A £59,000 discovery, a river rescue and a real-life jewellery heist
From a forgotten watch worth far more than its family realised to an engagement ring disappearing into a river, jewellery has been making some unusual headlines. This month’s stories also include an attempted tunnel raid on a London jewellery shop and a remarkable haul of Byzantine gold recovered from a centuries-old shipwreck.
Here’s our latest jewellery news round-up …
Forgotten Patek Philippe watch sells for £59,000
It might be worth taking another look at what is hiding at the back of the jewellery box. A rare 1930s Patek Philippe wristwatch discovered during a house clearance in Camborne, Cornwall, sold at auction for £59,000, reports Yahoo! News. The stainless-steel watch had spent years among jewellery belonging to the seller’s late mother. Although the family remembered her mentioning that she owned a valuable watch, they had not realised quite how valuable it might be.
The result was far above its original estimate and is a good example of why inherited jewellery and watches can be difficult to assess by appearance alone. Maker, age, rarity, materials, condition and provenance can all influence value.
Engagement ring rescued from the Hudson River
There are lost engagement rings – and then there are engagement rings that end up around 12 feet below the surface of the Hudson River.
Bride-to-be Denise Rivera was at a waterfront restaurant in Newburgh, New York, recently when her engagement ring slipped from her finger, rolled across the table and floor and disappeared over the edge into the river.
Fortunately, commercial diving students nearby offered to help. With virtually no underwater visibility and mud on the riverbed, the search was anything but straightforward. After searching by hand, the divers changed tactics and brought buckets of sediment to the surface. After around two hours, the ring was found, says CTV News.
Men admit trying to tunnel into London jewellery shop
It sounds more like the plot of a heist film than a real-life burglary attempt. Three men have admitted conspiracy to commit burglary after being caught trying to tunnel into a jewellery shop from a neighbouring massage parlour in Tooting, south London.
According to the BBC , police searching the neighbouring premises discovered a hole being dug through an adjoining wall, along with bags of tools. The Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad linked the men to a series of commercial burglaries targeting jewellers across London between May and July, with stolen goods valued at more than £700,000.
The method was particularly striking. Rather than simply attacking the front of the premises, the group used neighbouring buildings and tunnelling techniques to try to gain access overnight. The three men are due to be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on 23 October 2026.
Byzantine jewellery recovered from a centuries-old shipwreck
Our final story takes us from modern-day London and New York to a shipwreck believed to date from the seventh or eighth century.
Jeweller Magazine reports that researchers excavating a Byzantine wreck near the Croatian island of Mljet have recovered an extraordinary collection of gold and jewellery. Finds include a gold buckle set with rubies, emeralds and pearls, a gold signet ring depicting an emperor and coins associated with four emperors of the Heraclian dynasty.
The amount and quality of the jewellery have led researchers to suggest that this may not have been an ordinary merchant vessel. Instead, it may have been carrying a wealthy or influential passenger and their entourage. More than 600 grams of gold has reportedly been recovered after cleaning and restoration.
