Suggestions for window shopping Dublin

[Trionacat]

10 years ago we were all in Paris doing some daytime champagne drinking, and got it into our heads to propose lifelong friendship to one another...culminating in a set of silver stackers as friendship rings... the 'Wifeys' were in need of an upgrade. Maybe 2 upgrades in 2 days was a bit excessive... here are the modest etsy rings (1.45mm wide) and the serendipitous finds (1.85mm wide). Unfortunately the Irish silver box wasn't included. By PS standards the eternity ring stones could be clearer, but the tsavs are a gorgeous rich green,the pink/ruby glows,as do my sapphires, the bands are well made, and it was just too good to pass up. It helped that the jeweler was charming and let me spend 3 hours chatting away while I louped every stone he had.

Hi these are fab ! Were they expensive?

 

[737liz]

Sound so great . Please post pics and details as I will be there soon

Where are you going Trionacat? We did both RI and Northern Ireland. Dublin-Belfast-Bushmills north coast. I'm not sure if you want general tips or jewellery stuff so i'm going to just tell you about everything. All my tips came from a friend who is from the border in NI. He was right about almost everything. First the general stuff, then I'll do every jewelry store i went into in Dublin!

Dublin: we did the Guinness tour which was expensive, crowded, but very well laid out and informative. The cold brew coffee with nitrogen was delicious. It helped that we had the whiskey, Guinness, and baileys versions. I spent the summer when I was 19 using Guinness as de facto a meal replacement, so enjoyed it. Our cab driver told us that we should not wander about with our bags open near the factory, as it was perfectly safe but not highly touristed. Dublin is an expensive city for hotels and restaurants compared to Italy, France or Spain..

If you are into libraries, Trinity college is probably on your list. But I actually prefer Marsh's library; it is not grand like Trinity, but it has more charm.

One of the most copious value for money meals I've eaten in Europe was Fitzpatricks bar and restaurant in county louth on the way up to Belfast from Dublin. It was fun. We bought a loaf of bread from there that lasted us 4 days between 3 girls as it was so dense; if you do go there definitely buy a loaf ( if you like soda bread).

Belfast: We did the black taxi tour on Easter Sunday so had a slightly stressed tour in the Catholic areas (our guide was protestant and didn't want to get cornered by a parade), which helped us begin to understand the recent history of the past century. I'd recommend a tour of some sort, it was a very educational 2 hours. The Gregory hotel was a great choice for us as we had a car, and full of charm. The Titanic museum was very informative but it had less tangible artifacts than I was expecting; mainly because not much is left.

If you go to the coast, take the coastal road for either the drive up or the return. It is slow but stunning.

The 'dark hedges', a spot used in many movies and shows, was so underwhelming that we had to laugh about it, but for some reason our photos looked amazing.

The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge is short. So if budget is a concern, you could walk up to it and then turn around and still get impressive views. Ditto Dunluce Castle.

Giants Causeway: if you don't pass through the visitors centre, it is free to access the coast and the site. It is smaller than photos would suggest but is impressive nonetheless.

Mussenden Temple: if you go here, don't drive to the main entrance. We parked at Bishops Gate, at the east end of the park, there is a path through the trees, and after a short walk the sea and the fields by the cliffs opened and we approached the Temple along the cliffs. At dusk it was a bit eerie but having the place alone was magical. Maybe it was the circumstances under which we visited, but this was our favorite walk.

Now for the jewels! I pretty much only looked for antique or vintage pieces.

If you are coming from the US, there are no great deals to be had. What you do have is so much selection in a very small area. I have never been to the NY diamond district, or LA, but I would put the selection down as being about 1/3 the size of the Brighton Lanes (UK), but with a higher proportion of the stock being larger rings. I went in looking for OEC rings under 6k, as that is what my upgrade is going to be, once I make up my mind regarding exactly what I want ( so at this rate, never). It was invaluable to be able to see so many rings in such a short period of time.

Powerscourt houses half a dozen antique and modern stores:

Courtville antiques/ Matthew Weldon: shop just changed ownership, with the lady semi-retiring. This is where the eternity stackers were bought, and where the new owner, Matthew, was very accommodating while I asked to see ring after ring, and explained everything from swedish hallmarking to grade setting inclusions. I spent a good 2+ hours there on my own loupeing everything. Prices are negotiable up to a certain point. He said that he would like to eventually get all inventory up online. https://www.matthewweldon.ie/ or http://www.courtvilleantiques.com/

Montecristo: The lady has all sorts of antiques, with a small window of jewelry. She was so very kind and looked up the name of a diamond book that helped her with antique cuts etc, and wrote it down for me. My friend bought some old keys from her and they weren't cheap, but I have a feeling rents are high there.

