Ashbourne Flog It!

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Ashbourne

was granted a royal charter by Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century.

Some 400 years later, the celebrations continued with a visit from Queen Elizabeth II.

Today, the party goes on - Flog It is in town.

Ashbourne is one of the finest market towns in the country,

with historic buildings, cobbled streets,

and it even has its own town crier.

O, yay! O, yay!

Welcome to Flog It

at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Ashbourne, in Derbyshire.

God Save the Queen!

ALL: Hooray!

The sun is shining and the people of Derbyshire have done us proud.

They're all laden with bags and boxes, full of treasures

that our experts can't wait to get their hands on.

And hopefully, somebody here is going to go home with a lot of money.

Now, every team or every group needs a good leader,

and today on Flog It, well, as you know, we've always got two.

Michael Baggott has a taste for antiques of all shapes and sizes.

-It's weird.

-It's weird.

Will Axon has worked his way to auctioneer and valuer

from the bottom up, starting as a saleroom porter,

and he's brushed off his knowledge

in case something amazing comes in today.

I think I could maybe do a little bit of that!

It's now 9:30am, the bell has gone,

it's time to go back to school.

-Can we go in, then?

-Yeah.

'Coming up, there's a new addition to the Flog It family...'

Oh, she's just so beautiful.

-Beautiful, isn't she?

-Oh, gorgeous!

'..an exciting result at auction...'

-Any of them going to fly away?

-Yes.

Oh, Carol, the tension's mounting, isn't it?

'..and I discover a mind-blowing digital portrait.'

It's a perfect example of contemporary art.

Everybody is now safely seated inside the venue.

There's a terrific atmosphere, lots of excitement, lots of anticipation.

It could be you going home with lots of money, or you with this painting.

We'll find out later on, but Will Axon is first at the tables,

and let's take a closer look at what he's spotted.

And it's this rather exotic-looking vase,

brought in by Patricia and daughter Erica.

Thanks for coming along today. And you've brought

a sort of flavour of the East with you.

What can you tell me about this? How have you come by it?

My mother gave it to me to put into an alcove in my new home.

I wish she hadn't lost its top there, but these things happen.

You've pointed out one of the issues I was going to draw attention to,

-the fact that it has got a little bit of damage on the top.

-Yes.

Was it like that when your mother passed it to you or...?

She had done the damage the very morning

she brought it up to bring to me.

She thought she'd wash it, you see?

-Yes.

-And I don't know what happened exactly but she brought it and she said, "Do you still want it?"

So I said, "of course."

Because it looked beautiful in the alcove, being illuminated.

Is there any connection with your family to Eastern Europe, perhaps?

No, no, no, none whatsoever.

Because this isn't an English piece.

-No.

-I mean, looking at it, a lot of people would say

-it's almost got a sort of Persian or Islamic feel to it, hasn't it?

-Yes.

With this sort of, the double gourd shape

and then this sort of piercing and these very Arabesque bands here.

We call it sort of Persian wear.

If I take it off, we'll just turn it up

and have a look at the marks underneath.

If we have a close look here, we've got there,

"Zsolnay of Pecs." In Hungary.

So it's originally East European, the factory.

-Yes.

-Established 1862, and then you've got a little mark there,

a little gilt 13...

-Yes.

-So that would've been who had applied the gilding.

So if it wasn't quite up to scratch...

They know who to blame.

Exactly. I think originally,

something like this would've been an incense burner.

-Yeah.

-Oh.

But this piece has been produced purely for decorative purposes.

It was never intended for use.

It is a purely decorative piece.

-Well, it is, isn't it?

-It is very decorative.

-I mean, it hasn't cost you anything.

-No, that's right.

-So what do you think it's worth?

-I haven't a clue.

-No?

-No idea at all.

I would say a sensible estimate would be around a £60 to £80 mark.

How do you feel about that?

Well, considering I didn't pay anything for it,

and I can't see it being of any use to anyone.

Well, I mean, I like the way you're... That's the right way to sort of approach it.

Let the market sort of decide what they think it's worth. What's it going to go on to?

-Are you on your way out for lunch, perhaps, you two?

-Erica and I could have a very nice lunch for that, yes.

-Hi, what's your name?

-I'm Tracy.

-Amy.

-And Amy.

Thank you so much for bringing furniture in because we don't see much of it on Flog It,

because obviously you've got to carry it and put it in an estate car,

and it's a bit of hassle, isn't it?

But if you come along to a valuation day, please,

please, bring more furniture,

because all of our experts love talking about it.

Now, this is classic brown. what the trade do call brown shipping furniture.

