When Mayassa Reip entered The Repair Shop barn, she had a piece of generational history for silversmith Brent West and was left speechless once it was returned, shocked by how brand new her family heirloom looked.
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In tonight's episode, Mayassa showed Brenton and Jay Blades an ornately decorated silver-framed mirror from Iraq, dating back to the early 20th century, which had played a part in generations of family weddings.
She explained that her grandparents had an arranged marriage and the mirror was part of the ceremony, further elaborating that on the day of the weddings, the ladies of the bride and groom's family would "congregate in one room" and the bride would sit in front of the mirror, and in another room would be the men of both families.
"My grandfather walked through the ladies' area, looked into this mirror, saw my grandmother for the first time. She saw him for the first time and signed the marriage contract," she said to an amazed Brenton and Jay. "And they were married until his death in 1971."
Mayassa then showed the back of the mirror to the experts, focusing in on the crack and sharp edges around the mirror, explaining that she would like to have it on display and give it to her son and his fiancée on their wedding.
"This is a lovely, lovely mirror and I think it's great that it's going to carry on as a tradition," said Brenton as he began to work on the project, noting that the mirror was very frail due to cracks and nails that were used.
The time came for an excited Mayassa to return to the barn, and she was completely lost for words.
As the mirror was unveiled, she said: "Oh wow! I didn't expect that, I thought it'd be gleaming but yeah, wow. You're a genius! I'm speechless, oh wow, it is fantastic and is how it should be [and] it looks beautiful."
Mayassa was pleased that, above all else, her grandmother's legacy could continue and the mirror could be used for generations to come.
The Repair Shop airs every Monday at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