JM Weldons: they were lovely, knowledgeable, and had a safe full of trays of rings that they couldn't display. They had an ugly/beautiful 17th century rose cut ring set in coppery gold that I love/hated. If I had come in with a strong sense of what I wanted, they could have pulled a selection of what I wanted. However, I was dizzy from a solid 8 hours of staring at shiny things at that point and just was all over the place. Emeralds, sapphires, ruby eternities, carved bands, OECs, I was pointing to everything. https://weldons.ie/

Corrs: The jeweler/metalsmith Denis makes rings that are identical to the antique rings from the turn of the century. I eyed a tri-wire pierced gallery haloed perfection and assumed it was a true antique. When the front of house salesman, who was an older gentleman, said 'this is a brand new ring' I scoffed and said that I actually preferred antiques, and that this was an antique no? Well, he called Denis down from his workroom, and asked him to explain how he made the ring. Denis, also an older gentleman, proceeded to explain in detail how he draws the wire, shapes the wire, solders the wire, then draws the plate out, shapes it, cuts the pattern out, polishes, joins them all, etc etc, and voila: a brand new ring with all the charm and detail of my grandmothers rings. I got very excited and asked if they could set external stones. In short, yes they would, but hadn't a clue as to the business side of things. The owner was out that day and I had best to call back so he could deal with pricing etc. the youtube video on their website shows the jeweler making a ring- I have a feeling he'll be retiring soon. http://www.corrsjewellers.ie/

CM Weldon: They had modern jewelry, and the lady Renee was again, lovely. She, as well as the other unaffiliated Weldon stores, all had new French cut diamond bands. The cost for a new full eternity 1.25tcw was similar to what I had seen sold online. ( I'm still unsure of the rules for discussing prices) http://cmweldon.ie/

Delphi Antiques: Didn't seem very friendly the first time I went ( last year) and didn't want to look up to even let me in this time. Pity as they have an extensive collection in the window.

Empress: Fine for looking in the window as everything is on display there, but not worth going in. Prices are not great for the quality and it's hard to communicate what you want as the saleslady isn't knowledgeable on terminology or cut styles. I showed photos of french cuts and she brought out modern emerald cuts, baguettes, and some carre cuts and told me they were all one and the same.

Brereton: The ladies were lovely at the O'Connell St location, but were salespeople and therefore a bit less knowledgeable, this is where the target ring posted above came from. There are several locations, but for antiques, apparently the Capel Street location is best. https://www.brereton.ie/

weir and sons: Carrying mostly new stuff. I saw a big purple sapphire in the window that was gorgeous. My salesperson was a young man who knew quite a bit about colored stones considering he was not a gemologist. There was no hard sell, which I appreciated. They had some ok paraibas, unheated rubies, purple and lavender sapphires, which is rare for a B&M store. The store is extensive, and a few of the CS had lab reports. https://weirandsons.ie

Boodles: It is what it is. A high end store with very good salespeople. the Ashoka diamonds were fun to try on and unique. I nearly bought a 5 stone even though I didn't want to buy it- their salespeople are that good. https://www.boodles.com/

COSTUME JEWELERY at Rhinestone was a hoot. VERY overpriced, not sure of the genuine 'vintage/antique' nature of a lot on offer, but so much fun as long as you keep your wallet closed. I saw some great pieces that, had they been discounted by 75%, would have gone home with me. The salespeople were bubbly and chatty, and just showed me everything and anything that they had. It was a random find and I am so glad I went in. They had an old goldplated notepad on a chain that was used once upon a time for ladies attending a ball to write down the names of their dance partners... complete with little gold pen. https://www.dublintown.ie/business/rhinestones/

 

[redwood66]

@737lizakg that sounds wonderful and like a day I would have loved had I not been with two 20 something young men. I was lucky to get a couple hours in sweater shops.

 

[737liz]

I've become increasingly obsessed with the rose cut, it really was one of the worst looking stones I've ever seen, but it was fascinating. One of my other favourite stones from the trip was an OMC with a culet way off to the side and not a symmetrical facet on her. I guess I like the ugly ones!

 

[737liz]

@737lizakg that sounds wonderful and like a day I would have loved had I not been with two 20 something young men. I was lucky to get a couple hours in sweater shops.

Redwood, how was your trip?! Did you get lucky with the weather? We had some pretty cold rainy walks, which felt very, umm, 'authentic'. My friend bought a nice wooly hat from a woolen shop and we visited a farm and got to spend time watching lambs being born, which was cute, in a slimy sort of way! I hope you had a good trip with your boys, but yes, dragging them to bling shops probably would have meant literally dragging them! Any recommendations for the West and south coat of the island? Did you go to Dingle?

 

[redwood66]

Redwood, how was your trip?! Did you get lucky with the weather? We had some pretty cold rainy walks, which felt very, umm, 'authentic'. My friend bought a nice wooly hat from a woolen shop and we visited a farm and got to spend time watching lambs being born, which was cute, in a slimy sort of way! I hope you had a good trip with your boys, but yes, dragging them to bling shops probably would have meant literally dragging them! Any recommendations for the West and south coat of the island? Did you go to Dingle?

I put some pics in the random comments thread. We had a blast. Did the Ring of Kerry but not Dingle peninsula. We only had a week and that was definitely not enough time but it did give me a taste that makes me want to return with DH. The weather was gorgeous for us and the sun actually came out on multiple days. Though I heard from so many locals that this was the worst winter in ages. They had snow that shut down the whole country for a week. Literally the government said if you did not have a valid reason to be out then you could or would be fined if caught driving. The snow amounted to about 3 inches which where I live is a rather fine winter day.

Your trip sounds fun as well. Some more pics are in order. I would recommend Killarney as it is right next to the national park and many other sights. Quite touristy but not overwhelmingly so at this time of year. I like to travel off season. Our private driver did say since we saw the Kerry Cliffs that the Cliffs of Moher would not be necessary and they are so busy with tourists. We had the entire cliff walk to ourselves save one other couple, which was nice because we took pictures for each other.

 

[Trionacat]

Wow thank you what a fabulous source of information. Thank you
I'm fascinated with rose cuts too at the moment. Above is not my hand but I'm looking for more pics on this ring