It's 1930's. Unfortunately, most of it's made of plywood

which has been stained to look like mahogany.

-It's not worth a lot of money, you know.

-OK.

But I tell you something. Although it's only worth around 30 quid,

£20, an auctioneer might say, don't throw it away like most people do.

Use it, be practical with it, be funky with it.

You must be into art, OK? Get Dad to break up loads of Mum's old plates.

If you've got some bright coloured crockery that you don't want anymore,

break it up with a hammer, lay all those broken mosaiques on there.

Even put "Amy", your name, right across it. Just be creative with it.

Get Dad to grout it with some tile grout, and hey-ho, then you've got a table

that you can use in the garden or the conservatory to put teas and coffees on.

And paint the legs a bright, funky colour.

And I don't mind doing that kind of thing with sort of antiques

that aren't of any virtue, really.

Obviously, it's not a serious piece, otherwise you can't do things like that to it.

But just be creative with it.

-Yeah? Don't throw it away.

-OK.

And don't put it back up in the loft!

In the loft, no!

It's such a shame when items

are just hidden away and forgotten about.

The sword that Michael has found

hasn't been out and about for a long time.

Thank you for bringing in something

we don't normally see on Flog It.

-Thank you.

-A little bit of militaria.

So where's this been in your home?

It's been stored in a cupboard for the last 45 years,

well, since we got married, well, as I got married,

the year I got married, and it was under a shed.

The gentleman that gave it me, Henry Greenwood,

he said, "I've got a present for you", and went down the garden,

came back up, pulled this thing from under the shed.

How long it had been under there is anybody's guess.

So this was your wedding gift?

-Yes.

-45 years ago.

-45 years ago.

-From under a shed?

-Yes.

-Well, we've heard some unusual stories on Flog It.

I mean, that probably caps it.

With anything like this, the best thing to do,

-and we'll take our life in our hands and...

-Try it, yes!

Whip it out. There we go.

Well, what we've got is an infantry officer's sword.

-Right.

-And if we flick it over here,

one good indicator of date is we've got a crown sipher there.

-Right.

-Which is for Queen Victoria.

-Right.

-So we know that it dates between 1837 and 1901.

-Right.

We've got the emblem of the Grenadiers.

-Right, that is the Grenadiers.

-And that's also emulated...

-On the hilt.

-In the basket work here.

We've got their emblem.

-And then we've basically got a list of their battle honours.

-Right.

So we go from Waterloo, Peninsula, and down here we've got Lincelles,

and then we pop over to the Crimean War

-and we've got Alma, Inkerman, Sebastopol.

-Sebastopol, yes.

And what's really nice to see here is we've got the maker's mark,

-which is Henry Wilkinson of Wilkinson Sword fame.

-Yes.

Pall Mall, London, which is lovely.

But then just to reinforce that,

-on a little gilt lined, and that is lined in gold...

-Is it? Oh, right.

-Now, we've got his maker's punch, "HW."

-Right.

So that's a lovely thing.

Michael, the only real problem with edged weapons is they have

-to be in wonderful condition to be worth big money.

-Yes.

And I think it's the time under the shed that has done the most damage.

It won't have done it a lot of good.

Moisture, I mean, even fingermarks can have an effect.

-Yes.

-But I think we're beyond that.

-Right.

-The one saving grace

is that the blade is in reasonably nice condition.

In good order, I mean, really pristine order, this sword might be worth between £400 and £600.

Right, right.

-It does fall off dramatically.

-Yes, yes.

-I think if we were to put this into auction at £60 to £100...

-Yes.

..and put a reserve of £50 on it,

for which it wouldn't go for any less.

-That's nearly just over a pound a year since the wedding.

-Yes!

So now, Michael, why have you decided

to part with this really lovely sword?

Well, it's been standing in a cupboard for the last 45 years,

well, since we got married.

I'm going to put it probably to a new gun.

I do a bit of game shooting and that sort of thing.

Well, I would think a rifle's going to be more use

catching game than a sword!

-Well, yes, definitely.

-Yes, yes.

Well, hopefully we'll get you up to your rifle or some way towards it...

Somewhere towards it, anyway.

..and hope we've got two cavalier gentleman at the sale room who'd go for this.

-Hopefully.

-We can always hope, Michael.

At the other valuation table,

Will's hoping that Joan's jewellery

will attract the ladies to the saleroom.

You've brought two quite distinct pieces of jewellery.

What can you tell me? Let's start here with this

bracelet and locket. What can you tell me about that?

It belonged to my grandmother

-and it's just come down to me.

