Bangor Flog It!

'Today, we're heading over the majestic mountains and verdant valleys of North Wales

'and it doesn't get much better than this. Welcome to Flog It!'

'Our journey's led us to Bangor, which grew up on the site of a monastery

'dating back to the early 6th century.

'It may be one of the smallest cities in Britain,

'but its population almost doubles in term time, when the students are back at university.

'Today, though, Flog It has taken over the campus.'

The university plays an important role in the history and the identity of this marvellous city.

It was built in 1884 with funding by local quarrymen

who volunteered wages to provide a better form of higher education.

Today, we're at the university's Pritchard Jones' Hall

where this massive crowd of people are all eager for knowledge

-and the answer to one very important question, which is...

-ALL: What's it worth?

'Taking an academic interest in our items today are our experts, Adam Partridge and Mark Stacey.

'Mark, back in his home county of Wales, has an interest in Art Nouveau.

'After years in the business, he knows how to get the women on side.'

-You're far too young to have been on the Titanic.

-You really are a charmer, aren't you?

-I try to be.

Good make, isn't it?

'And auctioneer Adam is always hungry to find a valuation day treasure.'

-They're nice.

-HE LAUGHS

'Coming up in today's programme, we take a hat off to our experts.'

I think that's dead cute. And it serves a purpose for me

-because now I'm getting on a bit, I've got one of these bald spots.

-Oh!

'And I dust off an old family heirloom.'

Do you know something? I'm so pleased you haven't cleaned it,

because I think the collectors will absolutely love this.

'And we visit an architectural gem, a little bit of the Italian Riviera

'tucked away in North Wales.'

Just look at that there! Hey, bella, bella, mama, mama!

'With all that coming up, we better get on! First up, it looks like Alan and Barbara

-'want Adam to turn over a new leaf.'

-You've brought in this lovely book.

It caught my eye straight away for a number of reasons. Firstly, cos it's The Illustrated Book of Poultry,

which is a well-known volume, so I pretty much know what it's worth. Good start.

Secondly, it's about poultry, and I'm interested in poultry cos I keep chickens.

Thirdly, it's got an auctioneer's lot number on it. An old-fashioned one.

Look at that. Boardman and Oliver of Sudbury.

-In Suffolk.

-Are you a Suffolk man?

-I'm Suffolk born and bred.

-Are you?

And how did you come to own this book? Did you buy it from... That's an old lot number.

It must be from the 1950s.

My parents purchased a shop in Sudbury and behind the shop,

there was about half an acre and there was some big sheds out the back,

so we decided that we'd utilise the sheds with chickens.

Right. Who had the book, then?

Well, the chap that was selling the property,

we were talking about it and he said, "I've got just the book for you."

Ah, right! So you were an enthusiastic young man,

thinking, "I want to keep chickens" and he said, "Here you go, son!"

Yes, and when I looked into it,

the husbandry within wasn't current to the day then.

It has been well used in the past, though.

Look at that. The spine's coming off, so they were obviously well used.

There's a loose plate there, isn't there?

Mr John Douglas's black-breasted red gamecock, The Earl.

-Crystal Palace, 1870, so that helps us date it.

-Yes.

And you've got chapters to cover absolutely everything. Houses, accommodation,

selection, eggs and incubation, all the way down to showing, judging, buying, selling.

-And then you've got all the different...

-All the different breeds.

-Do you remember some of the breeds you had?

-Rhode Island Red and White Leghorns.

-Hamburgs. They are Bantams, aren't they, Hamburgs?

-Yes.

I used to have some Hamburg Bantams, but the fox got them. Anyway, back to the book.

-Why are you selling it?

-I want it to go to somebody who's going to appreciate it.

-Right. Where does it live at home?

-In the cupboard.

-So you don't really ever use it.

-No.

-You don't look at it.

-No.

-A good copy of this is worth a few hundred pounds.

-But this is a bit of a poor example.

-I can understand that.

-A bit sad.

I'd be tempted to go with our favourite quote, and you watch Flog It, don't you?

-Oh, yes.

-So you know what I'm talking about. What's our favourite quote?

-50.

-I was going to say 80 to 120.

-Yes.

-80 to 120.

