I bought a charity shop jewellery box for £5 & hit the jackpot with the contents – one ring alone is worth hundreds
AN avid thrifter shared the mystery accessory haul she found inside a jewellery box she picked up.
The charity shopping pro revealed that one of the items was even worth over £100.
In her viral video, TikTok user Francesca Ramsden (@francescacharityshop) unboxed her haul for her followers.
“I found a random jewellery box in the charity shop for £5 and I had a look inside, it’s just full of different treasures,” she explained.
She held up the pink velvet jewellery with an embroidered design on the lid.
For her first item, Francesca showed her audience a chunky wooden necklace, which she said she’d “never wear.”
Next, she fished out a “tarnished metal heart” necklace and a white beaded bracelet with a rose detail.
She found a “cute” silver broach in the mix but realised it was broken when she looked closer.
Francesca also modeled a larger statement ring which she said she liked but it was the second ring that caught her attention.
“I’m going to take it a jeweller and see what they say,” she said after examining the markings on the inside of the band.
In a second clip, she revealed that a professional examination had revealed the stone to be Topaz.
Francesca was also informed that the ring’s band was nine karat gold.
“To buy it new would be about £200, if I were to scrap it for gold it would be about £50 to £80,” she said.
“I am going to keep it, its beautiful,” the TikToker wrote in the comments section.
Francesca concluded that her budget-friendly haul wasn’t “too bad” in the end.
Her followers shared their thoughts on the jewellery haul in the comments section.
“It’s absolutely beautiful either way,” one viewer said about the Topaz ring.
Top charity shop tips for bagging a bargain
Ross Dutton has been a manager for Crisis's charity shops for four years and currently runs the charity's Finsbury Park shop in London.
Choose your area – As a rule of thumb, the posher the area, the better quality the clothes that are donated.
Don’t hang around – If you see something you like, buy it, as it’ll likely be gone when you come back
Look out for cut-off labels – Some of your favourite high street stores will have deals with local charity shops to donate stock that isn’t sold during their own sales. Often part of the deal is that they need to cut the labels off the clothes.
Stay at home – While some charities have their own site, like Oxfam and Crisis. many also sell from dedicated eBay stores, such as British Heart Foundation and Scope. You won’t get the range of bargains that you would get in a physical store, but if you’re looking for something specific it may be worth checking online too.
“It’s a really pretty Topaz though, great find!” wrote another TikTok user.
“Beautiful ring! Really pretty Topaz! Hope you’re keeping it,”
“Most I’ve found in a charity shop handbag is someone’s old tissue with chewing gum stuck to it.”
“Definitely keep it. The price of gold is sky high at the minute and only going to increase, you’ve got a cracking little rainy day fund there!” pointed out one viewer.
“Still a beaut, ship it to me if you don’t like it,” joked another TikTok user.