Best place to buy an engangement ring.

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Pandora_Peroxide wrote: »

It' s been interesting reading this but I have a couple of questions if anyone could help out. My husband is buying me a ring as an Xmas present to replace my now too small wedding ring, and stone missing engagement ring which were bought in our early years very cheaply, his wedding ring broke! I want something that isn't too conventional and silver in colour, possibly with a black diamond. We live in the Midlands so the jewellery quarter in Brum seems a logical choice but I am concerned that they may take advantage of the fact that we know nothing about jewellery unlike somewhere on the High St where everything is priced. Are we better off going to buy the ring this side of Xmas or waiting for January, do they have sales?

I'd got to the jewellry quarter myself. Go to a few shops and don't be afraid to ask questions. Hopefully, you should get similar answers from everyone and then you'll quickly learn if anyone is trying to pull a fast one. It is significantly cheaper, though they normally don't do any serious sales, you may be able to haggle more in January as they'll be finding it hard to make many sales then.

mrjstacey

I took my then girlfriend, now wife, to Antwerp which is the centre of the world diamond trade. Consequently competition, expertise and choice are unparalleled and you can have a romantic weekend away, get a great ring and it will still be cheaper than the UK. I used an excellent diamond dealer called Rob ven Buerden, http://www.diamondhouse.be. We went to his office, saw vast numbers of diamonds and the ring catalogues for all the prestige stores. My girlfriend chose a Tiffany design which was then made up and we picked it up from his London office so we paid no import costs. I can't recommend this highly enough, the ring is beautiful and dramatically cheaper than any I've seen in the UK, plus I looked, however fleetingly, like a generous and romantic fella.

PS - I proposed using this http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/diamond-paper-weight/index.html!

edkay

Another vote for the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham from me

When I got engaged we made a day of it, which was great fun. There is so much choice and the prices are unbeatable. We've seen rings of the same spec (4 Cs) in high st shops for more than double what we paid. Even if you don't live near B'ham, the money you'll save will easily cover the travelling costs.

The same goes for when you choose your wedding rings.

I've also been to Hatton Garden, but it seemed more pricey and also smaller than B'ham's Jewellery quarter.

PS: When chosing an engagement ring, try it on with a suitable wedding ring to check they sit together well. They'll be worn together for much longer than not!

macaroni

I would recommend a second hand ring, theres lots of independants out there. I find the smaller seaside towns to be pretty good.

MORPH3US

I'm in the same situation as the OP of *thinking* of looking for an engagement ring for SWMBO...

Got to save up first, but this thread will be invaluable, especially since i'm only 20mins on train from Brum...

M

Savedanotherpenny

needtoknow wrote: »

Thanks very much for all your kind regards and reccomendations. Unforuately we are not near London or Birminghan but will rule out the idea of argos as has been said very unromantic and probably costly as well. I know that HS Samuels have a shop nearby with some on their website that dont look too bad (though to be honest I couldn't tell a good ring from bad) might have a look in there (to get some ideas) as well as a few more local retailers.

Thanks again,

Hi,
I have recently helped someone to buy a gorgeous .25 carat diamond solitaire, set in 18 carat gold - for under a hundred pounds!
The lady who received it as a gift is really thrilled and the gentleman who gave the ring was also a very happy man. - I would value the ring in question at around GBP 450 - 550 if you were to buy it from a shop.
Where did I find this absolute bargain? - At a local auction house.
Find out where your local auctioneers are and talk to them - they will let you know if/when they hold jewellery sales and all you need to do is have a look through their catalogue (often online these days) and if there is one that you like the sound/sight of then have a go. If you want to spend up to GBP 600, then bid no more than GBP 500 as commmission etc will take it up to around 600

Fantastic bargains are to be had, but ALWAYS remember your limit!

I rarely buy anything new now, and my home has never looked better - plus I can sell the furniture when I am fed up with it and get close to what I paid for it, (or sometimes more,) back.

Good luck moneysavers, - see you at the auctions!

luxor4t

It is now an established family tradition to buy second hand - for my parents rationing was still in force, they were on an extremely tight budget & second hand saved the purchase tax = a better ring for the same money.

OH and I saw the perfect ring, and the fact it was second hand was a bonus.
When asked where I found such an unusual setting I said 'Second hand' but the office snob said, 'Oh, an heirloom!' and as a joke I agreed. She was serious!

Little Sis really does have a family ring and wouldn't have it any other way.

When my first wedding ring got too big, guess where I made OH buy the replacement? 18ct for 9 ct price, got to be worth it!

Tiger_greeneyes

My engagement ring came from an ebay shop called No1 Rock Avenue. The shop is owned by a man called Nicholas and he is very knowledgeable and helpful. The ring is platinum and the diamonds are just about the highest quality you can get - 0.64 in size and very white and clear. I had it resized recently and the jeweller I took it to was very impressed and told me they'd have sold it for around £1,500 - we bought it for £510 a year ago.

If you want any links (I've got Nicholas' email address and shop link if you want it) then it's best to pm me as I'll get an email, I might not think to check this thread again!

My thoughts are that I'd rather have a smaller diamond if it means better quality. Cloudy diamonds aren't worth buying, they're disappointing and not worth the money.

If you want something really different, there's a gem called Moissanite (www.indygem.com - Keith makes up rings to your specification) which is exceptionally clear and much sparklier than the best quality of diamond. You'd easily get a beautiful one-carat stone in the setting you choose for your budget. I had a half carat ring made up with a gold Tiffany style setting for £230 and it's stunning. I wanted moissanite for my engagement ring but I wanted an eternity style setting instead of a solitaire which I just couldn't get hold of.

http://www.indygem.com/MOISSANITE.HTM

RoxieW

Hi all

My engagement ring is from cool diamonds and is absolutely beautiful. Hubby was very happy with the service he received as they let him design the ring himself and then gave him various price options for the diamonds and were generally good with help and advice. Its a .75 (far cheaper then going the whole hog for a carat but hardly any difference) princess cut diamond with a pink saphire on either side on a platinum band. I dont know exactly how much he paid but he said he paid around £1000 less than a similar cut/carat/quality in beaverbrooks.
We then bought our wedding rings in tiffanys new york - the rings plus the 3 night trip cost the same as the rings alone in the UK. Actually, I had a similar experience to the posters bad cool diamonds experience in tiffanys. The lady sized my finger but the ring she gave me felt too big. I knew that it was too big but she insisted that as it was cold my finger was smaller and that if i went for the smaller size it would feel uncomfortable normally. If it wasn't for the fact that I had my engagement ring to size it against (which fits perfectly) I would have been stuck with a wedding ring that was in danger of slipping off my finger. I had to insist and she gave me the smaller ring which was absolutely the right decision. And this is tiffanys - prob the most famous jewellry store in the world! I guess you can only go with your instincts - not trust anyone to tell you what feels comfortable on your hand and insist on what you believe to be your correct size.

Tiger_greeneyes

I've just found an auction site https://www.the-saleroom.com. If you register, you can search all the auction houses that affiliate to this site. I've just put in a search for "platinum diamond" and there's a .80 carat platinum diamond solitaire ring for a guide price of £600-£800. You could quadruple that price easily if you went to the high street https://www.the-saleroom.com/Catalogues/Item.aspx?itemId=5103214

This is really nice too, the stones look really good quality https://www.the-saleroom.com/Catalogues/Item.aspx?itemId=5111802