And it must make 50 quid whatever happens,

so I would put a reserve of 50 quid on it, just to cover it. Is that all right?

-Yeah.

-You'd be disappointed if it went for 20 quid, wouldn't you?

-Yeah.

It might have got thrown out, that's the danger, if we kept it at home.

So you've rescued it and it's going to go to someone who's hopefully enthusiastic about poultry.

Anything raised will go to lifeboats, anyway.

Oh, good! I often don't ask people what they're going to do with the money when it's only £50, £80,

but for the lifeboats, that helps.

-Oh, yeah.

-I hope it sells well at the sale.

'We'd better not count our chickens, Adam.

'Next up, Amanda has brought in some interesting plaster casts to show Mark.'

Tell me, where on earth did you get these from?

My father was given them by a dear old friend of his

and, many years after, my father gave them to me.

And do you know why he was given them?

He was just a very good friend. My father helped him out quite a bit

cos he was getting old and he needed help. Other than that... That's the main reason.

-And did your father treasure them?

-Erm, not really.

-Tucked away in a cupboard or something?

-Yes, quite.

-They are a difficult thing to house.

-I think they're beautiful, but you do need a typical country house interior.

-Yes.

And quite a large country house.

These, really, come from a bygone era.

If you transport yourself back to the 18th century,

when gentlemen of certain rank,

rich gentlemen, started the Grand Tour,

so they toured Italy in search of Renaissance art pieces

and classical pieces of art,

they shipped back thousands and thousands of treasures from the Grand Tour

which furnished that typical country-house look.

-It showed that you were a learned person if you had wonderful objects in your home.

-Yes.

The early ones, the 18th century one, are often made of carved agate, carved cameos,

and done in specialist shops and of the highest quality

and can be worth thousands of pounds for each cameo.

These ones are a plaster copy, if you like.

But they have got some age. They're 19th century. But they're towards the mid-19th century.

-The frames are contemporary to them, I think. Slight bit of damage on one of the frames.

-Yes.

But that's chipped plaster, which could be touched up and gilded and you wouldn't notice it so much.

-In terms of value, I would be looking at £50 a case.

-Right.

-So £200 to £300.

-Yes.

I'm hoping that if we put a sensible estimate like that,

we'll get two or three interior design dealers interested, as well as collectors

-and it might even push above that. Would you be happy with that?

-Yes.

-Yes, I would.

-And you've obviously had them a fair while, as we've discussed.

What's the reason for selling them now?

They don't go with our cottage

and we've asked our boys whether they'd like them and they don't,

so we might as well sell them and have a nice meal out.

-Kids don't want old things, old fuddy-duddy things now, do they?

-No.

-They want a new Xbox or Wii game or something.

-Yes.

-Well, that's lovely. It's great to have met you.

-Likewise.

-And I look forward to the auction.

-Thank you.

'We always expect the unexpected at the valuation day.' Are you ready for this?

'And the next item, brought in by Irene and John, is no exception.'

This is lovely. I can already see it's an Attaboy, isn't it?

-It is.

-Which is a type of hat make.

So, let's have a look at it. Let's get that lid off there. This is a salesman's sample, I think.

-I see.

-And the salesman would've taken it out, it's small enough to carry around.

"Believe it or not, this miniature Attaboy is half the size of an ordinary Attaboy hat."

So you've got an idea of what it'll make. Isn't that cute?

And it's got the Attaboy label in there.

-What a cute little thing.

-It is lovely, isn't it?

-Yeah.

These were introduced in the 30s. Attaboy, I believe, started in 1930.

You said the 30s, didn't you?

I think they carried on quite a while after that. It was popular.

The Attaboy trilby hat was quite well known.

I think that's dead cute. And, also, it serves a purpose for me, because now I'm getting on a bit,

-I've got one of these bald spots.

-Oh!

That would cover it just nicely.

-How did you get to own it, then?

-A gentleman gave us this, didn't he?

-One of the neighbours.

-And how did he own it?

-Well, he had a gentleman's shop, didn't he?

-Like an outfitter's?

-Yes.

So he may have got that as a sample or as a shop display article.

It's just my kind of thing, really.

So, what's brought you to sell it? Where does it live at home?

In the loft with lots of other things, like everyone else.

-You put it in the loft, forget about it.

-That's it.

