Engagement Ring Advice

foolsgold99

Hi,
I plan on asking my girlfriend of 10 years (yep, she's waited long enough) to marry me and I'm looking to buy and engagement ring for her. I was wondering if anyone has some good advice on haggling, etc.
My price is around about £1000 but I never like to pay the ticket price. Can any one point me in the direction of a jeweller that is open to haggling?

Thanks very much

P.S. I live in Glasgow :T

Tweetinat

Hi foolsgold,

I don't know about the 'mainstream' jewellers, but certainly the smaller independent shop owners really seem to expect haggling!

If you can get a cheap flight to London, then I'd seriously suggest a trip to London's Hatton Garden which is basically a diamond quarter. The rings down there are already significantly cheaper than in other cities (e.g. a £6.5k ring in Cambridge is worth around £2.5k there!) and they start the haggling process for you!

When I went ring shopping with my Fiance, we really had no idea what to expect so naturally took some time when looking at rings. The owners seemed to take this as an expression of interest and so opened conversations with "well, if you take it today then I can do it for £200 less"...

We managed to get an excellent quality diamond for about £2k less than if we'd bought in Cambridge and then we had it made into a ring at a bespoke jeweller for cost price. Overall saving = LOADS!

You'll find that you can get a much better quality or bigger diamond for your money down there. Even better than the shops are the wholesalers who sell direct to the public.

One word of caution though, I would recommend that whatever diamond you buy, it is certified by someone like the GIA. This is the best 'guarantee' that you can get for the diamond and will state the colour/cut/clarity/carat rating and you also know that it won't be a 'blood diamond'. It will hold it's value better and makes it easier to insure too.

Find out more about Hatton Garden HERE: http://www.hatton-garden.net
You can get EXCELLENT value rings and loose diamonds HERE: http://www.thediamondshop.co.uk/

I hope this helps!

- Natalie

Fen1

I would seriously recommend that you don't present your girlfriend with a ring. She might hate it. EIther present her with a diamond (or her favourite stone) so that she can make it up in her own design; or, propose to her with flight tickets and a nice hotel brouchure in your hand, stating that you want to take her on a trip to the place suggested above for her ring so that you can make something special together. Organize the trip to show that you are serious and have put effort into the proposal.

mattk35

What ever happened to "It's the thought that counts"? I was lucky because my lass had been dropping enough hints so i had a rough idea of what she wanted. Well worht seeing the surprise on her face.

Well worth going to a jewellers towards the end of the month aswell. Like car dealers, they tend to have monthly targets to reach.

Also if you do go to Hatton Garden make sure there open. I believe it all shuts down for some jewish holidays?

Theres so much choice aswell. I'd decide whether or not your going for Size, Quailty or a Happy Medium.
Good luck with it all.

fabbers

Hi foolsgold,

I recently got engaged to my girlfriend of 9 years (well she'd been dropping hints for 4 or so years), smaller independants are definately the way to go. I paid approximately half the "window" price for her ring.

Mizz_Pink

I had the choice of 2 centre diamonds, hubby had mine made to my own spec

I chose the smaller one as it had less imperfections and a much better clarity.

So size doesnt always matter, its .5 carat, my sis is 1 carat and looks fake its that big.

Start learning your 4 c's. Colour, Cut, Clarity, Carat !!!

DO NOT GO TO HIGH STREET JEWELLERS THEY ARE A RIP OFF

saxy1

Can highly recommend - www.dotjewellery.com. We recently bought our wedding rings from them and we are really pleased with them.

steveandel

Mizz_Pink wrote: »

DO NOT GO TO HIGH STREET JEWELLERS THEY ARE A RIP OFF

Whilst I agree with you that the High Street will generally be more expensive, I'd still go and look. When I bought an engagement ring I couldn't afford a really expensive one anyhow so I knew from the start I was limited in my choice. I had a look round all the local independent retailers but didn't find anything which matched my ideas and my budget.

I happened to notice one in a well known high street shop which I liked and I could afford , okso the diamond might not have been quite as big as I might have been able to get going independent but it isn't tiny and we both really like the ring.

My thoughts were that I can either spend money which could be spent on the ring or on other things travelling the country looking for the 'perfect' ring or I can get this very nice ring which I know she'll like which is within my budget so I chose that option.

If I had had a much bigger budget then I might have been more tempted to shop around more as I think there are more options with a larger budget.

catshark88

Thoroughly recommend Hatton Gardens. Huge ranges, way cheaper than the high street & open to price "discussion".

When we bought my ring, they stuck a diamond onto a plain band with blue tack & coloured it in with felt tip pen so we could see what different stones would look like!

Jem8472

I got a secondhand ring (made 1980) with just over 0.50ct diamond in it. Platinum setting on an 18K gold band for about £600 I think.... (somewhere around that) the jewler was selling it on sale or return for a woman who wanted to sell it.

So I got a real bargin and you cant tell without looking at the hall mark that it is not new. My GF loves it and it is much bigger than anything i would have been able buy in the high street.

skintchick

Hatton Garden is good, but even cheaper is Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, who will undercut Hatton Garden by about a grand (cheaper rents up there I suppose).

Just avoid Couture Diamonds as i've had a nightmare with them. Samson Gold are brilliant.

Also, remember that high street shops usually use poorer quality diamonds, with flaws in, and if you have a big diamond/s then you need a good quality.

I wouldn;t personally go less than VS2 clarity and H colour, but I am very fussy! Most high street shops use SI or lower and some even use 'pique' which is included by any other name - NOT what you want unless the rocks are so tiny you won;t see the inclusions.