Buying an engagement ring in London

[newboy1]

Hi everyone,

This forum has been really useful for getting a better understanding of the diamond scene. Before this, I was completely clueless. At least now I feel a bit more equipped to buy a good ring that I know is worth the money I spend on it.

The situation I''m in is that I will be proposing in about 1 week, and was always planning to buy from a shop as opposed to online. But then I found this forum a few days ago and now realise how much more it costs in the UK (I''m London based) as opposed to the US. But given the amount of time I have, buying online is not an option, and neither is buying from somewhere like Best Diamonds who will buy the diamond at trade price.

As I want to have a ring to propose with, my only option now is to buy from a store in London. I know Hatton Gardens has a mixed reputation here (although overall not a great reputation), but I reckon this is more to do with the fact that its not as good value as buying online. So the question is, where is the best place to buy a diamond ring in London, given that buying online is not an option for me? I know I''ll pay more than I would from online or somewhere like Best Diamonds, but I will have to take this as a trade off for being able to look at a ring in the shop and buy it that day. Does anyone have a recommended shops in Hatton Gardens or elsewhere in London that is reputable, has a good range and won''t rip me off?

I don''t know if it helps, but I''m planning to get something like this:

Round cut, 0.70 ct upwards, as clear and colourless as possible for my budget, with as good cut a cut as possible, budget of £3000 total.

Thanks!

 

[Lorelei]

Welcome to Pricescope

Indira at bestdiamonds sees clients by appointment, would that work for you?

 

[KittyBling]

Hi newboy1,

I''m from London too. I know you have said that buying online is not an option for you because of time constraints but is there no way you could propose with a place holder ring and then choose the ''forever'' ring together? That way you will be able to buy a top quality diamond from the US and save money. After lurking here on Pricescope for a year I honestly would not buy my engagement ring from London.

If this is really not an option for you then Dr Indira is a good suggestion.

I also wanted to say that if you are buying from Hatton Garden then please be cautious. I can''t recommend anyone because I have never worked with any of them directly but my uncle purchased a £5000.00 custom made engagement ring from a highly recommened shop there around 2 years ago.... a few months later the diamond was soo loose it was literally spinning around in the setting. In fact you could almost here it rattle when his fiancee would move her hand around! Some of the pave stones also fell out... So just be careful who you go with.

 

[stone-cold11]

This stone? Indira should be able call it in as she is also a dealer of CraftedbyInfinity stones.

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=view-id-diamond-infinity&id=304

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/5/2009 1:01:26 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
This stone? Indira should be able call it in as she is also a dealer of CraftedbyInfinity stones.

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=view-id-diamond-infinity&id=304

I think he needs it quickly SC, if this diamond is with Wink it would probably take a couple of days to get it to London, if there isn't a rush then it might work out of course. She might have some Infinity in stock already at bestdiamonds or from Antwerp that she can get hold of with speed.

 

[stone-cold11]

Ya, sorry, didn''t see that.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/5/2009 1:41:47 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
Ya, sorry, didn''t see that.

No probs stone, its a lovely rock by the look of it, a pity as it could have been a great choice.

 

[Maisie]

I would definitely see Indira. Her email address is:

[email protected]

I worked with her recently and she was wonderful. I live in the UK too. I can't recommend her highly enough.

 

[LD]

As another suggestion contact Luke or Clive www.Diamondgeezer.com I've bought lots of diamonds from them. Yes, they are internet based (in Birmingham) but if the diamond is in stock you can have it by special delivery the following day. Just thought you might want other options. By the way, whatever you do, DON'T pay £3k for a diamond that size. For half your budget you'll get an excellent diamond / ring. If you search under my name, you'll see a pear cut diamond I bought from them recently.

 

[WinkHPD]

Date: 7/5/2009 1:03:35 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 7/5/2009 1:01:26 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
This stone? Indira should be able call it in as she is also a dealer of CraftedbyInfinity stones.

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=view-id-diamond-infinity&id=304

I think he needs it quickly SC, if this diamond is with Wink it would probably take a couple of days to get it to London, if there isn''t a rush then it might work out of course. She might have some Infinity in stock already at bestdiamonds or from Antwerp that she can get hold of with speed.

I do have that diamond here and could ship it to Antwerp on Monday. they can immediately transship it to Indira. Money laundering and customs laws prohibit from shipping directly to Indira which would save time.

