Engagement Rings (merged)

ocs18

Morning all,

I've had three good quotes from these three sites for an engagement ring:
http://www.serendipitydiamonds.co.uk
http://www.jpdiamonds.co.uk
http://www.diamond-heaven.co.uk

I'm finding it really hard to decide who to order my bespoke ring from - has anyone had any good/bad experiences with any of them?

It's strange how you feel torn between them as serendipitydiamonds service is 1st class, yet diamond-heavens price is the best out of the three.

arctic_ferret

I recently got committed (you get a white coat instead of a white dress!), but wanted a ring that was a bit different. Having looked around, starting off with a budget of up to £1000, I of course only really liked the most expensive ones, the one i really wanted being around £4500. But even then, it wasn't quite right and they were going to charge extra for having some alterations made to it.

I couldn't put my other half through this financial pain, but luckily came across this company who operate out of Hatton Garden:
http://www.thediamondshop.co.uk/
We turned up with a picture of the ring we wanted and explained what changes we wanted made, and they quoted us a VERY good price. You only have to leave £50 deposit, then you go back and check the ring before the diamonds are set and the ring polished. If you don't like it, they start again.

We ended up with a fantastic ring, designed exactly to our specifications and saving £3000.
Everyone in the place is very helpful and friendly and there's no high pressure sales or anything. You can spend as little or as much as you want to.
I can't recommend them highly enough.

The only drawback is that they're so popular, it's often hard to get into the shop!

poppy10_2

arctic_ferret wrote: »

I recently got committed (you get a white coat instead of a white dress!), but wanted a ring that was a bit different. Having looked around, starting off with a budget of up to £1000, I of course only really liked the most expensive ones, the one i really wanted being around £4500. But even then, it wasn't quite right and they were going to charge extra for having some alterations made to it.

I couldn't put my other half through this financial pain, but luckily came across this company who operate out of Hatton Garden:
http://www.thediamondshop.co.uk/
We turned up with a picture of the ring we wanted and explained what changes we wanted made, and they quoted us a VERY good price. You only have to leave £50 deposit, then you go back and check the ring before the diamonds are set and the ring polished. If you don't like it, they start again.

We ended up with a fantastic ring, designed exactly to our specifications and saving £3000.
Everyone in the place is very helpful and friendly and there's no high pressure sales or anything. You can spend as little or as much as you want to.
I can't recommend them highly enough.

The only drawback is that they're so popular, it's often hard to get into the shop!

AWOOGA! :rolleyes:

Warriorsith

Hello

Trying to find a Engagement Ring like this design, within a £500 budget:

http://www.myjewelz.com/Itemdetails.asp?ItemNo=1336&Item=Diamond_Rings_141

I would purchase this but I have to pay through my Bank Account to an Account in the BANK OF INDIA, I have found a similar Ring in the US but at a cost of £800.

Does anyone seen a desigh like that in UK, PLEASE HELP ME!!

ocs18

Yay

Just a quick update! I proposed a month ago after getting a custom ring made through http://www.serendipitydiamonds.co.uk/ (superb service + good price) - she said yes and we're both very happy!

heybankrobber

adrienneadrienne wrote: »

We got engaged recently and I checked out a lot of the recommended links from this forum to try and save some cash. I saw the design of ring I wanted in a good local jeweller for £1875, and then I decided to find the equivalent for a much lower price.

The place where I finally chose my ring is part of the 'Heart of Hatton Garden', (32 Hatton Garden EC1N 8DL) which offers low cost units to jewellers and the whole experience is much more pleasant than many of the other Hatton Garden shops. The first jeweller we spoke to is a guy called Batcha Hussein, his business is called MNM Gems and jewels in Unit 5. He showed me the diamonds, took lots of time to let us view them and he is going to copy my chosen ring using better quality diamonds (VS1 minimum), for less than £1000. His phone number is 07957 283979. Even when the ring is finished, if I do not like it I do not have to buy it. But I get the feeling it is going to be amazing.

For something as special as a wedding or engagement ring I do prefer to visit the jeweller, and this guy was so helpful that we intend to get all the rings from him.

adrienneadrienne - I have sent you a PM about your visit to Heart of Hatton Garden.

Any help much appreciated.

lcparkinson

After much deliberation and planning, proposed to the OH during a balloon flight with a hand carved olive wood box containing a Starmix ring and a note saying we were going ring shopping on a particular weekend.

Went to Birmingham armed with all the advice from here, a booking at Simpson's Restaurant, and got both our rings hand made to own designs. Picked up about 4 weeks later and both absolutely stunning and cost less than half what we had expected to pay outside the Jewellery Quarter. Wonderful after sales service from Element too, the whole experience was great, including trawling the shops (took ages as the OH couldn't decide exactly what she wanted so was trying on EVERYTHING). They were in fact the only really decent contemporary manufacturing jewellers we found there. Although several other shops made lots of attempts to be accomodating, they obviously weren't used to doing rings which are a little more unusual.

All diamonds G or above, VSI on the 2 big stones (it wasn't really relevant on the rest). The OH wanted a 0.25 carat, mine are between 0.15 and 0.01 (6 in number) with a couple of sapphires in too, both rings in platinum. Together they cost less than £2k all in.

stumpjumper

i think you where right to walk from the first chap - you need to be happy.

i took the same route as you -i bought the diamond from Whiteflash in the USA, again they have all the certificates scanned in for viewing online, along side photographs of the diamond.

and i had the ring made at a local jewellers - when i took the diamond in to him he placed the diamond in a little packet, and tore off the slip - which had a reference number stamped on it, so if i called on the phone, or into the shop my reciept could be matched to the correct packet in his safe.
It was just his way - no issue of trust, just allowed him to find it quickly.

i'm glad you had a positive experiance in the end - and your right, the cut of the diamond is the most important thing to get a sparkly diamond. the best bit is the Cut of the diamond doesnt effect the price of the diamond like the other 3Cs - a poorly cut diamond can be the same price as an 'ideal' cut diamond for the same colour, clarity and carat weight - but the difference can be seen by your eyes.

adrienneadrienne

heybankrobber wrote: »

adrienneadrienne - I have sent you a PM about your visit to Heart of Hatton Garden.

Any help much appreciated.

I am sorry, to reply to your question so late, Mark.

We have now bought three rings from Batcha Hussein - my fiance's white gold band with a small diamond embedded £280,

My eternity ring - five diamonds totalling .70 carat £775

Plus my engagement ring - a certified diamond D colour VS1 £1000. I took this to a local pawnbroker soon afterwards and he offered me £750 so I think that shows the ring would retail elsewhere for well over £1000!

The eternity ring was remade twice at no charge until I was completely happy with it, we are very pleased with our rings and I hope this message does not arrive too late to help you.

adrienneadrienne

I just realised that my last post is way back down this thread so here are the jeweller's details again: Batcha Hussein, MNM Ceylon Gems, The Heart of Hatton Garden, 32 Hatton Garden. Phone: 020 7242 2464, 07957 283979. Heart of Hatton Garden is a great place to get an idea of the rings available as there are dozens of different concessions there. You do not feel obligated in the same way as going into some of the individual jewellers' shops .....