-Yeah, you just don't think of looking at it. And yet it is cute, really.

-It's lovely.

You've got the box and everything and it's made...

-That's still the same tissue, I think.

-I think it's excellent.

-So you're selling it because it's in the loft?

-Yes. We're getting rid of lot of things.

-That'll free up a load of room!

-I know, this is it.

-THEY LAUGH

-Erm, it's not worth a lot.

I know. We know that.

-Great fun, though, isn't it?

-I know! It's a novelty thing.

-It's a curiosity.

It's the story that you can tell.

-So I think it'll make £20 to £40.

-There you are.

-Quite surprising.

-Fingers crossed.

SHE LAUGHS

-I think we should put a reserve on it, though, of 20 quid. You don't want it to go for less.

-No.

-No.

We'll take it home and look at it again.

So let's put £20 bottom limit.

-Yes.

-And then, hopefully, two people will fall in love with it

and it'll find a new head.

-THEY LAUGH

-A small one!

-Thanks for coming. I really enjoyed that.

'We're heading up the coast to the seaside town of Colwyn Bay to sell our items.

'But before the sale gets underway, here's a quick reminder of all the items going under the hammer.

'We're hoping Adam and Barbara's bird book flies at the auction.

'Amanda's cameos certainly have the look.

'And Irene and John have big hopes for their small hat.'

And now for my favourite part of the show, because anything can happen!

It's auction time! And as you know, it's not an exact science.

This is where we're putting our valuations to the test today,

so don't go away, because there'll be one or two very big surprises.

At 420. 440. 460.

'First up, it's the unusual book.'

This next lot is a wonderful lot if you keep chickens.

It's an illustrated book by Lewis Wright and it belongs to Alan and Barbara,

-who did keep chickens but not any more.

-A long while ago.

-Lovely book, great illustrations.

-Isn't it lovely?

There's a little bit of damage to the spine, but you can forgive it.

A good copy is worth a few hundred pounds, I think we've pitched it right.

-You're in the money. It's got to make £100.

-Anything less than 60 would be a "paltry" amount.

The Illustrated Book Of Poultry by L Wright.

Green leather cloth. Lovely book. 50 coloured plates. Bid me £50.

50. 30 I'm bid.

At 30. 5. 40.

50. 5.

60. 5. 70.

-70 bid.

-Come on.

At 70. Is there 5? £70 only.

Everybody done? 70... 72.

-75.

-72! Someone's a meany!

-75.

At £75.

Everybody done? 85.

85. 90. 90 bid. £90.

5 again. At £90.

100. 100 bid.

Yes! That's what I wanted.

£100 only. Everybody done now?

100 on my right. 105. Back again, in the room.

£105.

110. 110 bid.

-120 tops!

-£110. Final call.

115. 115.

Against you at 115.

120. 120 bid. Online.

120 online. Brilliant!

-Great!

-Well done. I'd have been disappointed if it went for £50.

Well done, you. Well done.

'Right at the top of the estimate. That's a good result. Next up, it's Amanda and Mark

'with four cases of plaster cast cameos.'

I absolutely love this next lot, these wonderful cameos belonging to Amanda.

They're all beautifully cased in glass. I can see them on the wall in any fine room.

-I just think they're wonderful.

-They're very you, Paul. They're very interior design,

because you can picture them in an 18th century room.

They do have the look. There's some lovely hotels around here and they'd look really good

-in a drawing room or in the bar of a hotel.

-Yeah, keep talking them up.

Oh, I will! You've got to buy them!

Anyway, let's find out what North Wales thinks. They're going under the hammer now.

Four framed hanging cases,

each containing approximately 22 classical cameos, varying shapes.

I'm on the book at 160.

Oh, well, we're straight in. Yes!

-240.

-Oh, that's all right.

-That's good, isn't it?

240. 260. 240 bid. Is there 60?

At 240. 240. Is there 60?

240.

250, OK.

260. 260 against you.

260. Are you coming in? At 260. Bid's with me at the moment.

At 270. 270.

-280. 280 bid.

-Would be nice to get up to 300, wouldn't it?

-Yeah.

Back with me. 280. 280 bid.

Final call. 280.

Are you coming back? Final call at £280.

Yes! Hammer's gone down. £280.

