Where to buy a diamond ring?

[muddleduck]

After much encouragement DH has "suggested" that he buy me a enternity ring. Yes I know we're all supposed to be cutting back the spending right now but he got away without buying an engagement ring so I reckon I'm owed one

I have looked in a few shops and know exactly what I want, but where can I get the most bling for my cash? A friend suggested I'd get more diamond if I buy online rather that pay high street prices but I'm a bit nervous of buying online without a recommendation.

Any suggestions?

btw what I want is a yellow gold channel set with princess cut stones.

If I was buying now I would be buying art deco pieces in auctions (good auctions not ebay) bonhams are online, christies too. To cut out the huge mark-up on jewellery - think it's about 400% retail

I got a huge diamond engagement ring 10 years ago in New York (when the dollar was not as good as it was now) for 2k, it is now valued at £6k. I then went to Antwerp for earrings and got half carat ones for £400 - subsequently valued at £1400.

If you want modern then I would be going to the states or antwerp. If you want old then auctions. Definitely buy conflict free diamonds - I could not have lived with the jewellery if I didn't.

The american gemology assoc is different than the european one GIA (i think) as opposed to GMA ? but they must state the cut,colour,clarity etc on the certificate.

Lauriefairycake makes very good points. Quality deco will not lose value and is often really special and mroe interesting than conteporary stuff

Do shop around too. We spent 3 months looking at ready made rings and loose diamonds before eventually finding my stone and getting it set to our specifications. It was a huge decision for me as it is the only thing (along with wedding ring, natch) that I wear every single day.

A day at Hatton Garden is an excellent way to start your research. You might actually decide you like something else other than diamonds (black pearls are amazing).

The kimberley process is the voluntary agreement that states (including the UK) have signed up to to govern trade in diamonds - if you scroll down this page it tells you what to ask when you buy a diamond

Birmingham's Jewelry Quarter is excellent. Hundreds (literally) of lovely individual shops.

Well worth a day trip to Brum.

We went to see a jeweller who was a friend's Uncle and designed it with him; then he sent us round the corner to Hatton Garden with instructions as to what size stones we'd need etc and we bought the stones ourselves from the gem dealers there then took them back to him to put in the ring he was making. SOOOO much cheaper than buying in shop. I was shocked how NOT expensive the individual stones were. That jeweller has moved out of London now, tho I think he may still do trips down to London to take orders, but The Clerkenwell Green Association just round the corner from Hatton Garden is a Craft organisation with lots of artist studios and purely from being so close to Hatton Garden lots of the artists in the studios are jewellers. Contact the Clerkenwell Green Association and they can give you contact details of jewellers who belong to their organisation and you can get one made as I did. They can even copy a design you've seen in a shop

Hatton Gardens is a great place for diamonds - I have always bought all my jewellery there. You need to go to all the shops find what you want and get them to give you their best prices - then play them off against each other.

Ref the 4 c's - a good colour would generally be from F to L
Clarity (how clear it is ) VVS1 to VS2

Have fun looking !

You people are amazing
Thank you so much for the advice. I promise I will let you know how I get on.

ime we bought my engagement ring/wedding/eternity & dh';s wedding rings from a high street jewellers and found them v reasonable. They were a huge chain and have one local to us and one on king st manchester and tbh I found their cs brill, the made the ring to my choice, had the size diamonds I wanted and it they were all cheaper than other places were offering..in fact much less than half price. They gave us an insurance certificate for the "full value" which imo was perfect.

btw, dh looked at a chopard ring for my eternity ring BUT "our" jewellers were the same price BUT for more diamonds, better clarity of diamonds and platinum. No contest .

BTW, rings are an investment....so a wise spend imo.

I wouldn't go to places such a beaverbrooks or earnest jones etc...they tend to offer lovely looking rings BUT the diamond clarity is poor yet the price is high.

You'll be lucky to get a H/I colour from ERnest Jones et al

sorry meant to say they weren't a huge chain...
When we first went we were a bit thinking they were some 2 bit company but oh how wrong we were..

sorry meant to say they weren't a huge chain...
When we first went we were a bit thinking they were some 2 bit company but oh how wrong we were..

sorry meant to say they weren't a huge chain...
When we first went we were a bit thinking they were some 2 bit company but oh how wrong we were..

Def stay away from big chain high street stores, like Signet Group (Ernest Jones, H Samuel), the quality will be inferior.

my friend had this one from samara james diamond half eternity ring it looked fantastic

We're also looking at eternity rings and i'm liking this style

the most.

Just unsure about ordering online. Have tried pretty much identical ring on in local very lovely jewellers and is more expensive and smaller diamonds.

Would you expert ladies recommend not going less than a G on colour?

Sorry for hijack!

Boodles are excellent.

This?

www.boodles.com/harmony-diamond-wedding-band-rose-gold.html

This is really different.

www.boodles.com/jazz-diamond-ring-649.html

www.boodles.com/roulette-rose-gold-flip-ring.html

Aargh. Posted on the wrong thread!

I bought beautiful diamond earrings by picking the stones (from Canada) and having them made, so I knew exactly what stones were in and the cost. I'd always choose to go with a smaller but purer stone - better clarity (IF at minimum for me) and color (as near to colorless as possible) than bling without quality. Whatever you buy, ask for a diamond grading report.

You can take a look at 4cs.gia.edu/en-us/diamond-buying-guide/ for some basics to help.

I hope you love whatever you end up with