A woman has been left astonished after discovering her fake Rolex is still worth £2,700 because it’s made of real gold.
Make-up artist Andrea, from Yorkshire, appeared on ITV’s second episode of Million Pound Pawn tonight – a three-part series that explores the lucrative industry of pawnbroking – as she aimed to sell three watches.
The mother-of-two visited Dan Hatfield, owner of Sheffield’s London Road Jewellers & Pawnbrokers, to see how much he would offer for a ‘Rolex Daytona’, a golden ‘Rolex’ and a pocket watch, with the latter two items gifts from her late godfather.
Andrea hoped to get £600 to start her own makeup studio after struggling to continue her home-based work during the pandemic, but Dan pointed out that both watches claiming to be a Rolex were in fact fakes.
However, the pawnbroker, 37, said he could still make an offer on the golden piece since it was made of real gold, and revealed that he would also buy the pocket watch, giving Andrea £5,500 for both items.
Andrea visited Dan hoping to release funds from her three watches after her income was hit hard because of the pandemic.
‘So when the coronavirus came along, as a makeup artist, we couldn’t work. It was a nightmare really because without no money, it was all very stressful,’ the mother-of-two said.
She explained that she purchased the Daytona fake from a car boot sale for £25 and was unsure whether it was real or not.
She then showcased two watches from her ‘uncle Joe’, adding: ‘We were really close. He was my godfather. He gave it to me before he died.
Make-up artist Andrea, from Yorkshire, appeared on ITV’s second episode of Million Pound Pawn tonight – a three-part series that explores the lucrative industry of pawnbroking – as she aimed to sell three watches
‘I even remember seeing him flipping [the pocket watch] out of his top pocket and I thought “I’m going to keep this forever”, but now I think it’s the right time to do something with it.’
She added: ‘I need something that’s going to give me more stability. My dream would be to have my own makeup studio and hopefully, that would give me some sort of stability.
‘Because I’ve not got any idea about this, I only have costume jewellery from Primark and River Island, but if I got £600 for the whole lot that would be good, something to just start me off, even if it’s just to buy a bit of equipment.
‘I will feel emotional when I’m giving them over, because obviously I’ve had them a long time but I have to keep in my mind that this is for a bigger picture.’
The mother-of-two visited Dan Hatfield, owner of Sheffield’s London Road Jewellers & Pawnbrokers, to see how much he would offer for a ‘Rolex Daytona’, a golden ‘Rolex’ and a pocket watch, with the latter two items gifts from her late godfather
Dan eventually revealed to Andrea that the Daytona was a fake, because the wording on the design wasn’t crisp enough and it also doesn’t weigh as much as it should, so no offer was made.
However, the pawnbroker revealed he could purchase the other fake Rolex since it was made of real gold.
‘Although it’s a fake Rolex, it is real gold,’ he said. It’s got a softness, you see and it conducts temperature in a nice way as well, you can feel that it’s gold straight away.
‘The Daytona is worthless as a watch, it’s not worth anything, but this gold watch is worth the weight of the gold. So I’ve got to destroy this watch to get the gold to work out how much it’s worth.’
But after hearing it would be destroyed, a shocked Andrea replied: ‘What? You’re going to smash my godfather’s watch up? I don’t know.
‘If this helps you to come to your decision, I’m thinking a couple of grand,’ Dan was quick to respond.
Dan eventually revealed to Andrea that the Daytona was a fake, because the wording on the design wasn’t crisp enough and it also doesn’t weigh as much as it should, so no offer was made. However, the pawnbroker revealed he could purchase the other fake Rolex since it was made of real gold.
‘A couple of grand. Well, then. Obviously if you’re saying that’s a couple of grand I’m going to have to put sentiment behind me,’ admitted Andrea. ‘Because I do need that money for my future, I can just about live with it.’
Dan then proceeded to smash the watch in front of Andrea, who hid her face behind her handbag, while he broke the pieces of gold from the watch to weigh how much was available.
After discovering how much the pieces were worth, Dan offered £2,700 to a shocked Andrea before saying the pocket watch ‘is a good one’, and rounding his offer up to £5,500 for both items.
‘That’s definitely going to help. I actually can’t believe it. I never get anything,’ said Andrea.
‘I am stuck for words for once in my life. Amazing. I’m so happy. I’m definitely sad to see them go because they’ve been with me a long time but I know he’ll be looking down and smiling on me today.’
Million Pound Pawn airs Tuesday at 8pm on ITV, you can catch up on the series via ITV Hub.