-Yes.

I don't remember anybody actually wearing it

but I've just kept it in a box in my loft, sort of thing.

-Same old story.

-Yeah, we hear it a lot, certainly on this programme.

-Yes.

-And, you know, people are sometimes quite surprised

at the amount of value they have languishing in the drawer.

But something like that that,

again, isn't terribly fashionable nowadays...

I mean, I don't think you'll see many of the sort of younger ladies

wearing that type of piece.

So it's really all down to the gold in that piece. It's nine carat gold.

Yes.

So it's less pure gold in the mix, shall we say.

We weighed it earlier and it's just under 27 grams.

So if we put it in at about 150, that sort of figure,

then it's going to entice the bidders in,

I think, at that sort of money.

Is that a figure you would be happy with, do you think?

I think so. It sounds fair, really.

-Like I say, I mean, I suspect it's going to end up as sort of scrap value.

-Really?

I'm afraid, yes. And then we move on to the cameo brooch, which,

again, is not a terribly wearable piece of jewellery.

They're a little bit dated.

Maybe for the, like I say, the '70s dinner party or something

like that, you may have seen the hostess wearing one or two.

It's reasonable quality, though, isn't it?

The carving can vary quite substantially on these.

You can get some very deep relief carvings.

So almost the sort of deeper the carving,

the larger the starting piece that they've had to work from

so it's almost a more expensive piece to make

than one that's very shallow carved.

I mean, if that's 150, where would you see that?

Do you think that's sort of similar money?

-No, less, I would think.

-Yep, good.

Makes my job a bit easier to break it to you gently.

I've seen them make £20, £30, I've seen them make £30 to £50.

So what I'm going to say to you is, let's incorporate the cameo brooch

in with the estimate for the gold bracelet.

-So I think keep the estimate at sort of 150, 200.

-Yes.

If we get a sale on the day at the auction,

are you going to buy yourself

something, you know, your piece of jewellery that you will wear

or is the money going elsewhere?

I think it'll go elsewhere,

to a new grandchild which is expected any day, really.

Any day? Really? So when we see you again at the auction, you may...

-Could be a grandma again.

-It may well have arrived.

-Yes.

-That's excellent. Great news.

Which now brings us to my favourite part of the show.

This is where it gets exciting because we're going to put our valuations to the test.

We've been working flat out

and we've now found our first items to go off to auction and go...

Under the hammer!

Look at this jam-packed saleroom.

That's what I like to see.

Today's venue is the Mackworth Hotel in Derbyshire,

and hopefully all of this lot are going to put their hands up

and bid on all of our owners' items.

And hopefully some of our owners are here already,

they're probably feeling really nervous

because it's their first auction.

So I'm going to give you the quick run-down of all the items

that are going under the hammer,

and fingers crossed, we should have a classic day.

-You made it!

-I made it!

We've got Patricia's Eastern European vase.

Along with Michael's sword, which might have seen better days

but could still get the bidders excited.

And finally, Joan's gold bracelet and cameo brooch.

Charles Hanson and David Greatwood are our men on the rostrum today,

and with over 800 lots in this antique and collectors' sale,

it's good to share the load.

First up, it's Patricia's vase,

which she hopes will make enough money

for her and daughter Erica to enjoy a slap-up meal.

You both look absolutely fabulous. You look really glamorous.

-Thank you.

-You've done us proud. Oh, in fact, I look a bit scruffy today.

Well, I haven't even got a jacket or tie, Paul.

-Unusual for you, Will! Mind you, it is really hot outside.

-Well, it's too warm.

Yeah. Good luck, anyway. Good luck. Here we go. This is it.

The Zsolnay, Pecs, double gourd-shaped vase

with the reticulated body.

There we go, in arabesque and green-yellow glazed decoration.

It's got the look.

I've interest here, I will go straight in at 38,

42, 45, £48, I'm bid.

48, I'll take 50. 50 bid.

At 50 and I'm out. At 50, my commissions are clear at 50.

Any advance on 50? Five behind, 55.

At 65, I'll take 70.

At 65, 70, surely?

This is what we want, a little battle in the room.

£80 in front.

Selling at 80, by the doorway at 80.

Any advance now? At 80. £80 and selling to you at £80.

£80. It's gone.

-Ooh, lovely.

-That's going to come in useful.

Yeah. A nice lunch and another bottle of wine.

Room for two more?

Well, we haven't got time to join Erica and Patricia.

But it sounds like they'll enjoy spending the money.

Next up is the sword which Michael and his wife Sylvia

were given as a wedding present.

