Heartbreaking when Roadshow Antiques rare Fabergé box halves value after discovery

Jewelry historian John calmly talked the audience through the “fairly simple” valuation of the box, before excitedly revealing it was actually a box of Fabergé cigarettes and worth thousands of pounds.

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Antiques roadshow: Expert examines a Faberge box

An Antiques Roadshow expert has been “heartbroken” after making a shocking discovery while examining a rare box of Fabergé cigarettes.

Fans of the BBC show watched with gasps as expert John Benjamin examined the rare case at Forty Hall in Enfield, north London.

The show returned to screening rooms on Sunday night, with viewers delighted as they once again took part in an emotional roller coaster ride as members of the public treasured the treasures. their family prices.

The case is brought up by a mother-daughter duo. The latter explained that it belonged to his paternal grandmother, Olga.

She died in 1993 and passed them on as heirlooms.

He said: “It is owned by my nan Olga, she passed away in 1993, and it has been passed on to my mother and father.”

They then explained how someone had knocked on their door and offered to buy the case for £1000 years ago.

They then take it for granted, only to be told that it is “probably Russian” but has no real value.

Luckily, they decided to just hang the heirloom and take their precious piece to the Antiques Roadshow.

Jewelery historian John calmly talked the audience through the “pretty simple” valuation of the box, before excitedly revealing it was actually a box of Fabergé cigarettes and worth thousands of pounds. .

The House of Fabergé is a jewelry company founded in 1842 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, by Gustav Faberge.

The jewelers are known for designing exquisite jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs for Russian tsars, and for their high quality and intricately detailed creations.

John told the owners of the cigarette case: “Well, we are looking at a rather simple rectangular cigarette case, which looks quite serious.

“But it has a lot of hidden extras.”

Pointing to a distinctive marking and stamp P56 that meant it was 14-carat Russian gold, John explained that the box was in fact the real Carl Fabergé.

He added: “It was a box of Fabergé cigarettes, and that’s why someone was so enthusiastic about it.”

The expert linked the guest’s nanny Olga to Russia and noted that what the guest thought were transparent glass panels on the sides of the box, were actually “solid natural stone crystals”.

The jewelry historian also points to a foil around the outside of the box, and reveals the red dot on the design is a “natural ruby”.

John commented: “This is certainly not a modest piece of work.

But then John dealt the guests a heavy blow when he pointed out some damage in the corner of the box, which meant a sharp drop in value.

“One problem with his delicate box, and I’ll show you this one because it really broke my heart,” explains John, drawing attention to a “small crack in his crystal.” rock” in the corner of the box.

“If it’s in perfect condition, I think it’s worth £8,000 to £10,000,” John revealed.

“Now let me be a little careful and say £5,000 to £8,000 with the damage it suffered.”

At first, the guests looked furious when it was revealed that the damage would cause its value to plummet, but they quickly recovered when they realized it was still worth a huge sum of money.

Antiques Roadshow airs at 7pm on Sunday on BBC One.