We’re sitting on a fortune
Valuables found in old chair
MOST of us have experienced the simple joy of finding a forgotten fiver down the back of the settee.
But one Scots couple are enjoying a much bigger bonanza – after discovering diamond jewellery worth nearly £5000 hidden inside a dusty old chair they bought for just £5.
Angela Milner- Brown, 50, and her husband Angus, 47, snapped the chair up at an auction years ago.
As it was in a poor condition the couple, from Big gar, South Lanarkshire, decided to confine it to their attic.
For years they were utterly unaware of the valuable secrets hidden inside. It was only when Angus decided to repair the chair that the couple realised what they were sitting on.
Angela, a scientific proofreader, said: “When we bought the chair it looked like a dog had slept in it and it was in fairly bad condition.
“We couldn’t afford to have it reupholstered at the time so my husband put it in the attic and it ended up staying in there.”
Angus discovered the diamond jewellery while he was preparing to have the chair spruced up.
However, he decided to initially keep the items a secret from Angela, all in the name of romance. Angela explained: “My husband was taking off the chair’s cushioning material. There were about three or four layers that he had to rip off, and that was when he found the jewellery hidden under the final layer of material.
“My husband is very romantic so he decided to keep the items secret and surprise me with them over the next few celebratory occasions for us.
“It was a really lovely thing to do.”
First, he surprised her with a diamond ring for their wedding anniversary.
On Valentine’s Day, he gave her a pair of diamond earrings and then a diamond brooch at Easter. “They must have been hidden inside the chair by previous owners. We just couldn’t believe it,” she added.
With the BBC’s long- running Antiques Roadshow rolling into nearby New Lanark last week, the couple decided to take the chair and jewellery along to have their discovery valued.
Angela added: “We thought it would be a good idea to take it along to the roadshow and the experts were just as astonished as we were.
“They told us that the diamond jewellery and the chair were worth around £ 5000 together. It was an amazing, wonderful discovery for
us. You just never know what you’ll find in an old piece of furniture, I suppose.”
Producers of the show were so impressed by the couple’s find that they were interviewed by host Fiona Bruce for possible broadcast when the programme airs later this year.
Angela said: “The roadshow was very well organised and it was a great day out for the both of us.
“We were interviewed on camera by Fiona Bruce and the jewellery expert. They put us at ease straight away.”
Angela and Angus have decided to keep the chair and jewellery rather than cash in.