Antiques Roadshow guests speechless as 'incredible' legacy items fetch huge valuation

A pair of Antiques Roadshow guests were left speechless as their "incredible" legacy items fetched a huge valuation.

A recent episode of the hit BBC programme, which aired last week (October 19), took place at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, where locals arrived to have their antiques and fine arts appraised by experts.

During the instalment, antiques expert and auctioneer Raj Bisram heard the heartfelt story of a father who spent his life diving.

Two sisters brought in a picture of their dad, as well as a collection of his diving gear.

"Unfortunately, we lost our dad about a year and a half ago. It was his wish to have all of his memorabilia on Antiques Roadshow," the guest explained.

The collection included a diving helmet, diving boots, a diving watch, and log books.

The guest continued: "Dad was originally from here, he was from Swansea. He started diving when he was about 11 years old, and got into commercial diving in the 70s, so he had over a 20-year career diving.

"He worked in the North Sea, Middle East and off Nigeria. So, he worked on the Piper Alpha, worked on the Claymore, worked on the Pharos, and many other places in the Middle East and Nigeria."

Raj noted: "So, some famous places that people will know of."

The guests then shared their memories of their father putting his helmet on them as children, as well as trying on his large diving boots.

She added: "He was very good at his job, he was very thorough. You can tell by his log books."

"Absolutely. You've got all these log books, which I briefly had a flick through. I mean, they're incredible," Raj went on.

The expert then revealed that the helmet was the "Rolls-Royce" of helmets, adding: "What I like is that it's got the dents. When antiques experts look at things, we look for them to be perfect, but in certain situations, this tells a story. It's fantastic. And the boots, how worn they are."

Raj confirmed that the helmet could make £1,500 to £2,000 at auction, with the boots being priced at £1,000. That's not all, as the Rolex watch could fetch a minimum of £10,000.

"So, if you add all this up... I mean, as a collection, this is going to be somewhere between £15,000 and £20,000. So, your dad has left you a nice little legacy. Although, whether you would sell this, being part of him, who knows?" Raj said.

The guest then said: "I don't think we would. We love the story and we love the fact that we can reflect back on this."

Raj concluded: "Yeah, it would be nice to make somewhere to show it all off as well, you know? I think it's a fantastic story. It really got to my heart when you would tell me about it. Thank you so much for telling us and coming in. Brilliant."

Antiques Roadshow is available to stream on BBC iPlayer