That was short and sweet. You could say it was a cameo performance.

THEY LAUGH Oh, Paul.

-Hey, that's a good result, isn't it?

-It is. More than we expected.

I bet they end up in a restaurant or a hotel. I really do. They were lovely.

'Another brilliant result. Well done, experts.

'Now it's Irene and John with their unusual display piece.'

Well, the great thing about Flog It is we get the chance to go out and about all over the UK

and come across the most wonderful things, and in nine years of Flog It,

I've never seen anything like this. And that's the beauty of it. We're always surprised at valuations days.

-Good to see you. I love this little... It's almost like a tailor's advert.

-Yeah, it is.

-A little hat.

-It's the sort of thing, if I saw it at a fair, I'd buy it.

-You'd have to.

-Yeah.

-And you wouldn't really want to sell it for £30 or £50.

-I don't know if it's worth hundreds, though, is it?

-No. Let's hope it goes to a good family.

-It'd be nice to see it make 50 quid, wouldn't it?

-Yep. Who knows?

You never know what's going to happen in the auction.

Hats off to you two for bringing it in.

Let's find out what the bidders think.

Now, I know that my opinion counts for nothing,

but I think this is one of the most delightful lots in today's sale.

It's the cardboard-boxed Attaboy velvet trilby hat.

It won't fit any of us here. I don't think it really matters.

Original labels to the box and to the hat.

It's a real little gem.

£100.

You wait. We won't be far away when we finish.

50. 40 I'm bid. At 40.

40 bid. 40. A real little beaut.

At 40. 40 I'm bid.

50. £50.

-60.

-60.

-£60.

And again now. Is there 70? At 60.

65. 70 with me.

£70. 5 again now.

At £70. A delightful little lot.

75. 80. 80 bid.

-At 80.

-That's good!

-It's great, that, isn't it?

£80 only. With me now against you.

-At £80 on the book.

-Come on.

-£80.

-That's good.

Great! I'm surprised.

I didn't think we'd get that. I thought we were going home with it.

-80.

-£80. The hammer's gone down.

-That was in museum condition.

-Yeah.

-It really was.

Pristine. Well done, you two!

'Well, that's our first items, and we'll be back here later on in the programme.

'But first, I'm going to visit somewhere very special.'

Today, I've nipped off to the Mediterranean

to take a little walk around this wonderful Italian village.

Well, no, I'm only joking, but I am actually walking through an Italian-style piazza

surrounded by Italianate architecture. Just look at that!

Hey, bella, bella, mama, mama!

They're not Italian. That's given me away.

I haven't left North Wales. I'm here in the magical village of Portmeirion

and all this is only possible because of the realisation of a dream by one very special man.

Clough Williams-Ellis.

42 years ago, I discovered this place of wilderness,

just the old, deserted mansion and stables and one cottage.

And now all this

has given pleasure to countless people,

but much more to myself.

Indeed, it has been my love affair with life.

I wanted to show that you could develop even a very beautiful place

without defining it.

In fact, that if you did it with sufficient loving care,

you might even enhance what God had given you.

Clough Williams-Ellis was born in North Wales in 1883

and his childhood dream of becoming an architect was quickly achieved

when, in 1903, after only three months of formal training, he set up a practice.

Clough became a successful, jobbing architect

with many projects on the go.

But the village of Portmeirion here was arguably his most successful and important work.

It must have been an extremely difficult job choosing the right location to build Portmeirion.

You see, the architecture has to sit in harmony

peacefully with the natural surrounding landscape.

And look at that lovely high cliff with the natural woodland behind it.

And you do have this marvellous estuary. Look at this, we're right in the mouth of the estuary.

And it's wonderfully tidal, as well. This is paradise!

And Clough got off to a great start, as well, because there were some existing buildings to start on.

Clough may have been a visionary, but he was also a very practical man

and he realised he needed funds from tourism to finance this incredible building project.

So when work started on Portmeirion in 1925,

he converted this old house that was built on the shoreline here into this magnificent hotel.

'The hotel opened on 2nd April 1926

'and from then on, it was packed out every summer.

'During the winters at Portmeirion, Clough spent the profit the hotel made on extending the village.'

And, I must say, what a marvellous job he has done of this place.

