Best place to buy an engangement ring.

purplefiona

Hi there needtoknow- Please please don't get your ring from HSamuel or Argos-or even worse, from the internet- all those diamonds are practically grey and you will be ripped off! Google Images for a diamond chart and have a read. Its well worth getting a diamond that is VVS (very very slightly included) and a great colour (E or F) but if you look closely you will realise that most Argos diamonds and ALL the cheap ones on the Internet are SI2 to I3 which means you can see orrible little bits inside them, really easily, and they are yellowy and greyey and basically awful in colour. They won't sparkle!
Never ever buy a diamond unless it is light outside and you can see it in daylight: and always buy from a reputable dealer.
More to the point, don't forget that De Beers were the instigators of the single diamond as the ultimate expression of love: why not opt for a Victorian 3 stone ring (very traditional) in her birthstone?.
Have a look second hand but do look under magnification and check that the claws holding the stones in are in good nick.
And don't forget- if you opt for a hard metal like platinum you will have to have a platinum wedding band or the harder one will wear the softer metal ring out.
Buying a diamond is fraught with pitfalls but the guys in Hatton Garden and indeed, your friendly local jewellers, will all know what they are on about or they wouldn't be there, and if you do your research first off, you will get a good stone.
There is a book out there called "How to buy a diamond" which is worth a look too.
GOOD LUCK!
- a jeweller

feesh

I wonder if Martin has been dipping into this thread for advice lately

Congratulations Martin!

Tiger_greeneyes

Purplefiona, I agree with you about the likes of H Samuel and Argos, but as long as you are careful, you can often get the best prices on the internet, and find something unusual and perfect for you. There's lots of places who will guarantee your diamond and allow you to return it if you don't like it. My ring comprises 11 certified VVS G sparkly white princess cut diamonds (.64ct) in a platinum band and it was £510 as a 'best offer' in a specialist ebay jewellery shop. From my personal point of view, I would rather buy from the internet and have something you can actually see! My £510 would have gone nowhere in the high street - I'd either have got something you can see but rubbish quality, or good quality but the need for a magnifying glass.

The golden rules are to make sure it's certified, check that you can return the item and scrutinise feedback - my ring came from someone who's well established and sold over 1550 items of jewellery - and has 100% feedback rating. Nicholas is always available to answer questions too. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/No1-Rock-Avenue

I can see where you're coming from as you're a jeweller, all the jewellers I know don't like the internet because they can't compete with the prices - I'd love to be able to walk into a jewellers to try on my purchases but pound for pound, the internet saves you a small fortune imho.

MYLITTLESISTERLOLA

Me & my partner decided to get engaged in Feb last year,
I happened to have saved up Tesco Clubcard vouchers,
I used £55 in clubcard deals ( x4 £220 ) to get money off my engagement ring in Goldsmiths
Summary 0.5 Carat 18 carat white gold ring, cost £495
-£220 Vouchers

---

£275
p.s. seen this exact ring today in another shop ( tried it on to make sure) for £800 !!!!!


my advise

Save all you can on the ring you'll need it for the wedding
White Gold is much cheaper than Platinum but looks the same ( no-one needs to know)
If you want discount, check out Tesco Clubcards deals vouchers can be bought off Ebay ( check Goldsmiths is local to you and that Tesco still has that particular deal), also make sure all the deal vouchers you buy are in one name ( 1 lot off ebay, not little bits from everybody )
hope this has helped
Good luck
K

Tiger_greeneyes

I agree about saving money for the wedding - if I'd found the below items earlier, I'd be opting for them instead. Titanium jewellery is stunning and nobody would know it's not platinum.

http://www.johngreeddesign.co.uk/index.php?FormName=my_form_quick&FormAction=search&s_prime_material_id=13&s_min_price=0.00&s_max_price=10000&s_cat_id=1&s_manufacture_id=&s_sub_cat_id=&s_men_women=1&s_best_seller=
http://www.johngreeddesign.co.uk/index.php?s_men_women=1&item_id=703&show_details=1&s_cat_id=&

teamwork

Tesco sells the same quality rings as Argos for about 40% less, e.g. an 18 carat gold with 1 carat diamond was £2099 in Argos and only £1200 at Tesco - same cut, clarity and colour. Also worth looking at ebay shops that sell new jewellery who are even cheaper than Tesco - there are great deals on Israeli designer rings etc.

reverie

We had my ring made in South Africa. It was about half the price it would have been at home. It was an education in diamonds too! Also, they are now so adament to distill the image of blood diamonds that they go to great lengths so that you can be sure you are not buying a conflict diamond.

My advice is to go and look in LOTS of good, smart shops and listen to the assistants explain. They should be able to explain to you about the cut, clarity, carat and colour. Then use this to decide what you and your fiance want.. then find the cheapest version of it.

I really would not buy a diamond without knowing the clarity and colour (how they sell them in Argos etc I think?) as when you see diamonds with different colours together you can really tell the difference and if you compare rings where you don't know these facts you could be comparing apples and stairs.

I recently stumbled on www.bluenile.co.uk. The are one of the biggest diamond retailers in the world (second only to Tiffany in USA it says). The diamonds seem to be good value compared to other UK jewellers.

Hope you find something you both love!

magnoliauk

Dont buy from one of the cheap places like argos or gemstv - they are flawed. industrial grade in the main.

I have a half carat diamond with a very slight occlusion that is not visible to the naked eye and only just visible with the eye glass thingie from the jewelers. It is a solitaire setting in 18 carat white gold and cost £500 from Browns jewelers.

http://www.herbertbrown.co.uk/jewellery.php

They are very good and professional people who will talk to you about diamonds till the cows come home.

Second hand is good value for money - mine is valued at £1400

purplefiona

Tiger_greeneyes wrote: »

Purplefiona, I agree with you about the likes of H Samuel and Argos, but as long as you are careful, you can often get the best prices on the internet, and find something unusual and perfect for you. There's lots of places who will guarantee your diamond and allow you to return it if you don't like it. My ring comprises 11 certified VVS G sparkly white princess cut diamonds (.64ct) in a platinum band and it was £510 as a 'best offer' in a specialist ebay jewellery shop. From my personal point of view, I would rather buy from the internet and have something you can actually see! My £510 would have gone nowhere in the high street - I'd either have got something you can see but rubbish quality, or good quality but the need for a magnifying glass.

The golden rules are to make sure it's certified, check that you can return the item and scrutinise feedback - my ring came from someone who's well established and sold over 1550 items of jewellery - and has 100% feedback rating. Nicholas is always available to answer questions too. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/No1-Rock-Avenue

I can see where you're coming from as you're a jeweller, all the jewellers I know don't like the internet because they can't compete with the prices - I'd love to be able to walk into a jewellers to try on my purchases but pound for pound, the internet saves you a small fortune imho.

Yes- you're quite right to make sure its certified- I've spent a lot of time surfing diamonds on ebay (because I need to know) and I noticed one of the sellers on there charge an £80 restocking fee if you don't like the diamond, and also, don't show pictures of the actual ring you will get. Also i felt that the close-up of the setting showed a poorly thought out design and a badly finished item. (I'm surE yours is ace though- vvs sparkly is important!) So- be careful there. I'm glad to hear of an ebay seller doing honest business when it comes to diamonds- and I'm keen to save money in any way I can, competition is fine, but nothing beats actually seeing the item and being able to say yes or no. High street prices are, I agree, rather steep for what you get

purplefiona

PS- I've just had a look at that ebay shop- and they are members of the BJA (British Jewellers Association) too which is an extremely good sign.