I bought this £2 brooch at a car boot sale – have I snapped up a jewellery bargain? DAN HATFIELD replies

I bought this brooch at a car boot around 30 years ago for £2. It was originally sold to me as costume jewellery that belonged to a deceased family member of the stall holder. 

But I recently dug it out and starting to think I may have something valuable. I can see an 18 on the back. 

Is my car boot jewellery find worth money? Sara, via email.

Brooch buy: I bought this in the 1990s for £2… and have started to believe they could be worth a tidy sum. Am I right? Dan Hatfield (pictured) replies

Dan Hatfield, expert valuer, replies: Regular readers of my column will know my fondness for a car boot. As I always say, I was born in Sheffield but forged at the car boot. 

I love the potential to find weird, wonderful, and sometimes valuable items. 

Your brooch is an interesting find but in general are precarious investment because they go in and out of vogue so often that their value rises and plummets accordingly. 

The marmite of the jewellery world, they are loved and loathed equally. I have always loved them as a wonderful way to add that something special to an outfit. 

Regardless, the good news is brooches are back in vogue and deemed hot accessories. 

There are jewellery designers around the world embracing this comeback with brands like Armani and Stella McCartney using brooches as central points of their designs. 

Some would argue that hit shows such as The Crown and Bridgerton have helped fuel a new wave of popularity. 

Historically in Europe, we can trace the brooch back to around 400BC when Celtic craftsmen first started making them.

I mentioned I found your brooch of interest because funnily enough, I currently have an almost identical one stocked in my pawnbrokers. I really appreciate the wonderful design of it.

Jewellery depicting stars and crescents became extremely popular in the mid to latter parts of the 19th century. 

As a species we were trying to understand the world around us, so as we made advances in science and our understanding of how our planet played a part in the universe people developed a keen interest in astrology and astronomy.

From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne was a novel published in 1865 which told the story about a cannon being built powerful enough to launch a rocket to the moon. 

Such was the fascination with this story that many Victorian jewellers started to create wonderful pieces that depicted the moon and stars. 

As your brooch is a crescent design, I would be confident that it was made between 1865 and 1880.

Your brooch is adorned with pearls, something that the Victorian’s embraced and used widely in their jewellery. 

This is because the pearl was considered less flashy, less ostentatious than the coloured stones that the Georgians had been so fond of using previously. 

The pearl was a more subtle decoration for jewellery, in keeping with Victorian modesty. 

They were also permitted to be worn during periods of mourning as if was believed that pearl represented tears. I’m sure that Queen Victoria, who was in perpetual mourning after the loss of her Prince Albert, approved whole heartedly.

You mention that you can see an 18 on the back of the brooch and looking at your picture I would agree that it certainly appears to be the case. 

18ct is now worth around £47 a gram so the metal work alone would mean this brooch is worth a considerable amount. 

Gold has increased tenfold over the last 25 years, so your £2 investment is going to secure you a considerable return.

Often with precious metals the value is in melting them and selling for the price per gram, but this isn’t the case for you because the pearls look in good condition and with brooches being back in vogue, you could easily sell this on, as it is. 

I’m going to value your brooch at about £600. Whilst beautiful it’s not unique and there are many others on the market but it’s still a sought-after item and rare enough to warrant a hefty price tag. 

This is why I always wax lyrical about car boots, you never know what return you are going to get on such a small original outlay. 

Your £2 investment has served you well and if you’d like to reap your rewards, I suggest selling a brooch like this on Etsy where you’ll find loads of keen enthusiasts for this type of jewellery.

Chunky: This tanzanite ring caught my eye a decade ago – has it grown in value? 

I bought a tanzanite ring in 2014 – what’s it worth now? 

I bought this tanzanite ring while on holiday a decade ago for just under £6,000. Has it grown in value? Elaine, via email. 

Dan replies: This dazzling ring has a vibrant, almost hypnotic stone, that was only discovered 57 years ago. It creates plenty of intrigue and curiosity.

Tanzanite is a stone that mystifies many and is probably second in line to diamonds for stones that people ask me about most frequently. 

This stone was discovered in 1967 by the Maasai Herders tending to their livestock at the Merelani Hills, Tanzania. 