But will the condition put the bidders of?

Good luck, Sylvia, good luck, Michael.

This is where we're putting the Wilkinson sword to the test

in the cutting edge of the sale room, if you'll pardon the pun.

-I gather the money is going towards a sporting shotgun?

-Yes, it is.

Good luck.

Let's set our targets on...

-Well, hopefully £100, shall we?

-Let's see.

-Time will tell.

-Oh dear.

Really, that low? Here we go, it's going under the hammer now.

Yes, a very fine 19th century officers sword there.

The Wilkinson's blade,

as detailed with all the military honours.

The quality is superb. For £100, it's nothing, if it's all you get.

Nice thing, this one, there. We have one on the telephone.

We've had interest and commissions.

I can go straight in at £80, I'm bid.

Good. That's a nice in, actually.

I'll take five, surely, now? At 80. Where's five?

At £80. Five anywhere now?

At 80. Five anywhere? At 80, I'll take 85. I have 90.

-Someone is in the room now.

-Yes.

130, I have 140.

140, still with me, on commission at £140.

140. I'll take 50. 150? And I'm out.

On the telephone with Ruth, £150.

Any advance now, at £150?

Last chance at 150.

Selling on the phone at 150.

That's more like it, isn't it?

£150. £50 more than what we were all expecting.

Pleased with that.

How much will the shotgun set you back? The 12-bore?

-£450, £460. The one that I want.

-A modern sporting gun?

-Yes.

-Not going for a vintage?

-Oh, no, no.

-Modern.

-A Purdey or something?

Oh, no. I've already got one of those!

Have you? Well, we'd like to see that.

Bring that one along to a valuation!

After being hidden away for over half a decade,

the bidders loved the sword.

Let's hope they feel the same

for Joan's cameo brooch and gold bracelet.

She's come along to the auction with her daughter, Cat,

and a much smaller member of the family.

A couple of months have passed since we last saw them and there's been a new addition.

Congratulations, Cat.

-Thank you very much.

-And grandma. What is her name?

-Evie.

-She's so beautiful.

Beautiful, isn't she?

Oh, gorgeous.

Takes us back a bit, Paul, doesn't it?

Yes, it does. They don't stay like that for long!

-They don't.

-How old is she now?

-She's four weeks.

-Four weeks?

-Everything going well?

-Yes, everything's going really well.

She's been very good. A very good little baby.

-Nice feeling, grandma?

-Absolutely wonderful.

Good luck, all three of you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-This one's sleeping through it.

Very, very fine nine carat gold link bracelet with a heart-shaped lock,

together with a nine carat gold cameo brooch.

Delightful lot. Lot 18.

Lots of interest.

I will start at £100.

110, 120. 130.

140, 150.

160, 170.

180, 190.

185? Why not. 190, 200.

It's a good time to sell gold, though.

The prices are up. They're high.

200, 210, 220.

Come on. 210, do I see? 220 now?

210. Do I see 220? Come on.

-210, I'll take 220.

-We'll take 210!

Or 210, fair warning.

You're out, I'm in at 210.

We say sale.

Well done. And look at that, you slept through the whole thing.

Well done, Will.

No, I'm glad we could help.

Are you having any more, Will?

-Well, it's not really my decision, is it?

-It's not.

That was a diplomatic answer.

I think poor Philippa's had enough. I've got three of my own.

That's perfect, you know?

Any more than that, we're going to have to buy a flatbed lorry.

What a fabulous result.

I bet lucky granddaughter Evie is now going to be spoilt rotten by Jo.

Well, that went really well.

That concludes the end of our first visit to the auction room today.

We are back later on in the show.

So, fingers crossed for one or two big surprises.

But right now I'm going off into the local countryside

to explore possibly one of the grandest houses,

not just in the county, but in the country.

We often see people with their collections on the show,

but the Cavendish family,

the dukes and duchesses of Devonshire,

have brought a whole new meaning to the word collection.

For over 450 years the Devonshire collection of artefacts

has evolved and continues to grow,

here in this magnificent setting of Chatsworth House.

The house contains an extensive private art collection

which includes a magnificent sculpture gallery,

Old Master drawings and paintings, furniture and much, much more.

The list is absolutely endless,

so I'm going to focus on one particular part of the collection

which, for me, fuses history, wealth, style

and the forward-thinking attitude that has come to represent the family.

And that's their personal portraits.

Portraits are a method of recording and displaying family history

and have long been a status symbol for the nobility.

Faces of ancestors line the walls of many a stately home.

But none more so than here at Chatsworth.

