A story of luck: a woman bought a brooch for $35, but the jewelry costs tens of thousands of dollars (4 photos)

The British woman bought the brooch at an antiques fair three decades ago, not knowing that it was created by the famous designer William Burgess.





In March 2023, Briton Flora Steele was watching videos on YouTube and came across a 2011 clip from the Antiques Roadshow. Steele watched as the jewelry specialist displayed rare pieces created by designer William Burgess. The woman then realized in shock that she had bought a similar brooch for just $25 decades ago. As a result, experts valued the British woman’s jewelry at $19,000. “Watching the video, I said to myself: “This is my brooch, which I found 35 years ago,” Steele explained to Western journalists.

“I decided to dig up my brooch and take a better look at it... and lo and behold, I was not mistaken! I almost fell out of my chair!”



Flora Steele said she first came across her brooch more than three decades ago while browsing items for sale at an antiques fair in central England. Knowing art history, Steele saw color and beauty in one brooch that immediately caught her eye.

“It initially caught my attention with its colorful design, strange lettering and unusual stones,” Steele explained. “I always liked it and thought it was special in its own way and that sooner or later I would find out who created it.”

However, the author of the brooch remained a mystery for decades. Interestingly, decades later, Steele happily gave the jewelry to her son's daughter-in-law. The brooch then almost disappeared from the Briton's memory - until March 2023, when Steele watched jewelery specialist Geoffrey Mann show off several sketches of William Burges' brooches in a video. Thus, one of the works shown looked suspiciously like a brooch for $25.

“This is one of those extraordinary moments,” Steele exclaimed. “I thought I was dreaming, especially after all this time.”

Steele asked her son and his daughter-in-law to send her photographs of the brooch, which she then sent to representatives of Gildings Auctions, who had previously auctioned two other Burgess brooches. Experts immediately recognized the brooch as a Burges imprint.





“The Burgess brooch was discovered again, by chance, through the Antiques Roadshow,” said Gildings director Will Gilding. “It’s amazing that this happened once. Then we were informed about another similar case. But for the third time? Pinch me!

Thus, the designer jewelry was valued at $19,000. The brooch will be put up for auction in the spring of 2024. British Flora Steele has already taken part in the Antiques Roadshow to show the brooch to expert Geoffrey Mann. “It literally makes my pulse quicken,” said Mann, who called Burges “the greatest design genius of the 19th century.”

William Burges, who was famous for his Victorian Gothic Revival style, probably designed the decoration around 1860. All three brooches discovered during the Antiques Roadshow were intended to be worn during weddings.

Burges was best known for his architecture and designed Cardiff Castle in Wales and Castell Coch Castle. But, among other things, he also created smaller objects such as jewelry and tableware made of gold and silver, which used Japanese, Romanesque and medieval motifs.

True, the brooch also has a rather personal meaning for Steele. As she told Western journalists, she had been battling breast cancer for the last two years. Although she is now in remission, the fact that her favorite brooch was a Burgess brooch did a lot to improve the British woman's mood. Steele plans to donate the proceeds from the sale of the brooch partly to his son and daughter-in-law and partly to the breast cancer research fund.