Engagement rings and diamonds in Antwerp

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cernunnos

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Just recently went looking for an engagement ring with herself and the story is well worth sharing for those looking to save thousands of euro!

We went to some of the well known jewellers around Dublin and Leinster, the ones just off Grafton street and elsewhere, were given champagne and chocolates and a salesperson presented us with various rings for herself to try on. Herself was loving it but i was not as i wanted value for money. Also if you work for certain big consultancy companies in Dublin and you present a company card to some of these jewellers off Grafton street you automatically get at least 20% off.... so i had a saddle on my back as soon as i walked in the door!

Did some more research and heard on the grapevine that Antwerp in Belgium is the place to go. Some message boards did not fill me with confidence about this but on digging further i found out that some of the message board moderators were jewellers (true for www.weddingsonline.ie anyhoow).... so i headed for Antwerp.

Ryanair fly into Charleroi airport south of Brussels - www.ryanair.com
There is a shuttle bus from the airport to the train station and a direct train from Charleroi South to Antwerp Central -
Stayed in the Alfa De Keyser hotel which is 50 yards from central train station - [broken link removed]
Use Mapquest to get your bearings in the city www.mapquest.com
You can have your complete itinerary planned and printed out before you set foot out your front door.

All travel and accomodation cost us €450 total for 4 days and can probably be had for less depending on when you book.

There is an issue in Antwerp with dodgy jewelers. To combat this the Antwerp Diamond Jewellers Association has been set up by the government - [broken link removed] It can't tell you who not to go to so it informs you of who you should go to: check out the members section. The current 5 members were located within 250 metres of the hotelwe stayed in: check the map on that site.

I couldn't praise those 5 jewellers highly enough. We met with gemologists and jewellry designers with huge amounts of experience and knowledge. They each sat us down and told us different bits of information about choosing rings, ring settings, characteristics of diamonds, what suited herselfs hands, etc. in much more detail that any printout on 'The 4 C's' (which are the basics and you must know anyhow if your reading this thread) or any salesperson could. The emphasis with these jewellers is the ring itself and the design of it as the diamond is governed by how much you intend spending afterwards. The knowledge we gained will not be found in Ireland cause if it was we would all know we're being rode when it comes to the price of diamonds

In the end we designed our own ring and had it made by Philippe Harold - [broken link removed]. Harold is a gentleman, full of common sense and helpful suggestions with his vast experience. It took 2 weeks to make the ring and he kept us well informed over email including pictures of the ring. I went out again 2 weeks later to collect it: absolutely no problems. He doesn't work Saturdays because as he says himself "professionals don't work weekends" and he was extremely professional in his approach and dealings with us.

Certification is a very important aspect of buying any diamond and all members of the ADJA provide certs, IGI is the most common one. I was afraid of losing the cert on my way home so i sent it by registered post ;) You might want to do the same!

If you intend getting a ring the time you are there this is also very possible. Each member of the ADJA has various rings which you can simply choose and then select a diamond for depending on your budget - DiamondLand specialises in this 'same day' purchase model. We went for 4 days which allowed us plenty of time to learn about rings and diamonds from all the experts so if possible go for at least 2 days.

I reckon we saved at least €1500 on the ring by going to Antwerp and we had a great holiday also as it is a great spot for a city-break.

In a nutshell get your ass over to Antwerp as it was fantastic. Herself has a smile on her face cause she has a fantastic ring and i have a smile on my face cause i got fantastic value (and she said yes :)
 
If you want a good diamond ring you should try the De Beers outlet shop at the Big Hole in Kimberley, South Africa. Definitely not the cheapest option but a great trip.
 
I got a de beers ring in Venice for good value....a jewellery shop in the piazza san marco...fabulous

I love it!!
 
have to agree with the first poster about dublin.
I had exact same experience when I was looking for a diamond engagement ring (In DUblin). Found the Antwerp offer in a slightly different way. Was pointed to www.diamant.ie (on merrion sq.) by a ladyfriend of mine. They bring Diamonds, (rings settings etc) direct from wholesale jeweller in Antwerp.
Myself and the soon to be Missus, Got ours valued and it was 60% more than we paid for it. Know that insurace companies add a couple of quid but thats still incredible. Probably Saved a couple of grand on what we were looking at, also learned a hell of a lot more from them about rings and diamonds then off the grafton street guys.
To be honest the service was fantastic, they give you a private meeting, talk about budgets, diamond types costs, settings everything.... Even if you were going to buy somewhere else or fly to Antwerp you should use them to learn about diamonds..
Defo recommend using the Antwerp connection, whether through Diamant or by going flying over there (see first poster Ive never been). It really is ridiculous that you can still save over a grand In Ireland by using the European connection.
 
I cannot agree more. Mr. Liner and I also went Ryanair to Brussels and got the train to Antwerp. We purchased from Paul in Orsinis. [broken link removed] We made a huge saving and had a nice city break at the same time. And if they don't have the size, quality, colour, shape that you want, they can get it for you, which is what we did - we just flew Ryanair back again a week later to collect it. We didn't even have to fly back to collect it if we didn't want to - they would have fedexed it to us under insurance but we preferred to go back ourselves. You will definitely get better value for your money in Antwerp. We got a further reduction on the price of the ring if we paid cash. It's win, win.
 
