Engagement Ring

mattyha

Hello,

We have just got engaged and are going shopping for a ring in the morning.

Any tips on decent on-line jewellers

or hints, tips or good shops to visit in Birmingham's jewellery quarter, including how to know how much you can haggle.

Thanks

Matt & Vicki

twinklyspecialkag

H.Samuel or Ernest Jones are good. Do you have any tesco club card vouchers??? you can change them in for 4x the value in Goldsmiths vouchers.....definately the best bargain you'll get. Any there a good quality jewellers. Ask for a discount....buy wedding rings at the same time, or at least promise to come back. And be nice to the shop assistant:-) Have fun!!

LouBlue

mattyha wrote: »

Hello,

We have just got engaged and are going shopping for a ring in the morning.

Congrats first of all. :j We got engaged last month, we went together to get the ring in the Brighton Lanes. Remember the 4 C's, I didn't know about it whilst choosing my diamond ring.:rolleyes:..but luckily I ended up with a good one but it is important. Cut, clarity, colour and carat.

Bit of info below for you re the grading if choosing a diamond. And definitely haggle, the mark up on jewellery is ridiculous!

http://www.cooldiamonds.com/diamond-information.html

wishiwasarichgirl

if the jewellery quarter in brum is anything like the one in london you will be an expert by the end of the day. My boyf took me to hatton garden (just one ring shop after another) you can haggle 25-50% off the price they have on display(maybe more?), the mark up is that much, and if you are somewhere like that where there is loads of competition they will do their best to get your custom.

Personally I wouldn't buy on line but thats just me, when I tried on "my" ring I knew it was the one (i had tried on loads by this stage, think FB was getting a bit fed up! ) The advantage of buying it in the jewellery quarter was that they re-sized it there and then for me - I found it at 4pm, went for a celebration drink and picked it up at 5pm dunno if everywhere can do that.

LouBlue

wishiwasarichgirl wrote: »

The advantage of buying it in the jewellery quarter was that they re-sized it there and then for me - I gound it at 4pm, went for a celebration drink and picked it up at 5pm dunno if everywhere can do that.

Similar to The Lanes in Brighton. I got mine from an independent jeweller, owned by this lovely old bloke. Had to be re-sized...cos the ring I wanted would only fit on a dolls finger...:rolleyes:..but it was ready 2 hours later.

wishiwasarichgirl

LouBlue wrote: »

Similar to The Lanes in Brighton. I got mine from an independent jeweller, owned by this lovely old bloke. Had to be re-sized...cos the ring I wanted would only fit on a dolls finger...:rolleyes:..but it was ready 2 hours later.

mine was the opposite, i could nearly get 2 fingers into it, had it resized to a G (I have doll sized fingers )

LouBlue

wishiwasarichgirl wrote: »

mine was the opposite, i could nearly get 2 fingers into it, had it resized to a G (I have doll sized fingers )

Freak. :rotfl:

Not like Chucky I hope!

wishiwasarichgirl

LouBlue wrote: »

Freak. :rotfl:

Not like Chucky I hope!

No, I've just always needed kids sized rings! :eek:

LouBlue

wishiwasarichgirl wrote: »

No, I've just always needed kids sized rings! :eek:

:rotfl:

I am not that much bigger, J. But the ring I liked must have been a C or something! It was tiny!!! :eek:

Poppy9

My OH is a trained diamond mounter and goldsmith. The retail mark up on jewellery is at least 3x cost so there is a big profit margin to be had.

First decide on what type of ring you want. Do you want a solitaire, 3 stone, multistone, sapphire, ruby etc.

Then do you want yellow gold, white gold or platinium. Platinum is the most expensive but is hardest wearing and stays white. White gold goes dull and has to be rhodium plated periodically to maintain sparkle. If going for yellow gold go for 18ct. Think now about your wedding ring too. Nothing worse than having a fancy engagement ring that doesn't sit properly with a wedding band.

Finally decide on budget. If you are going for a diamond only ring your aim is to get the best possible diamond for your money. Diamonds are graded for colour and flaws. Some flaws are virtually invisible to the naked eye and are often a trade off for a good colour and size.

As you are in Birmingham go to the jewellery quarter. Walk past the jeweller shops and look for jobbing jewellers (they maybe upstairs so look out for stair wells or check out yellow pages first). These usually have no shop windows but have skilled craftsmen on site. You might not get your ring same day but you will be able to choose your diamond, choose your mount style and choose your band. OH used to ask customers what their budget was and then get a selection of diamonds in that price bracket sent from his diamond dealer. He would explain each stone with regard to it's colour, flaws size and how it would look in different types of settings. He would invite customers back a few days later to see how the ring was getting on and if they still liked it as design could be altered. Finally they would get a handmade ring at 1/2 the price of a "proper jewellers" shop (independent or chain).

If you decide to go to a mainstream jewellers ask to look through the lens at teh stone in a decent light. Flaws that you don't see in their shop lights become clear when you move out into daylight or decent artificial light. Nothing worse than being annoyed by a black spot on your diamond that has suddenly appeared!

Jem8472

I know this is about all I seem to say on these sorts of threads but try and go for something more than a four claw setting.

I know the fashion seems to be to have four claw settings but if one claw breaks then there is a good chance you will lose the diamond.
My gfs engagment ring has 8 claws on it. There is no chance of losing that diamond!