Antiques Roadshow guest gasps as he learns life-changing value of dad’s rare watch picked up for just £59 – before jaw-dropping twist

An Antiques Roadshow guest was stunned after discovering the value of his dad’s rare watch – only for a jaw-dropping twist to follow.

On Sunday’s (November 30) episode, the BBC show featured previously unseen footage or ‘hidden treasures’.

One man brought in a rare Omega watch, which, as a child, he had seen his father wear on special occasions.

Clock expert Alastair Chandler, who carried out the valuation, branded the timepiece as a ‘real classic’.

He shared: ‘This is a fabulous Omega Speedmaster made in Switzerland. 

‘It’s a real classic watch. However, what really caught my attention was it’s such an unusual dial configuration for an Omega Speedmaster.’ 

The guest recounted how his dad bought the watch back in 1971, for just £59 at the time.

Alastair noted that given this model’s rarity, they do not come up for sale often, making it difficult where to place the watch.

The expert added: ‘I can say in December 2024, a similar watch, same model, sold for just over £50,000 at auction.’

But despite this eye-watering sum, the guest revealed he had no intention of selling the watch.

The guest said: ‘Wow, surprising. Very surprising’, before agreeing with Alastair that the watch had been a good investment on his father’s part.

He added: ‘It’s very, very good actually, very good. Dad chose wisely.’

Earlier in the conversation, Alastair also shared some of the watch’s history, as he revealed: ‘As soon as we mention the Speedmaster, we automatically think ‘moon landing’.

‘These watches were known as the moonwatch because they were the first watch to go to the moon, chosen by NASA. 

‘But you’ll notice on this watch there’s nothing about the moon landing on it. 

‘And that’s because it was primarily [used] as a chronograph for racing.’

Elsewhere, a previous episode of the BBC show saw a guest shocked to learn the whopping value of her brooch.

Appearing at the show’s stop in Fife, Scotland, the guest explained that she inherited the beautiful piece from her grandmother – and that it was very nearly stolen from her family back in the 1970s.

Due to the near-theft, she’s been too scared to wear the heirloom ‘in case she lost it’, but had concluded it was a simple piece of costume jewellery likely ‘worth maybe £50 to £100’.

She said: ‘So it was gifted to my great grandmother by my great great grandfather Robert Williamson on the occasion of her wedding in 1874.

‘It was then inherited by my grandmother and a funny story is, that in the early 70s when I was about three or four, my grandparents’ house had a burglar in it and my grandfather actually caught the gentleman in the act and it was in the hall ready to be stolen!

‘So luckily we’ve still got it.’

Expert Siobhan Tyrrell immediately described the piece as ‘absolutely beautiful’ and said that it was made of diamonds, emeralds and a garnet – a type of gemstone that was popular in the Victorian era.

Siobhan said: ‘This Tudor revival jewellery is really, really popular. It sells very well at auction at the moment.

‘It’s easily going to make between £4,000 and £6,000.’

Shocked at the valuation, the owner exclaimed: ‘Wow thanks very much!’

The guest decided that despite now knowing the brooch’s value, she wanted to keep it in the family.

Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.