London - GIA Diamond

[Mistaboo2008]

Hi

can anyone help me I am looking to buy a GIA Certificated diamond in London, can anyone recommend any contacts/stores they have used and gotten good value from please ?

Many thanks

 

[gm89uk]

Hi Mistaboo,

I am also a shopper from the UK. I shopped around extensively in Brick & Mortar stores and found Diamond Heaven to be very helpful and competitively priced. Ultimately although their prices were very reasonable I ended up buying from James Allen in the US due to the difficulty of coming across a diamond of your specified requirements with ideal cut proportions. I did buy blind with nothing but a video (on JA) and numbers (I could not wait for the ASET/ Idealscope images due to time constraints). I have to say it very much paid off to listen to the guys here and what they suggest when they say cut is king.

Unfortunately UK venders don't seem to have caught up with posting high quality videos of their diamonds, so it makes online buying for a good eye clean SI1 / even SI2 impossible from just photos.

If you're not under time constraints, with a video, an assessment based on the vender online, an ASET/Idealscope image you can be fairly certain of what you are getting! I would think about rather than just sticking to local produce.

 

[egemnoel]

Ask the people on this forum to find you one then speak with 77diamond and ask them to call it in for the same price. You will save plenty of money and get a superb diamond as the same time. Don't just limit to GIA certs also look at AGS certs.

 

[Coralfish]

Hi Mistaboo

Depending on your definition of value. If I had a healthy budget and wanted a great round brilliant diamond that I could set eyes on first in London I would probably go with an Infinity diamond. They are cut by Paul Slegers in Antwerp and I think - I'm not sure whether she's retired so my post is probably far from helpful! - their agent in London is Indira Marchant. I've never dealt with them but have been so impressed by posts from Paul and Wink, and the explanations of what makes an Infinity diamond so good. They used to cut Infinity Princesses but unfortunately demand means they don't carry them in stock any more.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-new-infinity-diamond-from-wink-jones-and-dr-indira-marchant.110727/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/my-new-infinity-diamond-from-wink-jones-and-dr-indira-marchant.110727/[/URL]

http://www.designsbyindigo.co.uk/index.html

http://www.infinitydiamonds.be/web/home/

http://highperformancediamonds.com/

They won't be the cheapest... but value means different things to everyone - if you simply mean a good well cut well priced diamond I would go with James Allen or Blue Nile - the process is very straightforward with a good returns policy ($60 for James allen, um... 40 euro for Blue Nile? Within 30 days [of either ship date or date of receipt - please check]). Post on here for advice narrowing your selection and you'll probably be very happy with the result. If you want something other than a modern round brilliant other overseas vendors will be recommended too.

If you do go with the overseas option be aware that on loose stones VAT is 20%, on set jewellery you have duty on top of that.

 

[Snowdrop13]

I'd second all the advice above! I'm in the UK too and find it incredibly frustrating that it is so difficult to access a good range of quality diamonds with all the facts available. I have bought from the US in the past and although it might seem scary/daunting you can come here to get advice on the stones you choose. You may even find that despite the duty and other taxes it is still cheaper to do it that way anyway.

I was looking in the window of a local "high end" jeweller the other day and gasping at the prices- there was a fancy yellow diamond ring costing £150,000. The stone did not appear to be more that 1ct size but had a fancy double halo setting- I'm fairly sure you could have achieved the same look for a fraction of that by using an online vendor.

 

[John P]

Hi Mistaboo

Depending on your definition of value. If I had a healthy budget and wanted a great round brilliant diamond that I could set eyes on first in London I would probably go with an Infinity diamond. They are cut by Paul Slegers in Antwerp and I think - I'm not sure whether she's retired so my post is probably far from helpful! - their agent in London is Indira Marchant. I've never dealt with them but have been so impressed by posts from Paul and Wink, and the explanations of what makes an Infinity diamond so good.

Thank you for the kind mention Coralfish. One clarification; Dr. Marchant is somewhat retired. Londoners can now find us with Fortrez Diamonds. They're an authorized Crafted By Infinity Dealer with an office in the Royal Exchange.

http://www.fortrez.com/

 

[Coralfish]

Thanks John for the update.

I didn't realise you were the third part of the Pricescope Infinity Trinity! Makes sense now as I've learnt so much from your posts over the years. Not sure how I missed that.

 

[Snowdrop13]

Lovely website, good to know there are some options over here after all, thank you!

 

[Acinom]

You could also contact Rob van Beurden of Diamond House in Antwerp. They used to work together with dr Indira Marchant before she retired but now are working directly with London based customers too.

 

[decisively_unsure]

Hi

can anyone help me I am looking to buy a GIA Certificated diamond in London, can anyone recommend any contacts/stores they have used and gotten good value from please ?

Many thanks

I strongly recommend Cool Diamonds in Hatton Garden. Appointment only. Much much cheaper than Bond Street and stores, and you can get a shortlist of stones and settings to view at their offices. They have plenty of gorgeous, timeless settings like the "Fabienne" and "Lucy" settings.

Photos and scope images are no substitute for seeing diamonds in person. Some stones look a bit "off" on the specs but can be very dazzling and unique in real life. However, if you are going GIA then do try to for a "triple excellent" stone.

Unlike a lot of online stores, who just have a database of stones that they can order, Cool Diamonds hand picks their own diamonds and holds inventory.

 

[decisively_unsure]

Good evening, just a quick update, the sites are:

http://www.cooldiamonds.com and the jewellery maker: http://www.dcjewellery.com,,, suggest at least that you go in for an appointment & look at some stuff, lovely guys & a good experience to spend an afternoon walking around Hatton Garden to compare.

PS there is no affiliation aside from being a customer on a few occasions.