I'm on the oak staircase, surrounded by portraits of the first,

right through to the eleventh dukes,

with some of their family and friends

through the last 16 generations.

The Cavendishes have kept up with the modern times

by employing the best artists,

using up-to-date technology, to capture their family portraits.

The wife of the 5th duke, Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire,

commissioned portraits from some of the most famous artists of the day,

including Gainsborough in around 1784

and this one, by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

As you can see, it's slightly unfinished,

on the shoulders and the upper part of the body.

But I absolutely adore this portrait. She is so beautiful.

And there's a confidence about Reynolds' work, his loose brushstroke. This is so feminine.

This remained in Reynolds' studio right up until his death.

They say it was left by his desk.

Maybe he intended to finish it or he just liked looking at her.

You can imagine him falling in love with her while he was painting this, can't you?

It's just beautiful. And so was she.

Georgina's son, the 6th Duke,

was the first to have his photograph in around 1852,

soon after taken the technique had been invented.

In more recent times, the tradition of using eminent artists to capture family portraits

has been continued by Andrew Cavendish, the 11th Duke of Devonshire, and his wife Deborah.

This is by Lucian Freud.

It was done in the early 1950s.

He became a family friend and stayed at the house on many occasions, doing a series of portraits.

Deborah sat for this when she was 36 years old,

and she described Freud as having incredible insight.

She is quoted as saying, "The older I get, the more like the picture I become."

And this is so typical of Freud's work, the brushstroke here, rather flat, broad brushes.

Again, very, very confident.

Striking. Absolutely striking.

And this is as close as I'll ever get to Lucian Freud.

Look, nearly touching it.

The family continued the tradition of using artists and the style of the day

with this incredible portrait of Laura Burlington,

daughter-in-law of the current Duke. William, the Duke's son,

commissioned a digital portrait of Laura by artist Michael Craig-Martin

and this was unveiled at Chatsworth in 2010.

There are nine areas where the colours keep changing. It's a wonderful likeness,

but I've been told you could stand here all day

and probably never see the same colour combination twice

because there's just millions of different variations.

As you can see, the background's changing, the lips are changing,

the skin tone, the colours... It's going to alter again.

It really is a wonderful likeness but, also, it just reflects the fast-moving times we live in today.

It's a perfect example of contemporary art.

'At our valuation day at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Ashbourne,

'Michael and I are excited about a collection of pocket watches.

'But there's more where they came from.'

-Do you live far?

-Stowe.

-Stowe.

-I could go back and get 'em.

-Yeah. Do you mind?

-No.

-Then we could put them in as one lot,

-or separate them accordingly.

-It'll take a couple of hours to get there and back.

-Gosh.

-It would take two hours, an hour each way.

-That's OK, we're here all day.

Someone's on a mission, and is going to drive now for two hours to get the rest of the collection.

-I'll be back in a while.

-39 of them.

Drive carefully.

I will do, yeah.

Before they come back, Michael's just got time for another valuation,

and Pamela's collection of brushes has caught his eye.

If I ever needed a hairbrush

now would be the perfect time to have one.

Thank you for bringing in

this wonderful dressing-table set and other pieces.

Can I ask you, where did you get it from?

They were my mother's.

I used to see them on her dressing-table,

-and I used to have to polish them.

-Ooh.

-Yes.

-Does that bring back fond memories, or...?

-Sort of.

The hallmarks in this case, if we have a look,

W&H, which is the mark of Walker & Hall,

who were manufacturers in both Birmingham and Sheffield.

And we've got the Birmingham marks on this for 1915-16.

We can show what's very uncommercial at the moment,

-which is engine-turned silver backs.

-Oh.

-Nobody really wants those. They were made in huge numbers.

-Right.

They're quite light quality, not worth much at all.

Then you go from the middle of the bottom range to the top quality,

which is this wonderful tortoiseshell backing.

-It is tortoiseshell.

-It is tortoiseshell.

This would be laid over a coloured ground, probably yellow,

-to bring out these flecks here.

-Oh.

And then you've got this wonderful, I mean, most attractive inlay into it.

It's a wonderful set.

The most important thing is that you've got the mirror

-because that is the most commercial thing there.

-Is it?

People are a little bit queasy about using other people's brushes.

And if you want to get that brush refitted with a new block and bristles,

that can be £30 or £40,

which, I mean, you really want to have it done.

Any idea of the value of it?

Not at all. No.

I think those pieces will just add into them as a lot,

just for a little bit of interest.

-This set of five are going to be about £100 to £150 at auction.

-Right.

-Lovely. Thank you.

-Why now have you decided to sell them?

