Got our rings!

indiegirl_2

Sorry, quite excited so wanted to share. Despite not actually getting hitched until September, the OH and I have time off work, so decided to pop to Birmingham yesterday, to the Jewellery Quarter.

We found that quite a lot of the shops appear to be closed; assume this is either due to the recession or maybe because Monday is a popular day to stay closed after a busy weekend!

I'd read up on here from others who've been and kept the names of shops in mind as we wandered around.

We both knew what we wanted; and decided that palladium was the way to go. The price of palladium is still relatively low, despite the fact that it must now legally be hallmarked. I expect the price per g to rise throughout the year on this basis alone.

Neweys was our first stop, and they were really helpful in there; no pressure to buy and took time to allow us to look at just about every type of palladium that they stock. They didn't offer too much information on the types of rings, so it's a good job I had read up on the styles (D shape, court, flat court, flat etc) and had an idea of what I wanted. I think it's a place that you have to know what you want before going in.

Almost to emphasise this; I overheard a woman who came in to buy a plain band for her boyfriend/fiance. She didn't know what size he was (to the point that she asked one of the gents in the shop to show him her hand!), didn't know what metal she wanted (veering between white gold and silver until she found out the price differences) and eventually went away with nothing.

Once we had an idea of prices, we said we'd browse some of the other stores to get an idea of what else was out there, and didn't feel bad about leaving.

Some of the stores were quite intimidating from the outside (just small doorways - the bars did not put me off), but once inside you forgot about what the outside looked like. Some could learn customer service skills; like the one close to the car park (I forget the name) where we walked in, browsed the palladium section and all the woman could do was talk to her mate who'd obviously called in during her lunch hour in about socks (of all things!). We wandered out without her even acknowledging us.

We also found (by accident) Betts Metals. I was pondering on buying online from them, but thought I'd pop in. I think it's one of the places where it's easier to buy online. They didn't have much in the way of palladium in store; and what they did have was extremely lightweight - even the medium weight rings felt lightweight compared to what we'd tried on in Neweys. I didn't get the warm fuzzy feeling about Betts that I'd wanted (although I'm sure they are absolutely fine if you order online).

We tried a few more stores; GH Moore has some lovely stuff, but far too expensive, as does another at the end of that row (name escapes me!) but after 2 hours of browsing we hadn't seen anything as reasonably priced as Neweys, so we went back.

They were great; we opted for 3mm rings, and had a brushed finish with a single tramline through the centre, and they hadn't got a 3mm in my size; so whilst we waited they cut down a 4mm. They also re-rhodium plated and polished OH's engagement ring for free and gave me an idea of its value (I bought it in India [hence it being rhodium plated] and paid 2.5x less than comparable diamond rings in Neweys). What I also liked was that they didn't question or make any noises as to feeling uncomfortable with two women buying matching rings. I wouldn't expect them to when I'm spending money in the store, but sometimes preconceptions and feelings override what assistants are paid to do.

Overall, I think we did OK; I didn't barter the price (perhaps I should've given that we bought two rings), but they came in less than we saw similar rings in other jewellers' windows... by a fair bit.

I should add - I've never been before and hadn't a clue on how to get there, in the end we got the train, and walked from B'ham New Street to Moor Street (less than 10mins walk) and took a short hop by train to the Jewellery Quarter station. If you've not been before and are planning to go by train, I recommend it - it was easy and made for a jolly day out :-)

picklepick

Well done you!

We got our rings from the shop next door to Neweys, its owned by the same people i believe.

I know what you mean about knowing what you want in there. We worked out what we wanted from about 4 other shops and then went in there and got half the price off what we'd already been quoted.

If anyone wants to go, the best route is to go to Snow Hill station and jump on the metro. You can make a day of it and go to the museum and have lunch in the Boiler Rooms.
Im a brummie girl can you tell?

indiegirl_2

We too considered Snow Hill and then the tram, but were grateful we didn't do that as the trams had a problem and weren't running when we got back to the station in JQ...

Given that I had no idea where I was going, I think we did alright, all told. Moor St station has lovely old-fashioned signposts and feels very quaint!

picklepick

Its lovely isnt it, it used to be horrible and they renovated it when they did the Bullring. A steam train comes on a Saturday i believe, well it used to anwyay1