26-carat diamond ring bought for $18 at car boot sale
A spectacular diamond ring is expected to fetch $656,000 (£350,000) at auction - 30 years after it was purchased for just £10, or $18, at a car boot sale.
The 26.27-carat white diamond was initially thought to be fake because 19th century stones were not cut to perfection like today's gems.
The owner believed the "exceptionally sized" rock was a piece of costume jewellery when she bought it at West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth, west London, in the 1980s, the BBC reported.
However, after wearing the ring for decades the owner bought it into the auction house Sotheby's after a jeweller said it could have substantial value.
Jessica Wyndham, head of London's jewellery department at Sotherby's, said the owner would wear it out shopping, wear it day-to-day.
"It's a good looking ring."
"But it was bought as a costume jewel. No-one had any idea it had any intrinsic value at all. They enjoyed it all this time", she said.
Wyndham added: "With an old style of cutting, an antique cushion shape, the light doesn't reflect back as much as it would from a modern stone cutting. Cutters worked more with the natural shape of the crystal, to conserve as much weight of the crystal rather than make it as brilliant as possible.
"The older stones have quite a bit of personality. They sparkle in a different way."
It will be auctioned at Sotheby's in July.
First appeared on Stuff.co.nz. Image credit: Sotheby's.