Wink

 

[Indira-London]

Thank you everyone for referring newboy1 - I would love to help him but I am afraid that his timescale is too short to choose from actually seeing the loose diamond first and then making the ring rather than via choosing the diamond via its online Infinity profile and just getting the ring ready - he and I spoke on Friday and by exception yesterday (though I do not normally work on Sundays).

The other alternative that I can suggest in the timescale is to propose with a bluff ring and then then choose the diamond and ring design with her.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 7/5/2009 7:59:21 PM
Author: Wink

Date: 7/5/2009 1:03:35 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 7/5/2009 1:01:26 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
This stone? Indira should be able call it in as she is also a dealer of CraftedbyInfinity stones.

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=view-id-diamond-infinity&id=304

I think he needs it quickly SC, if this diamond is with Wink it would probably take a couple of days to get it to London, if there isn''t a rush then it might work out of course. She might have some Infinity in stock already at bestdiamonds or from Antwerp that she can get hold of with speed.

I do have that diamond here and could ship it to Antwerp on Monday. they can immediately transship it to Indira. Money laundering and customs laws prohibit from shipping directly to Indira which would save time.

Wink

Thanks Sir Wink, so I know if this comes up again, then it would take at least a couple of days to get an Infinity from the USA to London?

 

[newboy1]

Thanks so much for all your responses. The option of using a placeholder ring and then shopping for the real ring together appeals to me, but I found out through my girlfriend’s friend that she would rather be surprised with a ring rather than look together, so i’ll try avoid this if possible to try and give her what she wants. 
LovingDiamonds- thanks for the link. I’ll take a look through that website and see if there is anything nice and in stock there- do you know if they deliver only to home addresses, and not a shop in London? I live with my girlfriend, and so having it delivered to the home address is not ideal (although possible if I get my flatmate in on the act and send it to him etc).

Also, I’m a bit confused by what you said about not paying £3k for a diamond that size. Is that because £3k should get me something bigger, and therefore if I have a budget of £3k I should aim for more than 0.70ct? Or do you mean that with this budget I should get a stone with much better clarity/colour/cut etc? I’ve saved up and want to spend around £3k on her, so what would you guys consider to be a good round diamond ring for this amount?
Stone-Cold11- the ring you sent looks amazing- does anyone know if that website (www.diamondgeezer.com) stock CraftedbyInfinity stones as well?

The more I read about Hatton Gardens, the more sceptical I get. And I’ve heard terrible things about Ernest Jones too, so if Diamond Geezer has a good reputation here, and can get the ring to me by Friday, they might be my best bet.

 

[Indira-London]

Date: 7/6/2009 4:39:27 AM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 7/5/2009 7:59:21 PM
Author: Wink

Date: 7/5/2009 1:03:35 PM
Author: Lorelei

Date: 7/5/2009 1:01:26 PM
Author: Stone-cold11
This stone? Indira should be able call it in as she is also a dealer of CraftedbyInfinity stones.

http://www.highperformancediamonds.com/index.php?page=view-id-diamond-infinity&id=304

I think he needs it quickly SC, if this diamond is with Wink it would probably take a couple of days to get it to London, if there isn''t a rush then it might work out of course. She might have some Infinity in stock already at bestdiamonds or from Antwerp that she can get hold of with speed.

I do have that diamond here and could ship it to Antwerp on Monday. they can immediately transship it to Indira. Money laundering and customs laws prohibit from shipping directly to Indira which would save time.

Wink

Thanks Sir Wink, so I know if this comes up again, then it would take at least a couple of days to get an Infinity from the USA to London?

Actually we have diamonds shipped back/forth between US/Antwerp/UK and vice versa all the time - usually it takes a couple of days to get a diamond from the US to Antwerp and then I get diamonds from Antwerp once a week so that for Infinity diamonds if someone contacts me one week - I can usually show them diamonds the following week: I gather together the best diamonds available from Antwerp/US/any other location! As most clients who come to see me have a flexible a 4-6 week timescale for selecting and getting the ring ready, this process works.

Unfortunately, the timescale for Newbie1 is only 5 days (to this Friday) so unless he chose a diamond online, there is not enough time to see the diamond in person first and then make the ring.

 

[Lorelei]

Thanks Indira, I thought it would take a couple of days at least!