'Better get it insured!': Woman's shock as she discovers eye-watering value of 100-year-old accessory

We all love to dress up for a fancy night out – and for decades, one woman has been wearing a dazzling family heirloom with no idea it was worth tens of thousands.

In an episode of Antiques Roadshow – which you can stream for free on 9Now – the guest presented expert John Benjamin with a special brooch handed down from her grandmother to her father and eventually to her.

Stream episodes of Antiques Roadshow for free on 9Now.

Once it came into her possession, she had "always worn it".

"I've worn it to dinner dances, I wore it in the back of my dress when Lady Diana used to start that craze," she explained.

Diana famously wore 18-carat Welsh gold horseshoe brooch sewn into the back of her dress when she wed Prince Charles in 1981.

The woman's brooch contained five separate round brilliant cut diamonds, which Benjamin confirmed were all very real – four were 1.25 carats, while the larger middle one was 1.33 carats.

She believed her grandmother had sourced the diamonds herself, and a family myth said she'd purchased them from landed gentry who had fallen on hard times.

READ MORE: Sydney woman's shock as she discovers eye-watering value of $30 op shop find

Benjamin said all four of the 1.25 carat stones were worth about $5,100, with the larger middle stone worth $6,100.

All together, he valued the brooch at $26,000 to $32,000.

"That's what you can sell it for, and you have to bear in mind that for insurance purposes you'd be looking at the best part of £13,000 to £16,000 [$51,200-$61,400]," Benjamin said.

"Oh my, I better get it insured!" the guest laughed.

READ MORE: Woman shocked as expert reveals the value of a diary she found in her mother's attic on Antiques Roadshow

"You might consider that. It is a sparkling, spectacular, fabulous diamond line brooch," Benjamin replied.

Stream episodes of Antiques Roadshow for free on 9Now.

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