It puts a smile on your face wherever you go, whatever corner you turn.

Granted, Portmeirion does have a strong Mediterranean feel,

but in reality, there's lots of different styles of architecture going on all around you.

Clough called this his architectural mongrel.

I call it an architectural delight, because, well, I just want to embrace and hug all these buildings

cos they look so cute. But the attention to detail is superb.

In the second phase of the building work, after the war in the 1950s,

Clough concentrated on a more formal, Georgian style, which is evident in that big building there.

Look at it peering down on us, the pink and white one.

Now, that has strong architectural form and detail,

a wonderful symmetry about it. It's known as unicorn.

I think Clough appreciated a practical joke, because here at Portmeirion,

all is not what it seems. Well, some of the time, anyway.

Take this house, for instance. Cliff House, here we go, look.

A wonderful gentleman's residence with this lovely old sweeping wartime canopy over the door.

Real windows here. Ooh, someone might come to the door now.

And on this side, look, one, two, three painted windows, painted onto the stonework,

even down to the net curtains with this lovely lace pattern on it.

It's these quirky little things that make this place so magical.

This building is called the Gatehouse.

Clough used some very skilful design techniques on this one.

Let me point out a couple. For a start, the windows. Take a look at them.

They look strangely small, so out of proportion, but they're designed to be small

to make this building look a lot bigger and more important and impressive.

Also, looks quite old, doesn't it?

It's aged well over the years, weathered with all the elements.

Well, that's because Clough had this painted with four different shades of pink

to look like early plasterwork. At the bottom, it's darker, and as it rises upwards,

where it hits the sun, it graduates out into this sort of faint-looking colour.

That is just simply genius.

'Portmeirion also made a name for itself as a home for fallen buildings,

'as Clough rescued salvage from other sites and incorporated them into the village.

'As word got out, people flocked to donate things.

'For example, numerous mermaids were featured around the village,

'which came from the Seaman's Mission in Liverpool.

'The Buddha came from the film set of The Inn Of The Sixth Happiness, which starred Ingrid Bergman

'and was filmed locally. The Bristol Colonnade came from Arnos Court in Bristol,

'which was bombed during the Second World War. It now stands proudly overlooking the piazza.

'As the Bristol Colonnade shows,

'Clough wasn't afraid of incorporating larger salvage finds.'

Now, before I leave Portmeirion, there's one final view I just cannot resist

and it's up there, that bell tower.

'The bell tower, also called the Campanile, was built in 1928.

'It had always been an integral part of Clough's early plans and model for the village.

'It was also one of the few buildings which Clough prepared a complete half-inch drawing of,

'which he actually stuck to.'

Gosh, just look at that view from up here.

That was definitely well worth the long climb.

But there must have been times during Clough Williams-Ellis' life

where he thought this place, Portmeirion, would've never been completed.

This was a lot of hard work, so he was obviously a very determined chap.

The building work was finally finished in 1973

and five years later, at the grand old age of 95,

Clough peacefully passed away here in Portmeirion,

possibly a very happy man, knowing that his dream had become a reality.

'Our valuation day's inside the Great Hall at Bangor University.

'It's a familiar spot to thousands of students. Talking of familiar, it looks like Valerie and Gary

'have brought in one of our old Flog It favourites. Good old Clarice Cliff.'

-Hello, Valerie. Hello, Gary. How are you doing?

-Not too bad, thank you.

-Well, you've brought a Flog It favourite on.

-Yes.

-A piece of Clarice Cliff.

-Very true.

-A rather nice biscuit barrel.

-Are you a collector of Clarice Cliff?

-We'd like to be.

-But not these days.

-Too expensive, isn't it?

-Yes, it is these days.

-Where did you get it from?

-Well, some time in '74, '75

we went into a car boot and we saw this on the table.

And, as it happened, we knew the people that were selling it.

And I said, "How much?"

and he said, "Well, to you, 50p" and she said, "No, 30p."

-You didn't.

-Yes.

30 pence you paid for this? Good lord. Mind you, in those early days of car boots,

you really could get a bargain. People just went mad and took everything,

cleared Auntie's house out and didn't know what they were selling.

-Correct, yeah.

-Well, good on you. You spotted a really nice shaped piece.

