Next year is our 10th wedding anniversary and my wife’s 40th birthday so I was planning a short break – I was thinking London and a wander down Hatton Gardens to let her choose a diamond eternity ring…

But, the question is, would a European/US city get me a better value ring (ie, get her a bigger and more sparkly diamond for the same extortionate price).

So – can anyone recommend alternative destinations and/or great boutique London hotels so I can start planning things in more detail?

Ta!

Got wife’s engagement rings at Hatten gardens

dunno if youd save more elsewhere, but it did feel all exclusive in the little cubicle from a diamond merchant

Hatton Garden is possibly the most expensive place in the UK to buy jewellery – unless you’re in the trade & have access to the dealers.

Zetter Hotel / Townhouse is a great little hotel / townhouse setup and just round the corner from Hatton Garden, that would be a nice convenient option for the ring and good restuarants / bars etc. all easy walking distance.

Jewellery quarter in Birmingham is probably a better option for buying an expensive ring in the UK.

Some good jewellers in The Burlington Arcade , Piccadilly.
If I remember to ask the missus which one has my kidney i’ll let you know.ha.
Tiffany’s just round the corner…
Hatton garden plus1.

Antwerp is a good place to go if you’re buying a diamond. A lot of cutting and polishing happens there so the prices are good.

Buying anything in euros at the moment helps too!

If of any use as a recommendation, my wife’s engagement ring is from Rennie on Hatton Garden, they’d be worth a look though of course YMMV!

Hatton Garden is possibly the most expensive place in the UK to buy jewellery

I did wonder this – whether you pay a premium for the reputation and the London location – but is it a fact?

I assume I wouldn’t pay any duty if I bought in the EU?

Hatton Gardens shopfront prices are quite high but can be very negotiable, as I accidentally discovered when buying a surprise ring for Mrs R (when I asked if they had a smaller one – she has very small fingers – the sales guy thought I meant “cheaper” and immediately knocked a third off the price, and re-sized it as part of the deal). We also found Hatton Garden was surprisingly cheap when we had a ring custom made for a stone she already had. How you reconcile that with the romantic buying-a-ring-together bit is an altogether different challenge; they know you don’t want to look cheap in front of your other half.

if your spending a few grand on a diamond a couple hundred quid either way isnt that much. the novelty and memories of shopping round there will be worth that. my mrs loves the fact hers comes from Hatton Garden. plus i really enjoyed learning about the different stones, cuts etc. and knowing your ring is 100% custom.

for a nice boutique hotel, right in the thick of it but not too touristy id recommend Charlotte Street Hotel. very nice…

second the Zetter hotel, perfect location and the townhouse for cocktails and then any one of the excellent restaurants (Foxlowe, modern pantry, moro, quality chop house, St John etc) plus a few min walk to hatton garden and the barbican for a bit of culture.

^^ St John

if your spending a few grand on a diamond a couple hundred quid either way isnt that much.

If that is the sort of difference to expect then I certainly agree with…

the novelty and memories of shopping round there will be worth that.

Which is what I was wanting to do for her. (We went to Dublin to choose her Engagement ring so it kinda mirrors that weekend).

Whilst I do agree about value for money, researching the cheapest place to buy her ring and basing your trip around that kinda removes the romance don’t you think? Just a thought.

toppers3933 clearly works in the jewellery trade.

Do your research. Spend less money on something totally useless. Spend the rest on your bikes. Some may imply this is selfish, but it’s only a token, so does the cost really equal greater amounts of love?

I don’t know about rings, but certainly a bit of casual research on watch prices (wouldn’t buy a dead pricey watch either, but was browsing out of curiousity) across the world shows little variation in prices.

andermt + 1 for Birmingham jewellery quarter,
or go and visit Amsterdam which is where I proposed to the current Mrs DaRC_L

Nope. Just a tongue in cheek comment about the gesture being somewhat lost by the frugal way in which he’s going about it. I’m sure she will love whatever she gets. Just don’t pick one and stand in the shop on your mobile seeing where you can find the same thing cheaper. 😀

But for what it’s worth the jewellery quarter in Birmingham is always really good. Just means you’ve got to go to Birmingham. You win some, you lose some.

+ 1 for Birmingham jewellery quarter

To me Hatton Gardens is just a tatty street near where I used to work where you go for a good salt-beef bagel, but it still has some traditional/romantic connotations to many and has the excitement of the other big city attractions. It would however be a brave man that suggested to their other half a trip to Birmingham for their anniversary.

