A guest on the Antiques Roadshow got a very pleasant surprise after learning the eye-watering value of a brooch he’d carelessly thrown in a plastic bag.

The gold rabbit with a sapphire and diamond eye was so small that it was able to fit between just two of expert Joanna Hardy’s fingers. 

Joanna said: ‘Usually people come to my table and they’re showing me a jewel in a box, but you came and showed me the bunny brooch in a plastic bag.’ 

The guest admitted: ‘Well I only put it in that plastic bag to come here to be honest.’

The expert replied: ‘I’m pleased, I’m pleased about that!’

‘I am very delighted that he’s here, because as soon as I saw this and felt it, I just knew, “Oh, we’ve got something special here”.

A guest on the Antiques Roadshow got a very pleasant surprise after learning the eye-watering value of a brooch he’d THROWN IN A PLASTIC BAG

The gold rabbit with a sapphire and diamond eye was so small that it was able to fit between just two of expert Joanna Hardy’s fingers

In the episode, which was originally aired last year, the owner said that he had purchased the brooch at an antiques fair 25 years ago.  

Examining the piece, Joanna said: ‘For something that is basically metal, it has life to it. And that’s because it’s a good quality piece of jewellery. It’s got here the eye, which is sapphire, and the little eyelid is diamonds, little circular cut diamonds.

‘The but is, I think the LS that is engraved at the top by the ear is nothing to do with the maker. There is even sort of a scratching mark down the side, but that’s someone’s sort of shop code. So that’s got nothing to do with the maker on it either.’ 

Joanna assessed that the brooch was from the 1960s and made of 18-carat gold, revealing that ‘it would just need a little bit more digging’ to find out where it was made. 

Giving the all-important valuation, she said: ‘As is, without it being attributed to a particular jewellery house, it is so beautifully made, you’re talking at least £3,000.’

Needless to say, the brooch’s owner was more than a little surprised and he replied: ‘Oh God!’  

He went on to admit that he had speculated that the piece of jewellery was worth ‘about a thousand’.

Johanna then pointed out that if it is attributed to a high-end jewellery house like Cartier, he ‘would be looking at about £8,000 to £10,000.’ 

The owner said that he had purchased the brooch at an antiques fair 25 years ago

The expert valued the brooch at £3,000 but said that it could fetch as much as £10,000 if it was ‘attributed to a particular jewellery house’ like Cartier

The brooch’s surprising valuation comes after an Antiques Roadshow expert got an unwelcome taste in his mouth after swigging from a guest’s 180-year-old bottle in a recently resurfaced story. 

When a visitor brought a century-old bottle for glass expert Andy McConnell to examine, there were unfortunate repercussions. 

Upon assessing the piece, Andy determined a brown substance inside was either port or red wine.

He told the guest: ‘I think it’s port… port or red wine… or it’s full of rusty old nails and that’s rust.’

Following this, Andy then proceeded to dip his finger inside and lick the mysterious substance. 

The show’s host Fiona Bruce, however, informed him later on in the 2016 episode about what he had actually tasted.

Antiques Roadshow expert Andy McConnell got an unfortunate surprise while examining a guest’s historic bottle

Later on, Fiona Bruce enlightened Andy about the substance he had tried – specifically what it contained

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Antiques Roadshow guest gasps ‘wow!’ as she learns eye-watering value of ‘iconic’ artefact

Fiona subsequently revealed the liquid was comprised of urine, a tiny bit alcohol and a human hair.

Fiona explained that it had been a witches’ bottle, having been created as a talisman to ward off witchcraft, curses and misfortune.

The presenter elaborated: ‘Now, you thought it might have been port or wine… That would’ve been nice…

‘Inside were these brass pins, all of these dating from the late 1840s, and the liquid – urine, a tiny bit of alcohol and one human hair.

‘And a mysterious little creature called an ostracod, which is like a little cockle.’

Fortunately, Andy took the misstep in his stride as he joked: ‘Yummy.’

Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays on BBC One and iPlayer.