BBC Antiques Roadshow: George Weil Suite of Jewels Surprises Everyone
By Jessica Janes For Mailonline
5 September 2024
Gary Roskin –
Roskin Gem News Report –
The Antiques Roadshow is always good for a nice surprise, especially when it comes to “costume jewelry” or “something I kept in an old shoe box to play dress-up.” This time, we are introduced to six jewels purchased at thrift shops, beginning with a diamond ring described by its owner as “posh costume jewelry,” purchased for just a few hundred pounds. This ring, along with a bracelet and brooch, all totaled, was said to have been purchased for about fifteen hundred pounds. And she thought that to be quite a lot of money.
But that value became multiplied ten times by the Roadshow’s appraiser, Joanna Hardy, a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain, a former diamond dealer and auctioneer, as well as a Member of the National Association of Jewellers’ Institute of Registered Valuers.
The six pieces of 18 karat and platinum jewelry, now estimated to be valued at $25,000 pounds, was created by jewelry artist, George Weil. This name may not be as well known as Tiffany, Cartier, Graff, or Van Cleef & Arpels, but he was important in his own right, especially in London.
According to the Victoria & Albert Museum, Weil was born in Vienna, Austria in 1938, into a Jewish family who fled Vienna to London one year later in 1939. He trained as a jeweler, but excelled in other forms of art, including sculpture. His artistic jewelry style shows off his sculptural talent, using textured gold, with a tendency towards asymmetry.
Tap here to read more about the jewelry surprise in the Daily Mail.
