Where to buy a 0.5-0.75 carat platinum solitaire ring for less than £1000?!

[Letseatgrandma]

DP is keen to go to Hattan Gardens but won’t that be way out of our price range??

I’m happy to go for second hand-just want something simple and not fussy. I’m not particularly keen on the vintage look just want a pretty round simple diamond solitaire-no extra diamonds on the shoulders etc

Where should we go?!

What about the lanes in Brighton? I got an eternity ring from a Jewellers there a few years ago after visiting hatten garden and found them much cheaper and I haggled !!

Birmingham jewellery quarter?

Look into cut/colour and clarity as this will influence the price of the diamond too. I think, although I'm not expert that cut and colour are more important than clarity. Inclusions won't be obvious unless you inspect the stone whereas a good cut means that the stone sparkles.

Hatton Garden will have shops that sell second hand rings, and there will also be shops that will be willing to make something to your budget.

Have you got any jewellers local to you that sell second hand jewellery? Otherwise, I second the lanes in Brighton and Bath has a good antiques market that sells jewellery too.

Bluenile.com is an online seller and i have only ever heard good reports about them. Their website explains everything you need to know (and more!) about diamonds...

Hatton garden will have something for whatever price range you have. In most jewellers If you tell them what you are looking for they will help you find the best for your money.

Look on the Jewellery Channel website. Plenty of nice solitaire rings at reasonable prices.

I got my engagement ring from 77 diamonds. It's 1 carat pear and has diamonds in the band also. We had it valued independently and it came out double what we paid for it. You select the actual diamond based on its clarity, colour, size etc - so if you aren't too fussed, you can get a great deal!
We are going back there for our wedding bands. Great company, would highly recommend.

Forgot to say, if you are going with Platinum, make sure it is rhodium plated as this will keep the shine. I have one ring that doesn't have rhodium plating and it has gone quite dull - which is a shame as it is a gorgeous ring.

You will be able to find something, but the diamond won't be very good quality for that size and price range, especially with platinum

Have you considered a white sapphire instead?

www.77diamonds.com is the cheapest I've found. You'll struggle to get 0.5ct in platinum for less than £1k though, never mind 0.75ct!

I think you should definitely go second-hand, OP. Much better value - I’m looking at selling my Tiffany princess-cut solitaire in platinum and it looks as if I’ll get roughly half what I paid for it even though I have the box, certificates etc.

(PS It’s only 0.25 carat so doesn’t meet your criteria).

I reckon you should have a look in Hatton Garden - I got my wedding ring there and was able to bargain the price right down. Be prepared to haggle hard though! I also second bluenile, which is where my engagement ring came from. The ring designer feature gives you total control and there’s great info on the 4Cs.

No, Hatton Garden is like "buying direct" and cutting out the middle man. You'll save.

Birmingham jewellery quarter ever more so.

I think you may be pushing it to get a diamond of that size for your budget, tbh. If you could up your budget by another £500 you should be able to get 0.5ct.

Have a look at www.cooldiamonds.com and you can play around with cut, colour, clarity, carat size. It'll give you an idea of what you could get buying new.

Are you completely set on a diamond? You can go so much more ring for your money by looking at other stones.

Try on different styles, stones and settings.

Jappydooda, I think you may be thinking of white gold. Platinum does not fade.

OP: if you want over 0.5 carats in platinum you are looking at second hand or resetting an old piece rather than buying new unless you can wait for the sales and then get someone to price match plus call in some kind of discount. Even on the more budget sites like AlbaRose a 0.5carat diamond in platinum goes over budget even with the simplest setting and a diamond colour which may not be silvery against a platinum ring.

check the colour of the diamond which is graded and will be more expensive the better the grade
The cut will also influence how it will sparkle and then how it is set etc etc
Hatton Garden all day long during the week not on a saturday as some of the diamond dealers are Jewish
Do your homework first

Thank you for the replies!

As I said, I’m more than happy to go second hand-that doesn’t bother me at all. Is Hattan Garden a road of just jewellery shops that’s you walk along?!

Do they do second hand stuff or is it a case of it only being a good idea if you want to get a £10,000 ring for £5000 type bargain?

We’re nowhere near Brum or Brighton sadly. I will have a look in local independent jewellers too.

there are a lot of traditional jewelry shops but in every nook and cranny are little independent dealers or manufacturers or traders

Lots of little workshops have a good google around first and understand what you are looking for and you wont go too far wrong

I too think Hatton garden will be your best bet,because there are so many jewellers in one small area they have to be competitive.

I got a quarter carat platinum ring in Plymouth for around £1400,whereas my friend got hers in a Hatton garden shop,it looks very similar to mine only hers was half carat,and she paid pretty much the same price.

It may even be cheaper if you buy a diamond from Hatton garden on its own,then get it set into a ring seperately?there may be a jeweller on here who can confirm whether it would be cheaper?

I hadn’t thought about getting a separate diamond-I will have to investigate!

Name change fail!

I'd say go to a local auction-no tax on antique & vg value for money

The sale-room.com. Is an online auction site for physical auction sites across the country some great buys if you can be patient

Probably not - a platinum setting will be anything from £600 to £1000 if you are setting separately.

Have a look at Samara James, they have a lovely range and they're always so helpful.