ANTIQUES Road show expert John Foster was gutted after a guest refused to sell his watch to him after he’d been “waiting years” for someone to bring in.
The auctioneer really had to hide his disappointment when he didn’t get what he wanted after seeing the horological accessory.
At the beginning of the segment John told the guest: “So you have brought something today which has made me so happy to see it.
“I’ve been looking for a pair of these for years. Tell me… how come you own what is arguably the most sort after pair of rally timer of stopwatches?”
The antique owner confessed that he’s only had his hands on them for the past few weeks when his sister-in-law’s husband gave them to him as a thank you gift.
He told the expert: “He in turn was given them as a gift by the person that rallied for the MG and Moris works team and they were rallied in most of the main European rallies.”
John couldn’t believe what was in front of him as he praised the watches for their stunning design.
He added: “They’re so beautiful you don’t really even need to like rallying, they’re just a beautiful object in themselves.
“Made by Heur, started by Edouard Heuer in Switzerald in the 1860s, these are roughly 100 years old.
“In the sort of 50s/60s they went into the rally times and that is what you’ve got.
“The quality of them is staggering. Absolutely staggering. The condition you just couldn’t ask for better condition.”
However he did notice that they had a “weird hook” on the back that he said needed to come off.
Then the pair then got down to the nitty gritty stuff.
John told the guest: “I would say an auction estimate of easily £4,000 to £6,000.”
And the watch owner was lost for words.
He said: “That’s considerably more than I expected…
“But the cliche is, they’re not for sale.”
And John was left devastated by his revelation and said: “That’s the one time I didn’t want to hear that!”
John’s devastating news comes after another guest on the hit show refused to part ways with their pricey belonging.
Expert Ben Wright offered a male guest £12,000 for a table clock, but was sadly rejected.
The Robert Higgs clock was owned by his great aunt and it had too much sentimental value to give it away.
Antiques Roadshow airs on Sundays on BBC One.
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