The veneer of romance that covers the sometimes unpleasant realities of the jewellery trade and diamonds in particular is very thin, best not to scrape it off.

Interesting point though phil – my wife’s engagement ring wasn’t the cheapest and wasn’t the priciest, but we did get it on Hatton Garden and she does love it, it still cost less than most of my bikes though… you don’t have to spend like a footballer to get something nice that will be treasured.

toppers you’re totally correct of course. You buy the ring then secretly browse online later and get your money back once the replacement arrives.

by the frugal way in which he’s going about it.

You misunderstand me – I don’t want a cheap ring, but conversely I do not want to spend £3k on a ring that is only really worth £1500, just the same as I wouldn’t buy a car for £10k that I could buy elsewhere for £5k. I’s not frugality, it’s common sense.

oh shit i miss them salt beef sarnies….

I recently visited Hatton Garden to purchase a loose diamond. This was from a place with no shop front but an open plan office where you make an appointment. My other half and I went back to the same place so she could choose a ring setting and she absolutely loved it (the diamond and the experience). It was a good service with no pressure and it was nice to speak to someone who knew what they were talking about.

I must admit I also really enjoyed learning about diamonds and choosing the stone.. In terms of price, when I compare the diamond + setting cost from Hatton Garden to a similar ring in a high street jewellers round these parts (Newcastle) I know I certainly couldn’t have afforded anything nearly as nice.

Please don’t take me too seriously. It wasn’t meant as a serious criticism.

Nick – do you have a name for the place?

Both my wedding and engagement rings came from Bicknell in the Birmingham jewellery quarter. Big savings, lovely people plus I can pop in there whenever I want to get them polished and serviced. Big thumbs up from me.

John – the place is called Quality Diamonds, there’s a fair few reviews online which is how I decided on them. They have a comprehensive database of diamonds on their website and you can play around with cut, caret, clarity, colour, price etc. etc. They sell online as well but I wanted to view/inspect a number of stones before I bought one and it was quite interesting looking at a few different ones through a loupe! I found that sacrificing a bit on clarity and getting a better colour gave a diamond that looked better to the naked eye.

Hatton Garden is by far one of the cheapest places to buy quality diamonds in the UK if you know the right places to go. Steer away from the large shop front outfits, these will be a premium.

Recommend John Wyatt Jeweller, you need to call ahead for an appointment and it was one of those plain front door jobs where you get buzzed in and out but he is a quality guy and produces amazing diamond rings.

Cheers Nick – very helpful 🙂

another suggestion is the Diamond Quarter in New york. a whole street of dealers, where you get to choice the diamond and setting and then watch someone put it together. I was sure we would be mugged the moment we walked back down the street.

Pick one out yourself?

I mean, you’ve been married 10 years, you must have some idea what she likes…

It’s a risky strategy but worked for me on both engagement and eternity rings*

* (I made sure I had an option on returning in case of responses like ‘thats the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen’ or a plain old ‘no’)

brassneck – Member

…engagement and eternity rings…

…(responses like ‘thats the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen’ or a plain old ‘no’)

In that order? 🙂

Jewellery quarter in Birmingham is probably a better option for buying an expensive ring in the UK.

Yep, much cheaper than Hatton Gardens and, as the formum’s resident Brummy, I feel I should also point out that romantic can be done too.

Hotel – Malmaison, Le Tour or maybe even The Hyatt.
Jewellery – Bicknell’s is nice but I’ve not found them as cheap as others. Marlow’s is worth a visit but Crystalink is where I would spend my money.
Coffee/brunch – Urban Coffee is in the area of those shops and does good, simple food and bloody good coffee too.
Drinks – Ginger’s or Bureau for cocktails, The Jam House for funk, soul and dancing.
Food – Adams or Purnell’s for some of the finest Michelen starred food you’ll eat, Annexe for great French food.

Sorted. 😛

I like Birmingham, but it really, really wouldn’t go down well for a romantic and special weekend.

BTW, I am in Brum in three weeks, staying at the Crowne Plaza for a good friends 40th piss up weekend 🙂

Pick one out yourself?

I mean, you’ve been married 10 years, you must have some idea what she likes…
But that isn’t the point – she’ll enjoy looking for something. Yes I know what she will like (I sketched what I thought her wedding dress would be like and I was almost spot on 🙂 ) but she will enjoy the experience of choosing the perfect ring.