Well, I'm clearing cupboards out, decluttering, as they say,

-and I don't suppose the family will want them, so...

-Other people's brushes again.

Yes, and they certainly won't want to polish them like I do.

Let's hope that someone has got their polishing mitts on at auction

and isn't restrained by the thought of cleaning them.

If you want to take part in Flog It, this is where it begins - our valuation days.

Some of these people will go through to the auction later on in the show and hopefully make a lot of money.

To find out where we are going to be, log on to...

Follow the links and hopefully,

we will be coming to a town very near you soon.

Kathleen and Ralph took that advice and have brought something most viewers will recognise -

a Flog It favourite.

-It is of course a piece of...

-Moorcroft.

-Exactly.

I'm sure viewers at home are shouting that at the television.

What I like about the piece that you have brought in is that it's small,

a good sort of starter piece, shall we say, for collectors,

any young collectors out there who are looking for something

and I like the yellow ground as well,

because most of the time it's in that very dark blue ground.

-Is Moorcroft something you collect?

-I've got another two pieces.

-Is there a certain pattern you collect?

-Just the anemone.

The anemone pattern. Yes, well, you have identified the pattern for me as well, thank you.

-I'll take the cover off. It's a sort of ginger jar and cover, I would call it.

-Yes.

-Ginger jar.

Let's take the cover off.

And I can see here we've got a paper label, the original paper label.

-The late Queen Mary is 1953-1978.

-Yes.

-That's when they used this label.

-Yes.

So I suppose in the big scheme of things, as far as the collectors are concerned, it is quite a late piece.

They tend to like the sort of earlier 20th-century pieces.

I'll just turn the base up again,

and I see again you've got another example of the paper label there

so that ties in nicely. And why have you decided to sell it now?

Because Ralph said, "I don't like them?"

-I don't like him dusting them, I don't want him to break it.

-Oh! Blaming you, Ralph.

-Well, you know what the answer to that is? Don't dust!

-Don't dust.

Listen, like I say, it's a perfect sort of entrance level piece

for the starter collector, and I would value it as such.

-I think let's go for that classic 80-120, straddle that £100 mark.

-Yes.

I've seen them make 100, 110, sometimes a bit more, but let's play it safe.

You know the name of the show. Let's hope that on the day, we flog it.

I'm sure we will. Moorcroft usually sells,

although sometimes on Flog It, things don't always go according to plan.

Ready?

This is an anon... An anon... Oh.

I've never seen one so big before.

BOTH LAUGH

-I looked up, sorry.

-Let's do it again.

Beryl, thank you so much for talking me... Oh.

bbc.co.uk...

Three, two, one. I'm not applauding myself. I'm not delusional yet.

Stop it!

At the Royal Queen Elizabeth...

Ash Grove, whatever it is, football game.

LAUGHTER

Oh, dear, it's too near lunchtime.

Action!

The town comes out in force for the...

The town in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Oh, it's getting worse, isn't it?

I've waited a long time to meet you.

I have to just watch you on the television.

-Cut!

-OK, let's do that again.

Michael's back on form next with Carol's completed collection of watches.

It was well worth

that two-hour trek to go and get them.

-Carol, do you know what the time is?

-I've no idea.

It's a long time since I've seen

a collection of watches as impressive and vast as this on Flog It.

No doubt to say there must be a collector in the family somewhere.

They belonged to my father before he passed away.

Did he have an approach to collecting?

-Anything and everything.

-Those are the best sort

of collections, really.

-I won't tell you about each one individually.

-No.

Because the programme only lasts 45 minutes

and I don't think we'd get it done there. What I've done is

I've picked out a couple of the most interesting watches your father had.

This, I think, you can immediately tell is the earliest because of the size of it.

It should be a pair-cased watch.

If we open it here...

Oh, that's lovely. That's something collectors look for, watch papers.

-Oh, right.

-Whenever you took your watch in to be repaired,

the watchmaker would put a little panel there and it can give you the history of a watch, which is lovely.

-You've probably seen the movement inside this...

-I haven't looked, no.

No? I'm surprised.

That's nice. We've got the hallmarks there for London, 1838.

It's a good, early 19th-century watch. Then we've got...

I think if your father either repaired this or cleaned this, he did a wonderful job on it.

He was very careful with them.

That is a nice watch on its own for a collector to go at.

-The next thing, of course, we've got are the gold watches.

-Yeah.

Everyone knows gold is incredibly saleable at the moment.

We've got this nice little slim 1920s-1930s

gentleman's pocket watch.

Then we've got this funny little fellow,

which is actually a conversion.

