Push present - any recommendations for where to a special piece of jewellery?

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We're due to have our first baby next month and my husband wants to give me a nice piece of jewellery for a push present and is quite keen on a ring, which I think would be lovely, particularly because we never buy jewellery so it would be extra special.

However, because we never buy jewellery, I'm not sure where to look to find something! He's actually found a really nice ring at Tiffany which is both stylish and everyday wearable but I'm not sure how I feel about Tiffany as a brand and it seems that if you buy something from Tiffany, you're essentially buying the brand. I don't have particularly strong feelings about it but I mostly associate it with American TV/movies, conventional girly-girls and being overly-commercialised. To be fair, the ring my husband found is modern and stylish and not noticeably from Tiffany and whilst they do seem to do some slightly tacky love-heart pendant type of jewellery, it looks like those products are aimed at teenagers.

So.. any other recommendations for where to buy something special? We're not originally from the UK so we've got a bit of a knowledge gap as to what's out there. It doesn't have to be a luxury jeweller, I'd be more than happy to support an independent brand but being a special occasion and also an unusual purchase for us, I don't want something generic and mass produced so not keen on high street chains (slightly skeptical that Tiffany might just be an overpriced version of this!).

Thanks!

My husband went to Monica Vinader, lovely stuff there and not too common like Tiffany. I think I mean popular not common but you know what I lean :-)

Also, who actually gives a shit what the OP calls the present. Have a day off guys

What puts you off platinum over white gold?
Corona virus and economic uncertainty means gold prices are at a record high at the moment, platinum might be cheaper.

That's a really good budget. What I'm about to suggest is based on the fact that I personally would always choose an antique (you will be amazed at what you can get in comparison to Tiffany).

I would, personally, choose a less expensive ring to buy online now. September's birthstone is sapphire so just as an example you could have a very inexpensive lab grown sapphire eternity ring or if you wanted to spend a bit more, one with natural sapphires or natural sapphire and moissanite in a channel setting. Then once you feel comfortable doing so I would take the budget to the Lanes in Brighton to choose an antique in person.

Alternatively you could see if you could find a jewellery designer who could work to your budget and brief and either liaise with you over Skype and email or through garden / park appointments.

If you like the look of white metal then don't dismiss platinum, by the way. White gold needs to be periodically replated, which you can avoid with platinum. Lots of antiques tend to be platinum or yellow gold.

@Mothermorph I just found that in person white gold looks a lot 'brighter' than platinum, which I found to look a bit grey. I appreciate that it's lower maintenance. I suppose with an antique and/or with coloured stones like emeralds, I wouldn't necessarily have much of an issue with platinum.

@AuntieStella

Do you like any of these?

www.catherinebest.com/search/?limit=360&type=rings

I didn't realise she was in London as well - she's from Jersey

I think I just choked on my chamomile tea do people actually spend that much?!

My husband bought me a Marks and Spencer meat free turkey and stuffing sandwich from the hospital shop after I gave birth. Was quite happy with that!

@Zhampagne good advice. I did start looking online at antiques, as well as some modern art deco bespoke stuff and there are some amazing pieces. I suppose there's no rush and it makes sense to take our time with it and found something really special (or commission a place for a bespoke ring) because that was the whole idea in the first place!

I might have a chat to my husband about it - he was quite keen to have something straight after the birth, hence the temptation with buying from Tiffany so it's 'done' and doesn't turn into another long-winded item on the to-do list, along with the millions of other things we need to sort out (only 5 weeks to go and both working full-time right up until 2 days before I'm due) but it doesn't really make sense to treat this as another chore to deal with as quickly as possible as it is actually something we never do.

Good point about the antiques being more likely to be platinum too and I appreciate that it's lower maintenance. It seems to sometimes look a bit grey (e.g. I saw my wedding ring, which is an eternity style band, in both platinum and white gold and the white gold looked much brighter with the diamonds than the platinum). On my right hand it wouldn't need to match anyway.

Thanks!

@Candyfloss99

Push presents are vulgar and tacky

Surely not as much as saying so.

How about looking around some local independent jewellers who will make and sell individual and special pieces.