Upon discovery they informed a prospector named Manuel d’Souza who very quickly registered with the Government so they could begin mining for what he believed to be sapphires. 

But, it was soon discovered these gemstones were in fact a blue variety of zoisite, which was discovered at the start of the 19th century.

Very quickly, Tiffany & Co caught wind of this find and recognised they could utilise this to rival other gemstones but there was a problem with the name. 

Originally named, blue zoisite, the bosses at Tiffany & Co felt it sounded far too much like, ‘blue suicide’ and would ruin their campaign before it had even started. 

So, they decided to rename the stone and call it tanzanite in honour of its East African origin.

This stones popularity soared and was titled the ‘gem of the 20th century’ with two million carats being mined by 1971. 

Tiffany succeeded in making this a household name and with such a prestigious jewellery house adopting it as their signature precious stone, it was clear to understand how it achieved prestigious status and why it was in demand by the rich and famous.

Currently this stone can only be found in Tanzania within an area that is 2km wide and 4km long. 

It is therefore estimated the ground will be emptied of this mineral within 10 to 25 years. 

Due to its scarcity some say that tanzanite is 1000 times rarer than diamonds but before you run off to buy a superyacht, that unfortunately doesn’t equate to its value.

Tanzanite’s are pleochroic, meaning the colour varies depending on the direction the light hits it. 

These stones can be anything from a light lilac, soft blue up to the most sought after and thus most valuable, intense sapphire colour.

I would say yours is a blueish violet, which isn’t the deep blue that is worth the most money, but it probably sits bang in the middle of the colour spectrum for this stone. 

The certificate you provided me with also states that is weighs an impressive, finger aching 15.74ct, which will add to its value. 

As it’s a cushion mixed cut, you could divide opinion and some people prefer a simpler style cut.

What we shouldn’t ignore either is the two diamonds on your ring that frame the tanzanite. 

The paperwork you provided has them a smidge over half a carat each and they’re certified by GIA, in my opinion, one of the best diamond graders in the world. 

The certification has graded them at D, which is the best you can get and many diamond graders, me included, agree that colour always wins out on clarity when informing the value of the stone. 

Speaking of clarity, yours are VS1 which is a very food standard. So overall, these are impressive diamonds with great quality which will all add to the value of the ring. 

Finally, I need to ascertain the value of the ring which I can’t tell if it is set in 18ct white gold or platinum, but I’ll hazard a guess at the latter.

As always, societal popularity drives up value and at the moment buyers seem to be investing more in traditional stones like diamonds. 

Therefore, tanzanite’s aren’t selling for the eye watering amounts they once did – but I do believe this will change over the next decade.

With all of this considered, I would value your ring between £7,000-£9,000. If you were keen to sell it, the best place would be an internationally acclaimed auction house such as Tennants or Bonhams – although always check auction fees and how much this will eat into the price.

Exposing this ring to international buyers will create a livelier auction and hopefully secure a higher price. 

However, I think the golden years for tanzanite are ahead of us. Should no further mines be discovered, when the earth has been depleted of this stone, demand will naturally increase which also drives up the value. 

Of course, this is my prediction and as always, does not constitute financial advice but I will say that tanzanite has become a part of my personal investment portfolio.

Send in your Modern Treasures

Dan Hatfield: Our columnist is ready to value your Modern Treasure

Dan Hatfield is This Morning’s money-making expert and resident pawnbroker. He is an international specialist in antiques, jewellery, diamonds and collectibles. 

Dan’s first non-fiction book, Money Maker: Unlock Your Money Making Potential (£16.99, published by Hodder Catalyst) is available now.

This is Money’s Modern Treasures column is after your items and collections for valuations. 

Please send in as much information as possible, including photographs, to: editor@thisismoney.co.uk with the email subject line: Modern Treasures

We’re after post-War items only please and we may contact you for further information.

Dan will do his best to reply to your message in his bi-weekly column, but he won’t be able to answer everyone or correspond privately with readers. 

Nothing in his replies constitutes regulated financial advice. Published questions are sometimes edited for brevity or other reasons.

As with anything, if you are looking to sell items and collections, it is wise to get a second and third opinion – not just rely on Dan’s suggestions.