Hatton Garden - Engagement ring recommendations

USM

Hi All,

I'm planning on proposing to my other half later this year and have started browsing at options for an engagement ring.

High street stores seem amazingly expensive for not that amazing diamonds and have read a lot that Hatton Garden in London is the place to go, although there seems to be hundreds of different shops!

Does anyone have any personal recommendations? I'm looking for a round solitaire, 1.ct to 1.2.ct, F or better colour in a platinum setting and have between £6,000 and £7,000 to spend.

Thanks in advance,

USM

Lisap84

Hi USM

My friend proposed to his girlfriend with a ring from Hatton Gardens which was beautiful! there are a lot of shops to chose from and to start off with he went up there just to have a look around and get a feel for different shops. For the amount of money you have to spend it might be nice to go into the shops that make rings to design you want, that way it will be very personal and show you have put a lot of thought into it. I would have thought they should all have examples of what they have previously made.

Hope this helps a smidge and good luck and congratulations!:beer:

Lisap84

[Deleted User]

My tip for hatton garden is to stay away from the shops with 'flashy' show rooms. Beware of sales people, they are there to make you pay more! Go up the hill to the tatty looking shops. If you're spending that much, don't accept un-certificated diamonds.

Also... haggle!

We knocked a lot of money off a 1ct emerald cut through some rather painful haggling. The 'silence' tactic is often a good one. Look at cutting 10-20% off the 'ticket' price. When you ask what the 'best' price is for a ring - they're not going to actually tell you.

Ideally, haggle with an owner, not a sales agent. Don't go on a Saturday or Friday afternoon, a lot of the shops are shut for religious reasons.

Pollycat

USM
I've not bought anything from this company but they have a really good information bit about the 4 Cs - which if you're paying that much for a ring you ought to know about (apologies if I'm teaching your grandmother to suck eggs here).

http://www.diamondgeezer.com/diamond-buyers-guide/

Also, if you click on 'Diamonds' at the top you can choose a diamond shape and then juggle with the weight, colour and clarity to see the impact of going a shade whiter versus a grade with less inclusions etc.

Magicboo

We went up to Hatton Garden on New Years eve to buy my engagement ring, the choice is phenominal. We went around quite a few shops, some are really pushy and in-your-face wanting you to try things on, some are really posh and I found them a bit intimidating, but it was great fun and I loved haggling with the shop people!
We ended up buying a .3ct solitaire diamond with an F for colour and VS2 clarity on a 3mm yellow 18ct gold band with 18ct white gold around the diamond a bit like this:

original price was £895 (a bit of a smaller budget than yours ), he bought it down to £750 without even asking and we finally got him down to £645. It was also 3 sizes too small and they resized it for free that afternoon (I think most of the shops offer that service though).
That shop was called Carlo jewellers and we are going back to them for the wedding rings. They were LOVELY!

terakris

I went to Cool Diamonds thats is just up the road and round the corner. They were great there, not at all pushy and showed me the designs i had pre-selected from their website. when talking about the diamond they gave me lots of advice and helped me with my choice.

The ring was lovely, and my other half loves it. I went for an E colour and its sooooo sparkly - if you compare it to anything in a regular shop window, they just look so dull and boring. The scary thing is if i wanted a similar spec ring in a 'normal' high-street retailer i would have paid well over double what i paid!

I was told its better to go for a higher colour (closer to D) than say a nearly flawless diamond (IF) as you wont see the flaws, but the colour makes it look so much better.

Good luckwith your engagement!

roses

Hi, this one was bought for £6k in Justine's Hatton Garden. it's 1.01ct and gorgeous:

http://www.justinejewellers.co.uk/RT480.htm

Pollycat

roses wrote: »

Hi, this one was bought for £6k in Justine's Hatton Garden. it's 1.01ct and gorgeous:

http://www.justinejewellers.co.uk/RT480.htm

Just being nosey - what is the colour and what is the clarity?

Nice design, by the way, Magicboo, I much prefer the rub-over setting rather than claws as they can catch on clothes.

roses

Hi, the valuation report says colour J/K, clarity SI, gross weight 4.1g

meritaten

and if you go to auctions or secondhand shops you will be amazed at the bargains! hun, a high street jeweller will be able to get you a ring in the size you want at the specification you want. you are quite clear on what you want - why fixate on Hatton Garden which to me over prices jewellery. as they cater to the high end market they adjust their prices accordingly.

[Deleted User]

I'm actually working next to Hatton Garden today.. anyone need anything checking?