It sat at the bottom of a dusty trinket box for nearly two decades.
A large, slightly scratched ring with an unusual stone — bold, sparkly, and, she assumed, completely fake.
But earlier this year, Christchurch teacher Angela Reid* finally took it to a jeweller, “just to be sure.”
The verdict? It wasn’t costume jewellery at all.
It was a rare 5.8-carat uncut yellow diamond, likely from South Africa — and recently valued at over $325,000.
“I nearly dropped it when they told me,” Angela says.
“I kept saying, ‘Are you sure? Are you serious?’”
A forgotten family hand-me-down
The ring had belonged to Angela’s great-aunt, a glamorous figure who travelled frequently through Europe and Africa in the 1970s.
No one in the family had ever verified its authenticity — it was simply passed down as a keepsake after her death.
“I always thought it looked a bit too much,” Angela laughs.
“Big, chunky, and probably from a market somewhere.”
She wore it once to a 90s costume party. After that, it lived in a drawer. For years.
A quick check becomes a life-changing moment
Angela decided to bring a few old items to a local jeweller during a school holiday clean-out. Most were labelled “no value” — until the final piece came out.
The jeweller immediately paused.
“He went very quiet and took out a loupe,” she says.
“Then he asked if he could bring in a second opinion.”
Within a week, the stone had been tested, appraised, and identified as a rare fancy yellow diamond, untreated and naturally formed — the kind typically sold at high-end auctions in Geneva or Hong Kong.
What now?
Angela says she hasn’t decided whether she’ll sell the ring, but she’s had three offers already, including one from a European collector.
She’s now storing it in a safe deposit box and consulting a family lawyer about ownership — and what to do next.
“It’s overwhelming, honestly,” she says.
“I’m just a teacher. I don’t wear diamonds. But this one… I guess it found me.”
Could others have hidden gems at home?
Jewellers say cases like this, while rare, are not unheard of — particularly in New Zealand, where family heirlooms and second-hand pieces often go unverified for years.
“If it looks a little too good to be fake — check it,” says one Christchurch jeweller.
“You’d be surprised what’s sitting in people’s drawers, especially things passed down through generations.”
Angela’s advice?
“Get it looked at. Even if you’re sure it’s nothing.
I almost gave mine to the op shop last year.”
And now, what she once wore as a joke could fund her retirement — and then some.
*Name changed for privacy.