If we can get it open, to show the face,

it's pocket watch form,

-but it's had these bars added to work as a wrist watch.

-Yeah.

Why now have you decided to...?

With my dad passing away suddenly,

we want to raise money now for a gravestone for him.

What a worthy cause.

So the watches are going back to him.

In a sense, yes. Isn't that wonderful?

-I think at auction we've got to think of these probably as four separate lots.

-Right.

The first and largest lot

are these silver gentleman's open-faced pocket watches.

They range in date from about 1880 right up to about 1920.

A lot are metal-cased, rather than silver-cased.

Let's put them in at £250 to £400.

Yeah!

The next group back, if you like, are the gilt metal-cased watches.

Sadly, I wish those 12 were gold.

-And me!

-Again, if we say £150 to £250.

-Yeah.

-And I hope they'll do better.

-Yeah.

-Then we get to the more commercial, collectible lots.

-Right.

The little gold watches, they're not very heavy in gold weight,

so we'd put those in at about £100 to £150 for the pair.

Then, probably my favourites, which is the early fusee.

I mean, I really think if you're a watch collector you want to own that.

It's in lovely condition. You've got the chain with it and the later fob.

Let's put that in at £200 to £300.

Let's put a reserve of £180 on it.

Let's see how they do over a period of time

by the time the auctioneers finish selling all of them.

That's the last valuation of this show.

Which means it's time to put those valuations to the test.

'They're going to go under the hammer. Let's get off to the auction room.

'We're taking with us Pamela's Victorian hairbrushes,

'Kathleen's and Ralph's Moorcroft ginger jug

'and Carol's father's huge collection of watches.

'Hansons Valuers and Auctioneers

'have set up in Mackworth House Hotel for the auction

'and on the rostrum are David Greatwood and Charles Hanson,

'who is also excited about this extensive watch collection.'

Our expert Michael really had his work cut out at the valuation day.

Carol came in with a massive collection of pocket watches, as you can see.

-Fantastic.

-Michael split them up into four obvious lots, really.

Any of them going to fly away?

-Yes.

-Go on, tell me which one.

-Wait and see.

-Oh, no, come on, please.

Let us into a secret, go on.

I think the biggest, boldest bag of silver ones will do really, really well.

There is so much there for the money.

-When you add up all the silver content, it's well worth it.

-Yeah.

It looks to me worth a lot more than £400.

-It ought to make a lot more than £400.

-Double?

-Let's wait and see, you never know.

-Oh, gosh!

-You never know.

-Oh, the suspense!

'Of course, it will be down to the bidders whether the watches fly or not when they go under the hammer.

'First, let's test the waters with this classic piece of Moorcroft.'

If everybody else is buying, why are you selling?

-Because I'm frightened to break it now I'm getting older.

-Are you? Getting older?! Look at you!

-50!

-50, yeah.

Yeah?

Right answer. Well done.

Ralph doesn't look bad for 48 either.

I'm not really going to ask you how old you are, don't worry.

Let's see what the people in Derbyshire think of your bit of Moorcroft.

It's going under the hammer right now.

Moorcroft pottery, anemone pattern, ginger jar and cover.

This large one. No, small one. There we go.

On the yellow ground,

this very nice ginger jar and cover on the yellow ground.

295.

I'm straight in at £110.

Straight in. That's great.

I have at 110. Where's 20?

I have 110 with me, at 110. At 110.

120. At 120. Where's 130?

At 120, I'll take 130 now. 130. You sure?

At 130. It's with me on commission at 130.

We're out in the room and on the phones.

At £130, last chance. At 130.

-It's gone down at 130.

-That's good.

You'll settle for that, won't you?

Yes, yes. Very nice.

-The money will come in useful.

-For the grandchildren.

-Is the money going towards the grandchildren? How many have you got?

-Two.

One's a teacher and one is studying medicine at Nottingham.

So one needs the money and one doesn't!

'Not a huge surprise for us, but a welcome one for Ralph and Kathleen's grandchildren.

'Can Pamela's dressing-table set continue our success?

'They can be difficult to sell, but we all think they will have some interest.'

Pamela, good luck.

-Thank you.

-This is the start of Pamela's decluttering in the auction room. Is it your first auction?

-It is.

-What do you think?

-Sum it up.

-Very interesting.

-There's a lot of people.

-Yes.

-It's hot in here.

-Yes, it is.

Temperatures are rising.

-Pressure's on, Michael.

-No pressure. It's a bit of silver.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

Very fine George V

silver and tortoiseshell-backed five-piece dressing-table set.