In some ways, I love and loathe Clarice Cliff,

but I do like unusual shapes.

The pattern is rather boring on this one, cos it's the crocus pattern,

but the shape is rather nice.

This shape was known as the bonjour shape, because of these loops,

and it's got that rather fresh look about it.

This is the original handle, of course.

And underneath, we've got the usual Clarice Cliff mark.

So we're looking at maybe the 1935 period.

So a nice period to be in.

-There is a small chip.

-Yes.

-Very small chip on the corner, which I have to point out to you.

-Uh-huh.

Now, how much do you think it's worth? Cos I have a feeling you've done some research.

-We thought £300 to £400.

-Oh!

-But I don't know.

-HE LAUGHS Well, I think you should stop thinking now.

-All right.

THEY LAUGH Several of these have come up recently in more exciting patterns.

-Ah.

-And the more exciting patterns have been making £300, £350, £400, as much as £500 or £600.

But I think, because this is the crocus pattern,

we've got to think a little bit less than that.

I mean, ideally, I would say around £200 to £300.

And then you might find that it pushes up towards £300.

But if you put it in at £300 to £400,

it might not encourage the bidders underneath.

-Would you be happy with that?

-Er, yes.

-I think we would, wouldn't we?

-We'll put a reserve of £200, because we don't want it selling below that.

-No.

Valerie, you knocked it down from a grand total of 50p to 30p.

You've had it all these years. Why, oh, why are you selling it now?

Erm, to help raise some money, really.

-Towards?

-Towards buying a new car.

-A new car?

So you're hoping to turn a biscuit barrel into a car.

-Well, part of a car.

-THEY LAUGH

-Thank you so much for bringing it in.

-Thank you very much.

-You're welcome.

'Next, it's Adam, who's found something a bit special, brought along by Patricia.'

-Can you tell me where you got it from?

-It was my mother's.

-Right.

I never saw her wearing it. I found it when I was emptying her jewellery boxes after she died.

So you wouldn't have necessarily recognised it at all.

I didn't even know what metal it was. I thought it was just chrome.

Well, it's stamped here, 18-carat white gold and platinum. So it's quite nice.

I think a lot of people will think, "What a lovely brooch, why is she selling it?"

Tell us why you're selling it.

Well, when I found out it was quite valuable, I was frightened to wear it in case I lost it

-and my daughter was the same. I offered it to her and she said, "Oh, no, I might lose it."

-It's a shame.

They're there to be worn, really.

So, what do you think it's worth?

-I don't know. You're the expert.

-Well, yeah, so they say.

Thanks for reminding me.

It's Art Deco period, by the way. 1930s, that sort of thing. 20s, 30s.

If the stones were bigger, it'd be worth quite a lot, but it's quite a small thing.

I think it's worth about £200.

-Still something you want to sell?

-Yes, I think so.

-Excellent. Well, I would say if we put an estimate of £150 to £250.

-Uh-huh.

Reserve at £150. But no less at all. Just a fixed reserve of £150.

-Does that sound all right?

-Sounds good.

-I don't want you disappointed.

But I've enjoyed this, and hopefully the bidders will enjoy this Art Deco brooch when we go to auction.

-Thanks for bringing it.

-Thank you.

'What a stylish brooch.

'And they say Michelle Obama's made them popular again.

'Well, we'll just have to wait and see.

'Now it's my turn and, as you know, I can't resist the unusual.'

This is absolutely marvellous and it belongs to Christine.

Where are you? Oh, there you are!

What a lovely Cuban mahogany carrying case. Isn't that splendid?

It just goes to show the quality of this microscope. I'll just put it down.

-Tell me, how did you come by this?

-We've just had it in the family, really.

My granddad had it. I remember playing with it when I was little.

You haven't played with it for a long time. I can see that, cos it's covered in dust and cobwebs.

And I'm so pleased you haven't cleaned it today

because I think the collectors will absolutely love this.

-Dust and all?

-Yes! That's what you're buying into, the forgotten history.

It's been lying around somewhere. It's not been through the trade, if you know what I mean by that.

It's not gone from auction room to dealer, from dealer to dealer, and then back to the auction room.

It's fresh to the market. We see a lot of microscopes.

I've not seen one as nice as this for a long time.

