Best Jewelers in London for Diamond Engagement Rings

You are probably already familiar with Diamond District if you are from the US. Like most US cities, London is a reasonably well-planned city. The city has a clean and vibrant Central Business District.

Close to London's CBD is the city's version of a diamond district, known as Hatton Garden. Having gotten its name from Sir Christopher Hatton, Hatton Garden is a commercial street in the Holborn district. Initially, it began as a mansion for the Hattons. With time, developers turned this mansion and adjacent gardens into a plush residential development. The Hatton Garden emerged as one of London's most famous diamond trading centers.

The center boasts approximately 300 jewelry outlets. Hatton Garden has hosted prominent jewelry merchandisers throughout its existence, including, among others, DeBeers, Regency Jewels, Webley London, and Hearts of London.

Like most diamond trading centers, Hatton Garden has numerous advantages and pitfalls. For starters, it is an excellent place to bag fair bargains on diamonds—fair, in this sense, implies exceptional quality at reasonably affordable prices. As mentioned, the street features plenty of jewelry stores, each of which endeavors to outdo others to market their merchandise.

Apart from quality and fair rates, the Hatton Garden also promises variety. Whether you are looking for loose diamonds, diamond engagement rings, or solitaires, the Hatton Garden has it all.

Furthermore, diamond merchants in Hatton deal in various brands, and brand loyalty is paramount when it comes to jewelry. You want to buy from a renowned brand to get quality— Tiffany & Co is one of the district's favored jewelry merchants.

The most prominent advantage of Hatton Garden is its well-advanced security offerings. Unlike most diamond districts, this street features additional security measures. As you may know, shopping for any jewelry comes with concerns. Thankfully, the Hatton Garden features an extensive underground network of vaults. Therefore, it is not only easy to buy diamonds and other jewelry on this street, but you can also store them under tight safety conditions.

However, please remember that the UK is not among the top ten diamond-producing countries. Therefore, much of the trade at the Hatton Garden deals with imported diamonds. Also, like every other imported product, imported jewelry comes with hefty markups.

For instance, the UK's default Sales Tax Rate (STR) is 20 percent, which applies to all goods not locally produced, including jewelry. The default rate is nearly four times what countries like the United Arab Emirates charge for similar merchandise. But do not think importing your diamonds from the UAE alone is cheaper. If you escape the STR, you will still pay about 20 percent in VAT. Therefore, you will be better off buying locally than importing diamonds from other countries.

Please note diamonds cost higher in the UK than in countries that mine them due to the incidental costs that come with value addition. As always, it is the consumer like you who shoulders these markups.

Also, as a diamond trading center, prices are only sometimes stable. It is common to find massive price variations for the same quality of a diamond. It all comes down to how much of your attention these merchants can get, which is a common drawback because you cannot expect everyone to play by the rules. You will occasionally bump into merchants that offer their diamonds at industry-competitive rates. But if you are not lucky, you could pay exorbitantly for a not-so-great quality.

Typically, diamond trading centers should offer variety and affordability in one package, and to some extent, they do. But for the most part, these centers could be better than you may think. If you weigh the benefits of shopping at a diamond trading center against the drawbacks, the scale will almost always tilt toward the drawbacks. Thus, Hatton Garden may not be an ideal place for buying diamonds in London after all.

First, and as already mentioned, prices are only sometimes standardized. Unstable prices translate into significant differentiation, which may work for jewelry traders. But it will indeed not work to the advantage of a diamond buyer. As a buyer, you should feel sure about getting good value for your money, so you must begin by understanding how gem experts price diamonds. This knowledge will help you establish whether a given price tag is fair. It will also help you when it comes to haggling. Price negotiations only make sense when you understand the prevailing industry rates.

We discussed variety as a benefit of shopping for diamonds in the Hatton Garden, though diversity can be a two-edged sword. When fewer forms of the same merchandise exist, your judgment of the best quality may be compromised. You need a market where the flow of jewelry is well-regulated so that you can tell which form of diamond is trending. You will also understand the most prestigious shapes and popular color shades, among other parameters. Diamond trends in Russia differ from those in the US, so every diamond that gets into the UK should be standardized for quality assurance.

We also highlighted the Hatton Garden as one of the most secure diamond streets globally, but only when four men changed the narrative. In April 2015, Hatton Garden witnessed one of the most audacious jewelry heists in recent history. According to a CNN news article, the carefully-planned and meticulously-executed robbery targeted a 6-foot-thick wall. When it was finally over, the villains made away with jewelry merchandise worth £14 million. The incident proved that diamond trading centers might take reasonable proactive measures against crime but are not entirely theft-proof.

