Engagement Rings (merged)

LH79_2

New York is a good place - thats where my beloved got mine! Went to the diamond quarter - off 42nd street. Chose the diamond and the setting and they made it for us. Blokie got a free t-shirt - bargain!! We had it valued over here, and what we saved paid for the trip to NY.

Norma_Desmond

How about an antique ring? I'm a bit of a jewellery 'buff' and I wouldn't even consider buying new......craftsmanship is so much better on older jewellery and stones are generally of better cut and clarity (Did you know that some of the cheaper rings from some high street jewellers have actually got a wax core?). And of course you wouldn't be hit with VAT and the other extortionate 'mark ups' on new stuff. I recently got a 1920s half carat emerald ring surrounded by a third of a carat in diamonds for the grand total of £40 from Ebay. The workmanship/weight is outstanding - haven't even bothered to have it valued yet, it's residing on my finger!

cattie

The most cost effective way would be to buy a 2nd hand engagement ring, which by shopping around would buy you a very nice ring with a lovely stone/stones at a fraction of the original retail price. But I understand that for a lot of people, it has to be a nice brand spanking new ring or nothing.

JessicaFishy

-as mentioned, 15% off, especially if you pay cash
-know what you are buying! eg...white gold rings are plated in rhodium, meaning it wears off to the natural colour of white gold over time which is a dull charcoal grey.no big deal to get it replated, but a hassle and not cheap. platinum rings, if resized, are generally rejoined with white gold which can leave a visible line at the join- so best get made in the size to fit (remember your fingers will 'shrink' in winter. rings with stones shouldnt generally be sized more than a couple of sizes either way- any more than that and the setting becomes stretched and stones can literally pop out at a later date.
- be realistic about the style that is best for you. if you use your hands a lot and are not that careful- dont get a tension set ring as you would be suprised how often the stone can pop out, if not in that solid a setting. same goes for rings that have very high set stones- pretty but not that practical as the stone gets caught very easily.
oh and dont get insurance from the jewellery shop- big rip off and probably wont cover a simple loss.
i think- most people are happy with rings when they buy them- it is afterwards when things go wrong because people havent been properly informed about what they are paying for.

Dan_B_5

A couple of years ago, I bought my (then) girlfriends engagement ring off:

https://www.diamondgeezer.com

Spent £5k, which to many people is crazy, but its been independently valued for insurance purposes at £11k. Which is also the amount a similar ring was in the big high street jewelers eg Boodle & Dunthorne.

I cant understand why anyone would buy a ring from the high street. Some ply you with champagne to con you into spending more than you want to.

I proposed on 31st Dec 03 on the Charles Bridge in Prague in the snow & we are getting married on 31st Dec this year, which is also my 30th!

I saw it as an investment which will be constantly worn & I wanted my future wife to have the best I could afford.

PS we got out wedding rings from Tiffanys in New York when the exchange rate was nearly $2 to the pound, which paid for our flights.

pmr789

I can't recommend cooldiamonds highly enough. I used them earlier this year and was very impressed. It's a very slick operation and they're highly competitive on price. They're based in London and sell certified diamond rings. They also offer an exchange service if your girlfriend doesn't like the one you chose! (Good for piece of mind). I found Antwerp particularly difficult to deal with and of course you can't see the diamond before hand which for me was very important.

titchy

When I purchased my wifes engagement ring we were on holiday in South Africa, they have far better prices on jewelry than we do here.
When we came back and had it valuated for insurance it had increased in value 4 fold.

This was 6 years ago, so things may ahve changed.

feramoo

Hester wrote:

Have you thought about doing without an engaement ring altogether? Saves money that can be put to practical purposes like buying somewhere to live. It also saves the grief of a diamond falling from its setting/going up the hoover/being mugged off you. If you want glitz for going out, buy a bit of cubic zirconia, no one will be able to tell the difference and you won't have a heart-attack if something unfortunate happens to it!

You're a bit of a pessimistic romantic aren't you? You are not answering the question you are trying to change her mind. Stick to the topic.

I purchased my wife's engagment ring through a jewellery maker. 3 diamonds on a platinum band. Insurance valued at three times the cost. Which is good if, god forbid, something happens to it. Avoid high street shops at all costs. They're mark up is shocking and the service can be just as bad. My wife's ring was re-sized in half an hour by the independent maker. My friend's wife's ring was resized by the high street jeweller in 3 weeks. Totally crap.

Cash gets discounts as well.

beanie_2

My husband and I went to Antwerp to buy my engagement ring as they are at least 50% chaper than this country and lots more choice being the daimond capital of the world...or so they say. We did lots of research before eventually purchasing the ring..Being a travel agent, i do travel extensively and we discovered Antwerp was the cheapest. we bought from a place called diamondland(go to https://www.diamonland.be) you can choose your own stone and your own mount and watch it being made into the finished product in their own workshops. The service we received was excellent too. I think you can also view prices of individual stones online too. I bought a 2 carat diamond/vs01/e colour - i've recently had it valued and it's worth 4 times what we paid for it - so a good investment!! good luck and conratulations by the way!! :T

ITContractor_2

If you fly to Dubai you will pay 1/3 of the retail price over here - and you can quite happily haggle with the vendor.

We got a 6/10th Carat Diamond, VS1 Clarity and G in colour.

I.e. a big rock while is very very nice.

Check out:

http://rath.ca/Misc/DiamondGrading/index.shtml

You can also make dubai a bit of a holiday, you can go from the beach to skiing on snow) within an hour... Madness!