-Sadly, I can't find a maker's name anywhere on this.

-No, I couldn't.

I've had a really good look. It's possibly by Dollond of London,

if I stick my neck out and have a guess at something.

And it's of the Regency period, it's around 1815, 1820.

Look of the quality of these columns. They're like proper Roman capitals,

fashioned and turned in rosewood. The lenses, the optics, are very, very good.

Here you've got a mirrored convex glass,

which reflects the light back up.

The only damage I can see to it is the rack and pinion focussing

is slightly worn. And you see those teeth in there?

-Yeah.

-Is that you when you were a young girl playing with it?

-Probably.

You've stuck your hair brush in there and given it a whack, haven't you?

But as I said earlier, the lens is very good. The optics, that's what it's all about.

They're not damaged, they're not scratched. And, of course, a whole case of slides

in a fitted bottom drawer to go back in the cabinet. So, it's all here. It's all here.

This, in its day, would've been very expensive.

It would've been owned by an academic, a botanist or a chemist, using it to earn their living.

-Have you any idea of value?

-No, none at all.

If we could find a maker's name, I know it would put the value up.

At the moment, I'm inclined to think it's in the region of £300 to £500.

-Oh, right.

-I'd love to be so wrong and so far out on this.

Because it's a proper statement piece.

It looks great cased, it looks great out of the case.

And I think the collectors will love this.

-Would you like to put it into auction with a value of £300 to £500?

-Yeah.

-And fingers crossed,

my gut feeling is it'll do a little bit more.

-Happy with that?

-Yep.

-Fixed reserve at £300?

-Yeah.

OK.

'So, that's it, and we're selling our items at Colwyn Bay.

'Here's a reminder of the three things we're taking.

'Of course, there's Christine's quality microscope.

'It'll be joined by Valerie and Gary's Clarice Cliff biscuit barrel

'and Patricia's Art Deco brooch.'

First up, biscuit barrel, OK?

£200 to £300 put on by Mark. We're going to find out exactly what the bidders think

right now up here in North Wales because it's going under the hammer.

The Clarice Cliff is a crocus lidded biscuit barrel

with basket-woven handle. Not perfect...

There we go. He had to say that, really.

210 bid me. 200.

-Finger crossed.

-200.

180. I have 160 on the book.

At 160. 160 bid.

180 if you like. At 160.

160. Is there 80? At 160.

180. 180 bid. 180. 180. Is there 200?

At 180. 2 I'll take.

We've got a £200 fixed reserve. We're one bid away.

£180. Everybody done? At £180.

It can be sold on condition, that's all. 180 is in the room.

-Everybody done? £180.

-Do you want to take it?

To be sold on condition, that's all. 180 in the room.

Final call at 180. 180.

We have sold it. He's used a bit of discretion. I think that was wise,

-because of that chip. Are you happy?

-Yes, fair enough.

For the sake of £20, yes, exactly. That's a good result.

-I think so.

-A very good result for a bit of damaged Clarice Cliff. You see, Clarice hasn't let us down!

It's never failed us! If you've got anything like that at home and you want to sell it,

bring it along to one of our valuation days, that's where it all starts.

You can pick up details from your local press to venues we're coming to close to you

or you can log on to bbc.co.uk/flogit

and follow the links.

'That was just under the reserve and our auctioneer used his discretion

'on a nod from Gary and sold it anyway.

'Next, it's Patricia's brooch.'

-This is the nervy part of it, Patricia.

-Yes.

It's all down to the bidders in the room. And it's very quiet.

A very nice quality 18-carat white-gold bar brooch

with a round-cut diamond and two tiny flanking diamonds.

£200.

That's quality. 150.

100 I'm bid. £100.

100 bid. 120. 120 bid. Is there 40?

-140. 140 bid. 140.

-He's got a bid on the book, hasn't he?

The white gold and diamond brooch. At 140. Where's 60?

£140. Everybody done?

-Are we selling? I think we're selling.

-Yeah.

-Did we have discretion on this?

-150.

140. 50 if you like. I don't mind. Split with you. 150 if you wish.

-I don't know if we're selling or not.

-Nor do I.

At £140. We have to leave that there at 140.

He didn't sell. We had £140.

We were about £3 or £4 short of the discretion.

