Did you get your engagement ring made in Hatton Garden?

[DietofWorms]

If so, where did you go?

Recently got engaged and have heard that getting it made in Hatton Garden would be cheaper than buying in a high street shop (also the style I want - three equal-sized stones in a row - doesn't seem that popular at the mo). We live in London anyway.

But what's the deal? I assume some places are literally just wholesale jewellers and you have to know your shiz re gems to go there, but some are more like independent jewellers for consumers.

I have googled, but they don't all seem to have websites and some of the websites that are up aren't that helpful.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[bunnymother]

Given that diamonds are commodities, I would get researching on Blue Nile etc as to what your ring could cost. And take note of all the C's - carat, cut (not shape, but quality of cut), colour and clarity. Then, when you go RL shopping, you should know what your £ buys you, as a ball park.

[goodbyeyellowbrickroad]

Yes I did. We went to The Diamond Shop after having it recommended to us by 2 of my former colleagues. We had an excellent experience and went back there to get our wedding bands.

I had a rough idea of what I wanted and chatted to one of the designers who did a few sketches and made me a ring that I love. They worked within our budget and we didn't feel pressured to spend more than that. Definitely got more ring for our money.

www.thediamondshop.co.uk

[themessyapron]

No, I found a jeweller word of mouth. Seen rings similar to mine in Hatton Garden going for 3x the price I got mine.

Did get our wedding rings there though.

Really shop around. Ask friends for recommendations.

Hatton garden have a captive audience so charge accordingly

[DietofWorms]

Thanks everyone

Goodbyeyellow - I will check out that shop.

messyapron - yeah, I wondered that. The thing is it's hard for me to find somewhere by word of mouth because hardly any of my friends are engaged or married and the one that is got an antique ring. What jeweller did you use, if you don't mind me asking? Is it in London?

[SorrelForbes]

I went to the Jewellery quarter in Birmingham. Huge savings compared to the high st and even Hatton Garden. Lots of shops to choose from for bespoke designs or off the shelf. We bought mine from The Platinum Jewellers.

[PasswordProtected]

I already had the stones, but I was also recommended to The Diamond Shop & they made a beautiful ring for me. It cost about £250 in 1998. They have also reset a diamond for me. Lovely people & excellent workmanship.

[HaPPy8]

I got mine from Cool Diamonds in Hatton Garden. Very pleased with it, There website is quite good too.

[zgaze]

I got mine from Cool Diamonds too, really pleased with it and as they don't have a shop front as such (website and a studio for which you make an appointment) the prices are significantly less than other places. They were really lovely in the appointment too, no pressure to pay more (our budget was fairly meagre!) and took a long time showing different settings and stones.

[DietofWorms]

Thank you. Ideally would like to go somewhere in London, but the Birmingham jewellery quarter sounds very cool.

Can anyone tell me - if you get a yellow gold ring, are the little claws that hold the diamond in ALWAYS platinum? They seem to be in lots of the ones I've seen online. Guessing maybe it's because platinum is harder (is it?).

[HaPPy8]

I agree with zgaze, there was no pressure to pay more as well. We considered a slightly dearer one but it was outside what we originally planned and there was no hard sell at all from the staff. The service was really good. I recommend them.

[Vatta]

Just be a little careful with Hutton garden. When you're buying diamonds you should always check the source of the diamonds (google blood diamonds if you want more info on this, but some diamonds really are not ethical products!).

I was very careful on this when choosing my ring, and some of the shops on Hutton garden told me they were "certified" by an independent organisation to confirm that their diamonds were ethical. But when I looked up that supposedly independent organisation at companies house, it's registered address was the same as one of the shops I was visiting, so it was obviously actually run by the same people!

I've heard on the grapevine that a lot of the shops along there are actually owned by the same people, families, and I was a but wary of them after catching them out re the ethics certificates.

Small local jewellers are often better value anyway.

[mrscumberbatch]

The claws in a yellow gold ring won't always be platinum, it's just a current trend as white metal 'shows the stone better'.

It's all down to preference really.

Sorry OP can't recommend anyone in Hatton Garden but have had equally amazing/cheap service from independent stores.

[sleepdodger]

Jewelry quarter here too

[DietofWorms]

Any in London mrscumberbatch?

Good to hear about the gold/platinum thing as I think I would prefer gold claws - I've got a thing about disliking gold and platinum next to each other (although the Queen's engagement ring is platinum and her wedding ring gold so maybe I'm the one with bad taste!).

[DietofWorms]

Also does anyone have any views about using white sapphires instead of diamonds? I know sapphires are slightly less hard but I assume they will be cheaper...

[Phantomquartz]

I'd look on the dazzle website for ideas about individual designers. It's a showcase of independent jewellery designers.

www.lovedazzle.com

[hollyisalovelyname]

Dublin has lovely antique shops with lots if 3 stone diamond rings. If you want new Breretons in O' Connell street/ Grafton street / Capel streetare good value. Better than the high street chains

[themessyapron]

No not even in the uk I'm afraid diet.

Friends have had good experience in Birmimgham though.

[WhereIsMyHat]

My H and quite a few of his friends used a diamond broker in battersea. I think he takes them to hatton garden to be set. I could get the details and pm them to you if you'd like them? I think he's pretty reasonable and the diamonds are very good quality.

[mrscumberbatch]

I tend to do trade and auction only OP. If you can be bothered with auctions then definitely give it a shot. Make sure you know what you are looking for though or you can get carried away

My general rule of thumb is that the smaller the enterprise, the more flexible they can afford to be. Definitely consider second hand or vintage as you can get much more for your money.

As for sapphires, they'd be perfect. The diamond as an engagement/wedding ring is only down to a very clever De Beers marketing campaign. There's no actual logic behind it.

I have a diamond and sapphire 'target' ring that is always commented on. Stick to your guns for what you prefer.

[mrscumberbatch]

As for cheapness... Swings and roundabouts really.

You pay for quality. Same with diamonds. It's all relative.

[Morgause]

Jewellery quarter here as well

[ginzillas]

Didn't get engagement ring there but we got our wedding rings from a gorgeous little shop in Hatton Garden - mine was only £75 as it was the smallest one they did! Really sweet, old fashioned shop rather than some of the blingtastic ones in the area. If we had our time again, I'd have got the engagement ring there too.

[HeyMicky]

DH has mine made at Raphael. They were lovely, really understood the design, kept within budget. Did our wedding rings too and we go back annually to have everything polished and the stones checked

[GirlWithTheDirtyShirt]

Our rings are also from the Jewellery Quarter. We live in Birmingham, DH proposed in the Jewellery Quarter and we had our wedding there too.

There are some fantastic shops, with real bargains to be had. We spend around £1k but got a much higher quality diamond than we could get on the high street. Our wedding bands are perfect too.