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An Antiques Roadshow guest was clearly emotional when the ring left to him by a deceased friend received a surprising valuation. The programme, recorded at The Royal Hall in Harrogate, saw expert Geoffrey Munn scrutinising an exquisite ring whilst eager to discover its backstory.

"One tiny ring, one blue stone. Tell me about it with you", he observed. The visitor replied: "It was left to me by a very dear friend who I'd known for many years and he passed [away] quite recently.

"I'd not seen him for nearly two years though and I just got a letter out the blue saying that I'd been left a load of his things. He was a great man. He collected everything, artwork, jewellery, he loved jewellery.

"And when I was very little I used to go into his shop, he had a shop at the time, and I used to go among different objects, knock things over and there would be the odd time I'd be screamed out of the shop, not welcomed back."

Geoffrey went on to validate the visitor's suspicion that it was indeed a sapphire ring featuring an engraved depiction of Julius Caesar within the stone, suggesting its Italian heritage, reports the Mirror.

He explained: "We should just say that sapphires are the second hardest material known to man so to carve it in what we call intaglio, which means to cut in, it's a tour de force."

Geoffrey asked:"And what else have you noticed about the ring?"

"I know it has a little signature on the bottom, it looks like a niggle," the owner responded. Geoffrey chuckled as he explained: "No but actually it's more than a niggle because its back-to-back c's and the back-to-back c's are the monogram of possibly the most famous jeweller working in 19th century Europe. It's the monogram of the Castellani in Rome."

The BBC specialist continued to reveal that Castellani was a jewellers located near the legendary Trevi Fountain in Rome, rendering the guest speechless.

When questioned if he had visited there, the guest managed to say: "Go on, please.

"It operated between 1860 and even as late as 1930 but everybody went there, it was a sort of honeypot for the elite of Europe without a shadow of doubt. You have a near classic head of Julius Cesar, carved by the Castellani in a tiny signet ring. Well tell me what it means to you."

Clearly emotional, the guest admitted: "I wouldn't replace it if you told me it was worth £1,000."

Geoffrey responded: "And you couldn't replace it, because it's a token of your friendship and I have a funny feeling that he might have just known some part of this and perhaps wanted you to discover it.

"His words were 'never let it go'", the owner revealed, struggling to contain his emotions.

Geoffrey then declared: "Well that's pretty good isn't it? And these things are very touching but unfortunately you have to make a choice about something else. Because it's not worth £1,000, it's worth £5,000."

The guest was clearly stunned by the valuation, declaring: "Oh my God. Wow. That's amazing."

The expert was touched by the moment, remarking: "I'm very affected by it and I think you are too, aren't you?", to which the guest replied: "I am. I'm stunned, honestly. Wow."