Birmingham Jewellery Quarter

engagementUser

Hi everyone

Recently got engaged and planning a trip the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter next week so just wondering if any one has any recommendations for any specific jewellers or any other advice?

We have an idea of what we want as a minimum spec

Platinum Ring
Cut: Round
Caret: 0.25
Colour: G
Clarity: VS1

Been looking on websites like https://www.qualitydiamonds.co.uk to get a rough idea of prices so that we can go down armed to haggle...

Appreciate any help :-):D

stef240377

I went with OH to Dripgolds on Vyse street for a ring 3 weeks ago. We had trawled all around the Jewlery quarter for something i liked and nothing stood out from the norm.

On entering this shop the lady who delt with us was lovely, told us there was no pressure to buy anything and if there was something specific we wanted and they did not stock it we could have it made.

I went for a diamond and aquamarine - both our birthstones, it has a large aqua in the centre and two smaller diamonds either side. To me this symbolises being surrounded by OH and loved. I did have to have it taken down a couple of sizes but by the time we had eaten and had a drink the ring was ready for collection.

OH was more awkward, he saw the style and mm size he wanted on one ring but a pattern on another ring so they have gone off to be specifically made for him - this usually takes 3 weeks but because we have had the bank holiday it will be a few days longer. We are going back to the same store to purchase our wedding rings even if this means getting them made again.HTH.

engagementUser

Excellent, thanks. I will make sure I go by there and have a look. I am assuming there are so many jewellers to pick from its hard to know where to start, hence I am looking for a bit of advice/recommendation.

Is the Quarter a large area? E.g. just a square with some shops? A whole town? etc etc

Horace

Its a whole area comprising of several streets which are full of jewellers, button and badgemakers.

In the past I have used EL Chaplain on Frederick Street (they have a narrow door that you have to squeeze through almost sideways), The Diamond Centre (if memory serves me correctly, this is on Warstone Lane) has lovely diamonds etc.

Dripgold on Vyse Street are also good and they always have a stand at the National Wedding Fair at the NEC.

There is a lovely pub there too called The Rose Tavern near the clock on Warstone Lane. Whilst you are there you can nip into the jewellery museum which is in an old shop - its worth a look because its so interesting.

Hope you have a lovely time and manage to find something that you like - if not they will make it for you.

kr15snw

We went to Peter Green and it was lovely. The shop looked pretty ratty but the guy admitted he didnt spend his money on fancy furniture, of new carpet. He just kept the rings cheap!

We got a:

platinum band
.45 carat
VS1
princess cut
colour f

for £795 Was well chuffed as this was majorly cheaper than everywhere else. Plus he re sized it in 5 minutes while we chatted to the other member of staff

aimee21j

I have always got eveything from Newey's on Vyse Street (the main street) including my engagement ring 6 years ago and our wedding rings the day before yesterday!

ebeneezer_2

I decided to go to Christopher Wharton for my engagement ring as everything I liked seemed to be his design. Therefore I was pretty committed to getting my wedding ring from there as it needed to fit exactly. We decided to look around the jewellery quarter for hubbies ring as we wanted a fairly sizeable chunk of platinum and thought CW would be out of our price range. We got some prices and were warned that the cost was going up. Then we went to St Albans to CW to ask about my ring and enquired about gents rings. They had a good selection and had exactly what we were looking for in their 'last years range'. As they were from a previous season, the prices charged were those from the previous season. We ended up getting a 6mm, very heavy weight platinum ring for less than we could find it in the jewellery quarter or even on the internet. It pays to shop around and not to be put off by shops looking 'expensive'. I have to say that the Christopher Wharton staff have always been incredibly helpful, patient and friendly too - which helps. Some of the shops in the jewellery quarter had bars up and you felt like you were inconveniencing the staff by asking questions. It's a while since we went to B'ham so I can't remember names of shops but there was a large on on a corner with ? green and white sign. The girl in there was very nice.
Good luck, and I hope you get to enjoy your day shopping.

Horace

Unfortunately, some of the shops in the Jewellery Quarter do have bars up for that very reason - they sell jewellery and often have workshops out the back or upstairs, these workshops will be full of the raw materials used to make jewellery all of which are very attractive to thieves. There have been quite a few smash and grabs over the years in the Quarter so you cannot blame the shopkeepers who want to protect their stock.

blonde36er

aimee21j wrote: »

I have always got eveything from Newey's on Vyse Street (the main street) including my engagement ring 6 years ago and our wedding rings the day before yesterday!

Well what do you know twin, Newey's is where we bought OH's wedding ring from too!

engagementUser

Excellent.

Thanks everyone, got a good list of places to look out for, will obviously shop around but is always good to get some recommendations I think :-)

sexki11en

Useful post engagementuser. We're heading down there next weekend to have a look at wedding rings. We're hoping for Palladium as it's so much cheaper than platinum. DF can have anything but I have to have either platinum or palladium as my engagement ring is Platinum. Wish i'd known back then :rolleyes: lol.

Will come back and post once we've been as we have some quotes from high St jewellers - it will be interesting to see if theres much price difference.

SK x