Very nice collection of dressing-table brushes and mirrors.

Silver and tortoiseshell-backed.

He's about 20 feet away.

Then you've got another three items as well. Various dates and makers.

Interest here at £65 a bid.

65. Where's 70 now?

At 65, I'll take any advance now.

At 65, I'll take 70.

At 65. 70, surely? 65. 75.

No. 75. Still with me at £75.

Last chance at £75.

Against you all now, surely. Last chance. Are you sure now?

All done now. Against you all now

at £75, last chance at £75.

-Oh.

-It didn't sell.

-I'm flabbergasted.

-Yeah.

-So am I. There was a lot there.

I am absolutely stunned.

Those sets, normally, they're touching £130, £140. The buyers were here.

It's a shame this is Pamela's first auction. We wanted it to be a special one.

'That's such a shame and I hope it doesn't put Pamela off coming back to auctions.

'That's just the way they go sometimes.

'Fingers crossed we have a different result for Carol and her father's collection of watches.

'She's joined by her mother Doreen.'

Time is ticking away, and not quick enough for Carol and Doreen, who are right next to me.

-You've been waiting a long time for this. It's been weeks.

-Yes.

Hopefully we can send you home with £1,000. That's what we'd like to think.

12 various gold plate and gilt metal-cased

gentleman's pocket watches.

A very fine lot. A great number of them. There they all are.

Look at them. Where do we start?

Lots of interest, and I will start my bidding at £200. Do I see 220?

220...

We're in on estimate, that's good.

280, 300. 320, 350.

I've got 320. I'll take 350 now.

350, 380, 400.

I've got 380. Do I see £400?

I look for £400. Come on.

380, all done. Fair warning, we sell.

Once, twice, three times at £380.

All out? Yes, we are.

So far, so good. The second lot is this wonderful fusee pocket watch.

Do you know what this reminds me of?

-Alice In Wonderland, because it's so big.

-Yes.

-It's so big and comical, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Lovely big pocket watch.

You'd need quite a big waistcoat for it.

I might have one at home in my wardrobe, Paul.

A very fine Victorian silver pair-cased...

The porter's having trouble lifting it. That's a good watch!

Case hallmarked - London, 1854.

-Lots of interest here.

-Oh!

-I will start this lot at £210.

Do I see 220? 210, come on.

Do I see 220? 210.

Do I see 220 now? Surely, come on.

210. It's got to go at 210. I'll take 220. All out.

Do I see 220?

Fair warning, all done, we're selling it. All out, we are.

We say sale at £210. All out.

That's two down, we've got the third one coming up now.

A very fine 1930s gold pocket watch,

together with a gold plate case watch. There they are.

Lots of interest in these. £100.

Wow. That's good.

120. 125. I can now go 130.

130. 135. 140. 145. 148.

I've got 150.

152. I'm out. Do I see 155? Come on! Once, twice,

three times, we're selling at £152 to you, sir.

£152, sold to that gentleman over there.

One more lot to go.

Hopefully this is the lot that's going to fly away, because there are a lot of watches in this bag.

We've got...

a big collection here.

-A whopping collection.

-An understatement.

But a wonderful collection of key wind pocket watches.

Oh, Carol, the tension's mounting, isn't it? Now you're getting warmer.

This is what it's all about.

They're all there for you.

35, one, two, three, four bids. Where do we start?

-I am bid straight in at £250.

-Though he was going to say 400.

-300. 350, 400, 500...

-He's going up in 50s though.

550, 600, 650, 700,

-I've got 650.

-650!

-Do I see £700 now?

700, 750, 800, 820.

Wow!

-Now I'm tingling. Are you tingling?

-Yeah.

-Good.

Do I see 850? Come on! 820, I'll take 850 now. 820, all done.

Where's 850? You're out. All done.

We are selling at £820.

The gavel is falling now.

£820. Doreen, Carol, what a day, hey?

-Lovely.

-A lot of money as well.

-It's all down to Barry's connection.

-Yes.

I've got to tot it up. That was an odd figure to tot up.

He squeezed the last £2 out of it. £1,562.

-Thank you, Michael.

-Very good.

A lot of money.

-Yes.

-A lot of money, enjoy it.

-Yes.

Enjoy it.

Do I see 310? At £200 now...

That's the end of the auction for all of our owners.

Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?

All credit to both our auctioneers today and our experts.

If you've got any antiques you want to sell, we'd love to see you.

Come on, bring them along to one of our valuation days and experience one of these Flog It auctions.

For now, from Derbyshire, bye-bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

E-mail [email protected]