Shocked Antiques Roadshow Guest Finds Father’s £20 Watch is a Valuable Rarity

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned to discover the value of an old broken watch her father picked up at an army surplus store for just £20. 

Sunday’s episodes saw members of the public bringing their worldly good to Powis Castle in Wales, with one woman eager to learn more about the timepiece from expert Richard Price – who branded it the ‘rarest of items’   

The lady explained how she believed it to be a World War II pilot’s watch and was relieved to discover she had been right. 

Richard explained the item had fact been used by Luftwaffe, the German Air Force, and would have had a large leather strap – which was now missing.

Going on to say that if it were a made by A. Lange & Söhne, a German company which provided time pieces to the Nazis, it would increase the price significantly. 

Shocked: An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned to discover the value of an old broken watch her father picked up at a army surplus store for just £20

Watch out! Sunday’s episodes saw members of the public bringing their worldly good to Powis Castle in Wales, with one woman eager to learn more about the timepiece from expert Richard Price

He then opened the watch and said: ‘Joy of joy it’s A. Lange & Söhne the one [all collectors] want’.

Richard then concluded the item was from 1941 and said the reason it was so rare and in such high demand was that the company’s factory was bombed in 1945. 

The lady, flabbergasted by the news, said how her father picked it up in Weymouth for £20 in the early 1970s and that he loved ‘poking about’ in old shops. 

Before asking: ‘Was it a good buy?’. 

‘Pretty good buy’ Richard exclaimed, ‘I think i would be very happy if I had paid £20’. 

He again referred it was the ‘rarest of items’ that ‘all collectors want’ before revealing it to be worth between £8,000 and £10,000.

In total shock the lady joked: ‘I might not take it home to [my father]’.

It comes after another Antiques Roadshow guest was left astounded by the incredible value of a Hollywood film score after picking it up at a car boot sale for just £5.

History: The lady explained how she believed it to be a World War II pilot’s watch and was relieved to discover she had been right.

Expert: Richard (pictured) opened the watch and said: ‘Joy of joy it’s A. Lange & Söhne the one [all collectors] want’

Cashing in: The lady, flabbergasted by the news, said how her father picked it up in Weymouth for £20 in the early 1970s and that he loved ‘poking about’ in old shops

The instalment saw the series head to Wollaton Hall in Nottingham, which just happened to double as Wayne Manor in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Batman trilogy.

The musical score, which the guest discovered on sale in a ‘rather scruffy folder’ featured hand written notes by famed American composer Bernard Herrmann.

Best known for his work for TV and film, Bernard created the iconic music for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane (1941) and TV’s The Twilight Zone. 

Explaining how he came across the item the man said: ”There was a man in front of me and it was offered off for £5 but he didn’t want it so I gladly took it’.

Money bags: It comes after another guest was shocked by the incredible value of a Hollywood film score after picking it up at a car boot sale for just £5

Iconic: The musical score, which the guest discovered on sale in a ‘rather scruffy folder’ featured hand written notes by famed American composer Bernard Herrmann who created the music for classic movies like Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (pictured) 

Lucky find: Explaining how he came across the item the man said: ”There was a man in front of me and it was offered off for £5 but he didn’t want it so I gladly took it’

Adding: ‘I had a quick look through but for what was in the box, and it certainly looked like it was worthwhile for £5.’ 

While expert Justin Croft revealed the score was ‘Bernard’s own copy’ for 1952 drama The Snows of Kilimanjaro which starred Hollywood heartthrob Gregory Peck. 

Telling the guest: ‘What I like about it is there is a lot of annotation and that takes us closer to matching the score with the film’.

Moving on the the valuation he said: ‘I think it does have some value. It may not be his most important film score, it’s not the one which everyone knows him for’.

‘For you to have an original version of it with his corrections and with his annotation done at the time of fitting it with the film together, I think that is important.’

Before shocking the guest by announcing it would be worth a whopping £800 to £1000 at auction.

Delighted the man quipped: ‘Not bad for £5’.