Just Been Proposed To!

SallyUK

Yesterday my partner proposed!!!

I'm over the moon, as only three months ago, my 24 year old son died of a fatal seizure caused by a brain tumour. He was waiting to have surgery, which was planned for the two weeks after he died.

As you can imagine, we were all devastated. I actually found him dead in his bedroom when I arrived home from work, and that image will haunt me forever.

However, this has helped cheer me up a little and gave me a bit of a distraction as I'm going to choose a ring next weekend. After reading a lot on here, we are going down to the jewellery quarter in Birmingham on Friday, staying overnight, and then shopping on Saturday.

My questions are though:

Do you really get better quality jewellery there? Or as someone said, more bang for your buck! Lol.

Can you see the items in shop windows, or do you have to go inside each building?

Do they expect you to barter and how do you know what to offer?

Does anyone have any examples of what they would have paid if they'd gone to a high street shop?

Any advice gratefully received, Thankyou!

Sal
Xx

KateySW

Hi Sal!
Firstly, huge congratulations!!! That's wonderful news. I'm so sorry to read about your son, my deepest sympathies. I can't even imagine how awful that is but I'm at least glad to hear this has given you a bit of distraction after such a sad time.
Jewellery Quarter in Brum is an excellent choice! I didn't do that myself (my fiance had picked my ring already, brave!) but I know several people who did and loved the experience.
So to answer your questions:

SallyUK wrote: »

Do you really get better quality jewellery there? Or as someone said, more bang for your buck! Lol.

Better quality I can't really confidently say in comparison to anywhere else in the UK, but the level of expertise and quality jewellers around there is amazing. And you probably do have a better chance of getting more for your money as there's so much competition so close together. Plenty of chance to just pop across the road to another shop for comparison!
Can you see the items in shop windows, or do you have to go inside each building?
You can see jewellery in the windows but obviously only a chunk of their stock. But the window display will give you a good idea of if the shop has the sort of selection you might like.
Do they expect you to barter and how do you know what to offer?
For sure they expect you to barter! Best advice I heard here was listen a lot and say little. You should get an idea from them first and be able to make an offer based on that. Be certain of your budget before you go and don't be afraid to haggle - after all, that's part of the fun!
Does anyone have any examples of what they would have paid if they'd gone to a high street shop?
I don't unfortunately myself but I know my friend got the most gorgeous antique engagement ring there. It is really stunning and she did say at the time that they did get a good deal on it by going between shops and asking for similar rings and discussing the differences in prices.
Any advice gratefully received, Thankyou!
Other advice: don't put too much pressure on yourself or let other people put you under pressure either. Hopefully they won't anyway, but it's meant to be fun! Just enjoy it. Try to do a bit of homework beforehand on the sort of thing you'd be happy with, diamond clarity, type of gold etc, and then go between shops to find similar rings and be able to make the comparison. Also, you'll know when you've found the right one. It might not happen that day, so don't feel too disappointed if it doesn't happen but you'll find it, trust me

Make sure you make a day of it, go for lunch, have a few glasses of fizz to celebrate. Have an amazing time and enjoy every second! Good luck! :beer:

SallyUK

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, that was really helpful!

I'm getting excited now lol.

Xxx

7roland8

No advice on ring but use the wedding as a distraction is good. Your son will always be with you and would wish you to enjoy this journey.