It's not vulgar at all. What a horrible thing to say. My husband got an eternity ring made by the designer of our wedding rings and it matches both the wedding ring, and my emerald engagement ring as it has tiny diamonds and emeralds in. I love it. You could look at good local jewellery designers? Ours weren't astronomically expensive as I thought they would be.

@AlwaysLatte I was actually just looking at some nice art-deco style eternity bands with diamonds and emeralds. I think I'd want to wear it on my right hand though, rather than add another to the left, so it might be better to do something different. I could try to check out some local places but we're in Bow (inner east London) and whilst it is gentrifying I suspect it's more of a place where shops would be selling pawned jewellery than where you could buy from local designers (and we're avoiding all public transport at the moment). I'll see what I can find! Definitely a tricky thing to buy online.

If you can't get to greys antiques by bond st (best place), take a look here

www.antiquejewellerycompany.com

Also try the jewellery discovery website

Always buy ebay, love yellow gold and platinum settings

DH took me to the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham and we designed an eternity ring - we did it when i found out i was expecting DS though rather than after he was born. We had our wedding rings made there too. Would definitely recommend, there are lots of different shops, and we found it much better value (not cheap, but not mass produced so more ring for the money).

Have you looked at buying at auction? This will be the best value. I bought a large sapphire with diamonds this was and it was waaaaay cheaper than buying in an antique store. Try www.fellows.co.uk/

[quote mydailymailhell]Have you looked at buying at auction? This will be the best value. I bought a large sapphire with diamonds this was and it was waaaaay cheaper than buying in an antique store. Try www.fellows.co.uk/[/quote]
I always follow the fellows auctions
The prices are often amazing but I worry that it wouldn’t be good condition when it arrives

Have you had good experience ?

@mydailymailhell interesting! I hadn't thought of an auction. I had a quick look and there's certainly some unique stuff on there and the estimates are very low compared to shops.

One thing I noted was that some of the rings have a 'can be resized' note on them but most of them don't, even the ones that just have a simple band at the back with stones at the front. I thought it was only eternity rings that can't be resized easily so this seems strange.

If you're buying at auction, just look out for hidden costs. I don't know what these online auction houses are like but if you were buying at, say, Sotheby's there'd be the hammer price to pay (the amount you bid) but on top of that you'd pay a buyer's premium of c.25% PLUS VAT so it can quickly rack up! Might be why the hammer price / catalogue estimates look low

Haha - all I wanted was a pret Brie sandwich!

I’d get something made for the occasion. Or something plain and engraved.

I like Pippa Small. Ethical jewellery that supports artisans in developing countries (eg Burma, Afghanistan). Really high quality and beautiful.

@Rebelwithallthecause @amd94jgkap3nvpoa3p10dnpaddo0 the ring I bought was beautiful and was able to be resized no problem. I bought it pre pandemic so I was able to go into the Mayfair showroom and try on a selection of items. Ended up picking something o wound never have chosen from pictures alone. There are additional costs such as the auction fee which you pay and is about 20% of final price. Was very happy with my purchase And cost a fraction what it would if bought in an antiques shop. Apparently auctions are the way to go according to my very posh and wealthy boss

@mydailymailhell thanks for the info. It's so true that seeing things in person makes a huge difference to what you think you like. Maybe we need to treat this as a project and wait until we can go into showrooms again.

Also, buying at an auction seems fun!

@amd94jgkap3nvpoa3p10dnpaddo0 I would definitely wait until you can try stuff on. Bidding online at auction is like a v high stakes eBay! I registered in advance and watched a few auctions before I bid as it gave me an idea of what was popular and how likely I would be able to buy something in
My budget . I ended up with over one carat sapphire with 0.6 carats of diamonds for £1100 and paid around £300 in fees. When I was looking in antique shops similar rings were £3-5k.

For info the estimate for what I bought was £800-£1200. I think on certain days there might’ve particular buyers keen on certain things. The day I was bidding all the interest was on emeralds for example

There is also a great shop in Hatton garden called Andrew Ullman which has some interesting stuff and seems more keenly prices. The owner is incredibly grumpy though but his daughters also work there and know their stuff. Grays antiques have nice stuff and I have found really great value antique jewellery in Rye and York. Much better value than London.