-You were a bit worried about it, anyway.

-I'll take it home and wear it.

-Will you? Bless you!

I think it suits you, because I can see you love things like that.

I shall have a safety chain fitted.

-Yeah.

-That makes sense.

-Cos I'd hate to lose it.

-It was close, though.

-It's definitely worth that, really.

Jewellery's such a subjective thing.

-No, I shall take it home and enjoy it.

-Excellent.

-And you carry that really well. You can wear a brooch really well.

-Thank you.

'What a shame the Michelle Obama effect hasn't hit North Wales yet. Give it time.

'But I think Patricia was relieved to hold onto it rather than let it go too cheaply.

'Next, it's my turn. Let's hope I have more luck.

'Before the sale, I had a quick chat to auctioneer David Rogers Jones about the microscope.'

This has got to be my favourite lot in the sale.

Christine owns this and I nearly pounced on her when I saw it.

It came in the most wonderful, gorgeous Cuban mahogany case, as well.

I couldn't find a maker's name on it.

We looked as well, Paul. Obviously, the first thing we were anxious to find was a name

and we can't find one, which is the downside.

But to come in a Cuban mahogany case and the rosewood on the base,

it's nearly all brass, it smacks of quality, it really does.

I've pitched it at £300 to £500, but I'm hoping it could be worth an awful lot more.

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-It is.

-Christine is not going to be keen to sell at much less than the reserve.

-I know.

-I had this battle with her.

-She's a reluctant seller.

Yes. But I've said to her, let's start it at £300 and hopefully it'll get £400 to £500.

Well, scientific is selling well. If only we had a make.

But, as you say, they'll be some knowing guy who's going to be...

And I'm sure this has had a lot of interest. Surely people have mused over this

and have thought, "Gosh, I want to own something like that."

-We have had condition report requests from abroad.

-Good.

So that all bodes well, doesn't it?

Absolutely fabulous microscope. I fell in love playing with this at the valuation day, didn't I?

I know we talked about £300 to £500 and hopefully, you never know,

with two academics battling it out, it could easily do £800 to £1,200.

That's what I'd like in my dreams,

because I think something like that is worth it.

But without a maker's name, we don't know. But I bet there's somebody out there that does know.

And they'll have a value. Hopefully, there's two people that know here to push the price up.

But we've got a fixed reserve of £400 now, because I know you weren't happy with £300, so you've upped it.

-Yeah.

-Which is fair enough, because I always said we wanted £400 to £500

but you need to start at £300 to get that. So let's see what the bidders think, shall we? Here we go.

A very, very nice early microscope on a rosewood base

with rosewood columns

and a small quantity of glass slides

and in a very, very nice pyramidal box. Bid me 400.

300.

200 I'm bid. At 200. £200.

250 anybody? At 220. 250. 280.

280 my bid on the book. 300 I'm bid. 20 my bid on the book.

-Ooh.

-Getting there.

320. 40.

340. 340 bid.

At 340. Everybody done now?

-At 340.

-It's petering out, isn't it?

-Mm.

At 360. Is there 80? 380. 380 bid.

Come on, come on, come on.

380. 400. 400 bid.

At 400. Final call.

-£400.

-We're selling.

£400. 410.

Every penny counts. At 410. 20 if you like.

420. 420 bid.

420. Everybody done now?

At £420. Is that for the final time?

420. All done?

430.

430. Skin of your teeth.

430. Well, every penny helps, doesn't it?

At 430. 430 bid. 430.

At £430.

-440.

-440.

Come on, come on.

Hammer's up at £440.

Well, it's gone. That's good. That was mid-estimate. That was OK.

-Unbelievable, that.

-Good, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

Thank you so much for bringing such a wonderful thing in. It was a real delight to see such quality.

If you've got anything like that, we'd love to see you. Bring it to a valuation day.

Everybody done?

Well, that's it. The auction has just ended.

One minute, this room is full of bidders, it was jam packed, and the next,

well, everybody has just scarpered. I think it's time to take a well-earned rest and put my feet up,

because, boy, what a day that was! It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

But that's the beauty of auctions. You never know what's going to happen.

I hope you've enjoyed today's show. I loved being in North Wales.

So until the next time, it's cheerio. Ohh.

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