Engagement ring from high street shop?

[Bluesea14]

Where did you get your wedding ring? I have been looking at one in hsamuel and can't find anything similar online. Apparently high street shops should be avoided but I'm not sure we have the budget for an independent jewellers. Looking to spend around £1k. My local city has 4 independent jewellers with the average ring price of around £3k

Nothing wrong with high street jewellery. They are cheaper because they buy in bulk

Our wedding bands H Samuel (didn’t have an engagement ring) same band two different size and they are going great and I love them (two different coloured gold) thick bands and both came to under £500. It’s the marriage that is important not the ring. DH offered to buy me one but never found one I liked

People get very snobby about these things, but who cares where the ring is from? Mine was from H Samuel I think? I still love it 15 years later!

My engagement ring is Jenny Packham from Goldsmiths (in the sale) and really hard to find a wedding ring to fit with it. Browsing in Ernest Jones sale not long before we got married we found the absolute perfect fit. They look amazing together and people can’t believe they’re not a set. Why should high street shops be avoided?

They’re not cheaper, their mark up is huge

OP have a look at Adelini online v good value

the price of the ring is broken down as

1. Loose diamond based on clarity/cut/size etc
2. cost of the metal used in the ring itself
3. The type of setting used to hold the diamond, eg how complex it is to do the workmanship
4. design charges (built in when buying from a retailer. H Samuel will be cheaper than de beers but doesn’t mean the design is better).

One option is to chose a loose diamond (or lab grown if you prefer) and get a jeweller to set it in the style of the H Samuel one.

Anyone any recommendation's for vintage sellers please.

My engagement ring and wedding ring are from moissanite.co.uk and DH’s ring is from the Beautiful Company. Moissanite is a more affordable alternative to diamonds.

Etsy, UK sellers!

Hatton garden or Birmingham jewellery quarter are good. Can get better rings for cheaper than you’d pay in high street.

wouldn’t Fiorese in China to make me what I wanted. I bought a few pieces from them and they have been great.

I got mine from Goldsmiths and it’s lovely. It was on a 50% off sale so it was a bargain.

Mine was £400 from H Samuel in the sale - I’m not planning on selling it so the value didn’t bother me. My wedding ring is moissanite and I think I prefer it - it’s more sparkly and it’s lab grown

People have the idea that jewellery is eternal and a vintage piece is the same as brand new or even better. The sad truth is that stones do wear - I've seen a white sapphire worn to death in no time at all and even hard diamonds get worn and nibbled at the edges. Settings also wear and after less than 30 years my engagement ring had to have extensive work on the claws. Intricate and beautiful filigree work wears and can be a nightmare to repair. Just be very aware what you are buying with a vintage piece.

Jewellery sales at your local auction house. If you go to a viewing they will have their jewellery expert who will appraised the rings. I have two rings bought at auction one I paid £700 high street value £1800 and one I paid £500 high street value £5K.

I always get them revalued for replacement cost for my insurance which is how I know high street value.
I prefer old cut diamonds - pre 1930s, but I have several in modern settings.
I also have my great granny’s ring that she bought in 1930 and you can still buy the same design on the high street.

It doesn’t have to be a solitaire diamond. Apart from how it looks, the ring needs to be practical - otherwise you’ll stop wearing it on a daily basis once the novelty wears off. Which is why, instead of a traditional engagement ring, I chose a half eternity ring with small diamonds and emeralds. It wasn’t super expensive and I still love it, and it’s been 4 decades.

Sure I use Blue Angel in Hatton Garden always had a great experience have been back to buy various pieces of jewellery. I had some earrings from my grandparents turned into my wedding ring and some amethyst earrings made for my Mum out of the metal left from the same earrings.

Do you have a blue light card? You can get discount in some of the high street jewelers, definitely goldsmiths.
nothing wrong with high street, you can afford what you can afford.

It’s not a “cool” brand, but tjc do affordable lab grown diamond rings, worth taking a look.

https://www.tjc.co.uk/jewellery/lab-grown-diamond-rings/?pmin=54.00&pmax=1%2C449.00&srule=priceAsc&start=0&sz=48&nolazy=true

There’s Hatton Garden jewellers with the shop fronts and then there is the arcades. I got mine from one of the arcades near the Holborn end of Hatton Garden. We wondered round and got some quotes from different stall holders and then chose the company (and quote) we liked the most. I literally took in a screenshot of the ring I liked, they interpreted the design, they 3D printed a model of it a few weeks later, we approved it. Then we looked at various stones of varying size and value. Once the stones were chosen they made the ring and a couple of months later it was ready for approval and collection.

I have a simple high street wedding band. Was given, and received, with love.

If you like it, are happy with the quality of stone and aren’t feeling ripped off, then get it.
I wouldn’t know E from a H, know what I am looking at for flaws when they let you inspect it and want it to sparkle. You want something you will be happy to wear everyday for hopefully the rest of your life. I wouldn’t worry about value, they all drop massively in price if you try and sell them which hopefully you won’t. If you like it go for it!

ours were £30 quid each from Argos. Still wearing mine 24years later husband lost his in the first week back at work. Somebody got lucky in a a bag of spuds.

I also recommend second hand. How about this one,OP?