Right off the bat, your best bet when shopping for diamonds in London is to buy online. We will cover a few advantages of buying diamonds online later. But for some reason, you might consider buying diamonds from a brick-and-mortar outlet in Hatton Garden. To get a great bargain, you should heed the following standard precautions.

Assess the 4Cs

You are probably already familiar with the four main parameters to consider when choosing diamonds: Carat, Cut, Color, and Clarity. Each of these factors impacts the price of diamonds in one way or another. For example, Ideal Cut diamonds are pretty costly. The same holds for flawless diamonds.

To get it right:

1. Establish your tastes and preferences.
2. Assess your budget needs.
3. If you can afford it, settle for nothing but top-quality diamonds.

However, your budget may not be sufficient for the quality you desire. In such cases, you may consider sacrificing any component of the four Cs, though it is usually a tricky balancing act. Thankfully, you may enlist the services of a certified gem consultant.

Check for Grading Information

After establishing your needs and finding a diamond store, could you check the grading information? Most jewelry merchants in Hatton Garden sell their diamonds along with grading certificates. But as it were, not all grading certificates are reliable. Thus, it would be best to trust certifications from reputed organizations like the GIA and the AGS.

A diamond grading report from the GIA covers all the Four Cs. After analyzing such documents, you can determine whether the price tag is worth it. But it is not all that the certifications contain. Besides the Four Cs, grading reports from reputable organizations also provide information on other parameters, such as the diamond's width, depth, and table size. The findings may also consider details like symmetry, polish, and finish. All these aspects go into determining the final price of the gemstone.

Take Your Time

After you take care of every other precaution, take your time and sample all the available offers. With all factors remaining constant, remember that diamond prices vary from store to store.

Please only fall for sellers that appear to be rushing you into buying their diamonds because their prices may be equally high even if they are of high quality. Take your time and compare prices across as many stores as possible. We must again reiterate that the best place to compare prices is online.

Buying diamonds online has numerous advantages, but we will highlight some. For starters, you can shop from the convenience of your residence. It does not matter where you are in London; you only need to place your order. Then, wait for the store to deliver your jewelry.

Shopping for diamonds online also enables you to compare prices, which is not easy in brick-and-mortar because you would need to physically walk from store to store. However, the case is quite different when shopping online. You can compare prices in as many stores as possible in the same window. Some stores have incorporated price calculators that you can only operate online. Price calculators come with respective fields. You fill these fields with various parameters such as color, carat weight, etc. Each time you do, the calculator estimates your diamond's price.

Another notable significance of buying online is that you get variety. It is often strenuous walking through an entire physical store scouting for your preferred diamond. But when shopping online, you can seamlessly sample through the displays. You do not have to worry about the visual appeal of these displays either. Some stores make use of 360-display technology. With this technology, you can examine a diamond from all dimensions—a visual appeal nearly as realistic as a physical store.

But buying online only sometimes guarantees the best deals, so you must insist on trading only with reliable diamond dealers.

First, reputed diamond traders offer variety; regardless of the design, shape, or style you require, they will have it. From their vast stockpile of diamonds, you are likely to find a custom-made stone for you. Whether you need halo settings or custom solitaire rings, you will always find them with professional diamond dealers. That way, you can save time getting the seller to custom-design your diamond.

Another reason you might consider reputed stores is their fantastic feedback. Shopping for jewelry is primarily a learning experience. It does not matter how often you have done it; you will always have something new to learn. As you shop for the stone, questions will keep popping up. Such issues vary depending on the reasons you are buying the diamond. For example, you'll need to ask about a diamond engagement ring thoroughly. The last thing you want is to buy a ring your significant other finds less romantic. So, you would deserve a professional store that can offer interactive feedback. Such feedback could be through online chat support, phone calls, or quick emails.

Reliable online diamond merchants also deal with high-end, luxurious brands, such as Ritani, Verragio, Vatche, and Danhov, to mention but a few. These are some brands you may not find in the London diamond district. But if you somehow do, their prices will be higher than what reputable diamond stores charge.

Last but not least, reliable stores come with exceptional returns policies. Such policies often come in handy if you need to make a purchase return. A notable mention here is the Blue Nile, which offers exquisitely-cut diamonds and is locally available. You may desire a brick-and-mortar experience after sampling their offers online. In that case, you can head to their physical offices in Dublin.

London is a prestigious city, and that tag reflects nowhere else in the city's commerce and industry. Most commodities tend to be high priced in London than in neighboring cities, which also holds for jewelry prices. With that in mind, you should go shopping with only one mission: to get it right. Moreover, because retail dynamics are often challenging, you should always buy diamonds from reputable dealers. We recommend buying your diamonds online. But if you prefer a physical shop, consider Hatton Garden, the heart of London's diamond industry.