Where in the world to buy a diamond?

[rango]

To anyone with a bit of honest advice!!

We''re a diamond naive couple, recently engaged, and (surprise, surprise!) we want to buy a diamond for the engagement ring. Having never been engaged before, and slightly bewildered by the jargon and expense of these delightful gems, we would be grateful for any advice as to where to start. We''re in the UK, but we''re more than happy for an excuse for a holiday, so if there are any corners of the world a little cheaper than good old England, we''d be glad of some insider tips!

So come on all you diamond experts, give us a clue as to what to do next!!

Thanks very much

Dazed and Confused!

 

[valeria101]

Hi! Welcome to Pricescope!

If you are looking for a cheaper corner of the world than the UK, then you are in luck... since most of them are. Well, would you consider buying online? It seems that starting your search for a diamond online is a good start (at least quite a few people on Pricescope seem to thing so too) even if you will end up buying from a shop accross the street. But If this is your first attempt to look into what makes the price of a diamond, I guess there is nothing like browsing a few sites to see what combination of those four C's meets your taste and which of these Cs is most important to you. The Pricescope crowd (on average) seems to favor precise cutting which deliver the most sparkle and light out of a stone. There are also some colored diamonds (yellows, so far) lurking around. I really don't think there are too many places (virtual or not) where you can see somuch detail about a diamlond as at GoodOldGold and maybe you would like to take a look atWWW to get an idea about the choices out there (there are many more than this, but it is a start). I am sure you have allready seen all those posts which diamond choices... so, this is how Pricescope works. Hope you will find it helpful too!

 

[flyingharp]

Greetings,

Good to hear from someone else this side of the pond. As I've discovered myself, the selection of diamonds here in the UK is limited to what's in the ring that you select in the shop window, unless you go to one of the fancy designer shops where you can expect to pay a fortune. Apparently there's just no demand for loose diamonds - people here just want a "nice ring". Shame...

This attitude partly explains the consequent lack of knowledge on the part of sales staff, even in proper jewellers - most of the time, the sales schpiel consists of them pointing to the standard De Beers 4C's card-display, followed by a display of various rings, accompanied by "Oooh, there's a nice stone, now, that's nice too..."

If you want to be educated (which you definitely should) you could do worse than go to www.goodoldgold.com and devour it.

My opinion is that you should definitely consider buying a loose diamond online with a reputable company. It'll be cheaper (apples for apples) than buying at home, even after factoring in postage and taxes. According to HM C&E, loose diamonds do not attract duty (mounted stones count as jewellery, which attracts 5% duty) but you do have to pay 17.5% VAT. Once you've chosen your diamond, you can also buy the setting online or find (or design!) a nice one locally and get your friendly neighbourhood jeweller to set it.

I, too, was concerned about making such a major purchase online, but these fears were allayed when I realized that I could get my diamond appraised (either in the USA or here) by an independent appraiser to make sure I was getting the full monty before parting with any money (I think this only applies to US-based appraisers, though). Once you're satisfied with the appraisal, you wire the money to the seller and the appraiser sends the stone to you. Et voila!

But definitely do the homework (and legwork - or fingerwork) and come to an informed decision on the stone you want, (and this is important..) in the price-range you can afford.

I'm really enjoying the diamond-hunting experience. Plus you get to meet all sorts of cool people here, too! Pity you can only get engaged once...

 

[goldenringlets]

I too live in the UK. I've found a wide range of prices in London - Bond Street very expensive, Hatton Gardens not as high, and Chelsea seemingly not so bad for antique rings. I have found that the only way one can tell what a ring looks like on the hand is to try on lots. Doing this on Bond Street was more daunting that Hatton Gardens, where everyone was quite friendly. A recently engaged friend felt it was worthwhile to go to Antwerp where they purchased their diamonds, as well as had their Tiffany style setting copied. I've also found that when I asked the color (colour!) of stones, I have been told a range - an unusual answer. One dealer claimed his store's certificate of a new ring was more important that any gemlogical institutes (which I'm not sure I believed).

A big difference between American selling and English selling, for any product I believe, is that Americans vendors are more likely to offer information, whereas the English vendor wait to be asked. Hence, it pays for you to be educated.

On the other hand, ignorance is bliss.

A trip to Hatton Gardens might be worthwhile given the sheer density of shops, many of which are closed on Saturdays, as is, I believe, the Bleeding Heart pub, a great place for a meal.

Goldenringlets

 

[rango]

Thanks everyone for your speedy hints and tips!

We've already had a quick look at goodoldgold.com and much improved our understanding of diamonds in the last 5 minutes! (not too difficult!). We'll have proper look around the web once we are a bit more diamond literate!

One of us is particularly excited about trying on lots of rings in London(!), and we're both wondering if it might be worth going to Antwerp once we know what we're looking for.

Any more advice about Antwerp from anyone in the know? Is it much cheaper? How about the different grading system used there? A problem, or nothing for us to worry about?

If we're being too cheeky asking loads of questions please let us know - but it really is very helpful. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[goldenringlets]

Where do you live in the UK?

Birmingham historically was famous for jewelry, but I don't know if it is anymore.

Another thing - I have found that in looking for rings in the Cotswolds and Oxford, that the more expensive rings were not on display; hence, you might consider asking if you know what you're looking for.

There is another discussion currently on-going about importing rings to the UK - take a look at it - it is very helpful.

The other curious thing I've noted is that diamond dealers do seem to genuinely advise on what looks best - hence we've been discouraged from buying a big stone out of a sense of "taste".
My sense is that Americans do it a bit bigger - just a anthropologic observation, really - and that many English still find a large stone to be gaudy.


We're only a little bit ahead of you on all this - good luck.

One more question - have you announced your engagement or your waiting for the ring?
Goldenringlets

 

[flyingharp]

Re: Antwerp

Paul-Antwerp has had quite a few recommendations from folk on this list. For example https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/does-goodoldgold-send-diamonds-to-the-united-kingdom.7887/

Might be worth contacting him? Also Giangi seems to have his finger on the pulse as far as the European diamond market goes...

As far as diamond grading certificates go, the one's you're most likely to bump into are GIA, HRD (Hoge Rood voor Diamant - Belgian Diamond High Council), IGI and EGL. The latter two appear to be dodgier than the others, esp. EGL certs from Israel.

 

[robinmotogp]

I live in London and recently bought a diamond online through bluenile.co.uk. They are one of the largest online diamond / ring / jewelry internet sellers, and the range and selection was excellent.

I was quite new to diamonds, but did some research to figure out what I thought was important to us and for our budget.

I ended up ordering a very nice GIA-certified 0.44c E/VVS2 round brilliant cut solitaire diamond from them. Excellent symmetry, Excellent polish, not a brilliance scope GCAL diamond, but very very fiery and sparkly.

It was around £750 + VAT = £900. For the excellent quality of the loose diamond, I think this was very good value.

The diamond shipped from Blue Diamond''s European office in Antwerp, and arrived via courier in about 3 days.

I investigated a setting at a jeweller in Knightsbridge, but was put off by their attitude, as ell as the attitude of most of the Hatton Garden jewellers. If the stone wasn''t purchased from them, they weren''t very fussed to have your business. I found a very nice gem setting specialist in Hatton Gardens called Tobi Gem setting, and they were more than happy to set the stone for us.

Now it''s just up to me to propose as we''ve planned most everything else about the wedding already ... doing everything backwards!

Best of luck, and I''m happy to help anyone with their diamond ruminations on bluenile UK.

Cheers,

-r