.

Anyone else then at 95?

-At 95. 100 bid.

-Yes!

-Net bidder has it at 100. I'll take 10.

At £100. All done on that bid of 100 then.

Selling to the Internet bidder at £100.

We did it! We did it!

Spot on, £100. That was close, wasn't it?

-Yes, it was.

-We're happy, aren't we?

-Exactly.

-It's £100 I wouldn't have had, so I'm very happy.

-Good.

Well, that was good. I thought it would sell.

140 now. 130 has it in the seat.

We're just about put the gold wishbone brooch

under the hammer and I know Sue and your sister...

-What is your sister called?

-Rosemary.

-Rosemary, used to fight over the wishbone.

-We did.

-In the Christmas turkey. Didn't you?

-We did.

-And she always used to win.

-Did she?

-Yes, always.

Did you make her jealous with this brooch then once you got it?

-Yes, possibly.

-Did you?

-Yes.

-I love the little bird.

-Beautiful.

-It's what the Victorians did best, novelty.

-Yeah.

-It's just so delightful. At 80 to 120...

-It's going to fly away.

-It's going to fly.

-It will.

The unmarked gold pearl wishbone bird design brooch. There it is.

Who will start me at £80 on this lot? I see £80 for that.

-Look at that.

-There is 80 bid on the net. Five in the room. 90 is it.

Five. 100 is it. 110.

-Come on.

-No. At £100.

-Come on.

-New place at 110. 120, Internet.

At 120. 130, where?

At £120 then. Selling to the Internet bidder at £120.

Are you all done on that bid?

Hammer has gone down. Sold on the Internet, £120.

-Happy?

-I'm very happy.

-Big smile.

-I'm very happy, yes, thank you very much.

-Excellent.

-Thanks for that.

Short but sweet.

Now for Dougie's flatbed lorry.

Now, I had a chat with the auctioneer yesterday.

We were talking about how dramatically in value

this lorry has lost a lot of money in the last few years.

-It has.

-But you didn't want to sell it then.

-I didn't.

-You're still collecting.

-I wouldn't have sold it then.

-How many are in the collection?

-In my collection indoors?

-Yeah.

-Oh, hundreds, hundreds of them.

-Indoors? Is there more outdoors?

-No.

OK.

I've got a massive collection of tinkertoys, yeah.

I've been collecting them for years.

What does the girlfriend think of all this?

Not very impressed, I'm afraid.

-She's not?

-No.

-But you're taking her to Vegas?

-Oh, yeah.

-She's going to be impressed by that.

-She'll be impressed by that.

The Shackleton. The scale model flatbed lorry,

with the original instructions and tools.

We'll start this at £100 with ten bids straight away.

At 120 in the room. There at 120. 130. 140. 150. 160. 170. 180. 190.

190, 200. 210. 220. 210 has it.

-At 210. 220 in the room.

-In the room.

-230. 240.

250. 260. 270. 280. 290. 300. And 10. 320. 310 has it.

At 310. At 310 in the room. 320 on the telephone.

-Keep going, keep going.

-330 in the room.

340 on the phone if you like. 340 is bid. 350 now. 360.

360. 370. 380.

390. 400? No. 390 in the room.

You're out on the Internet and you're also out on the phone.

All done on that bid? 390.

-Very good.

-The hammer has gone down. You know what that means?

-Yeah.

-Ka-ching!

Ka-ching, yeah, brilliant. Ka-ching, yeah. More spending money.

-Good luck. Have a great time.

-Yeah, I will. Thank you much for your help.

This auction business has been a gamble as well.

But that gamble paid off.

I was always confident that it was going to fetch a good price.

That's why I said I'm not worried about the reserve.

You were right, Dougie.

-Quality always sells. That's what you always say.

-Yeah.

-And it had in abundance.

-Yeah.

Well, there you are, that's it.

Another day in the office for Flog It!

As you can see, the auction is still going on,

but it is all over for our own.

It's been a bit of a mixed day, but that's auctions for you.

You just can't predict what's going to happen. See you next time.

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