Jewellery with Michael Lynes

The Freeland WI group had it's second official meeting on July 14th and enjoyed a great evening with our first ever speaker, Michael Lynes. Michael owns a jewellers in Witney and one in Henley, he started the evening by inviting those of us at the meeting who had brought along our own pieces to be valued to hand them over. Whilst he examined these we got on with some WI business such as upcoming events and how to register for outings and events. Michael then began his talk by showing us some special items of jewellery in his possession. This gave us an interesting insight into the world of top class jewellers. He then moved onto to describing the pieces we had bought along. It was amazing how much information he had gleaned in his quick examination of each piece and fascinating as he put them into a historical context, remember when charm bracelets were all the rage now superseded by Pandora!! As with 'The Antiques Road Show' we were all waiting for the valuation of the piece he was holding, the highest priced item was in excess of £4000. His depth of knowledge and expertise was awesome , what a fascinating evening, here's hoping future speakers are as entertaining as Michael. The Freeland WI usually meets at 8 pm on the second Monday of the month in the village hall (n.b. the August meeting is taking place in Woodstock). It costs £34.50 to become a member and thereafter it is free to attend monthly meetings. Non members are welcome to attend the monthly meetings at a cost of £5 per meeting. For our next meeting on Monday August 11th we are going on a guided historic walk of Woodstock followed by a pub supper in Woodstock for those who would like to stay on. We will meet in the car park beside the Woodstock Library at 7:30 pm. For more information about the Freeland WI please contact Lorraine Pengilley on 01993 881129 or on lpengilley@btinternet.com.