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Do you not feel that the diamond market is a false one controlled by De Beers who keep the price artificially high? Can you really tell the difference between diamond and cubic zirconia? Do you think diamond is worth the cost difference? I can't understand why people pay big money for such things.
 
michaelm, I agree with you whole heartedly! I know this is slightly off topic but I have often wondered in the past has anyone braved it and bought a ring with a different stone!??

I have seen different gem stones but they are usually surounded or flanked by diamonds. I know of only one person who braved it and went for emerald stones. I am sure there is some history behind why it's a Diamond (Diamonds are forever etc), but would the money not be better spent going to a jewlery designer (colleges in Ireland produce many every year) and getting one personalised with different gemstones/unusual mounts etc.

I hate to say it, but too many people wear the same standard engagement rings, with the only varient being on sizes and sparkle!!
 
I agree too, they all look the same. The reason that everyone has diamonds for their ring is brilliant marketing on the part of De Beers, who also promoted the fashion for eternity rings when new mines were discovered with smaller diamonds.
 
for diamonds in dublin the only place for transparency and value for money is "Irish Rubies" on marlborough street. its slightly off the beat and track and seems an unfashionable place to purcahse a diamond but when you see how far your money goes compared to grafton st you will be delighted. forget about antwerp the same deals can be had in ireland
 
Bought "our" ring in Antwerp at the beginning of August. Probably didn't 'save' money, as we spent the same amount as we budgeted on a better quality rock, but the same one over here is being quoted at 2,000+ higher than we paid. IMO it's well worth doing.

You may benefit from some observations: When you arrive (by train) you are in the diamond district, as evidences by the dozens of diamond shops; but we were warned not to buy in the ones around the station- they are typically smaller and cheaper looking.

Very few of the jewelers are affiliated with the Belgian Diamond sellers association; I can’t remember the name, so that was a bit off-putting. We bought in one that wasn’t a member but we had the certificate so reckoned it was OK.

If you go to some of the bigger dealers like DiamondLand you’ll see a huge range, probably more choice there than in all of Dublin put together. My advice is decide in somewhere like this what you want to get in terms of cut carat clarity etc. (and they have a huge selection of settings also) but don’t buy there, look around. When you go into a shop and can say show me a 1.2 carat, VVS1, blah blah, you will find they cut out a lot of the sales chatter and you'll get down to business much quicker.

Many of them seem to have permanent "sales" advertising up to 70% discount so there is huge scope for haggling. When you know exactly what kind of ring you want my advice is to find two or three shops where you trust them and negotiate a best price but insist that you have to leave to continue looking. And do leave. You will hear excuses that they have to return the loose diamonds to dealers (some places keep a limited stock and so ring a nearby dealer to have the diamonds you are looking delivered to the shop for your inspection) and that they cant guarantee you that it will be there when you come back, but I would say this is the only way to get their lowest price out of them.

Also they will offer fairly big discounts for part or whole payment in cash, if you don’t feel nervous about carrying 000's around with you, it’s well worth while, and I wish I had known that before I went.

Unlike here, most of them don't even think about charging you for the ring setting etc.(unless it's platinum).

One other thing to consider is the certification. The certified diamonds come in little sealed plastic boxes with certificates from HRD, DHC, IGL or some of the other diamond associations. I have seen some conflicting advice about which of them is best, some of the shops suggest that IGL has margin of error, i.e. they say your diamond is say VVS1, but that's with some margin of error +/-. So if you have it valued you might find it's slightly better or worse than you thought.
Most of the dealers take the diamond out of the boxes to examine the diamonds and show their customers. I think that’s where trust comes into play. The average person can’t tell the difference between two diamonds whose value doffer by thousands. So when you are buying you have to make sure that you get the certificate, that was at least you have proof that you bought a certain standard of diamond and if you get it valued and it turns out to be something different then you'll have some comeback, through credit card or whatever. Some of them offer to have the diamond re sealed by the certifying body for a cost of something like 25 euro, that way you can buy your diamond with confidence and take it home and have it set by your Irish jeweler or whatever.

Its also worthwhile looking around for the wedding ring to match. Looked while we were there and even though we had no intention of buying the shop came down by 1000 from the RRP on the original ticked, to about 1/3 of the price. Haggling definitely pays off. Most of them will go through the charade of typing numbers into their calculators and trying to give the impression that they're figuring out how low they can go, IMO walking out is the best tactic, you can always come back if you can’t get a better price elsewhere.

You can spend as much time looking around in the various shops around the district. We got it all done in a day but you could spend days looking around if you wanted. The shops near the main shopping st (cant remember the name of it) seem to be the best in terms of presentation etc. but not the cheapest. Orsini's seems to be the equivalent of Weirs in Dublin. The smaller shops around Diamondland and the streets near the IGL and DHC HRD buildings seemed trustworthy, but the ones near the station did seem seedier.

Antwerp itself is nice enough, but apparently there are nicer places elsewhere in Belgium where diamonds are just as affordable but I think you'll get the biggest choice in Antwerp. Other shopping is fairly standard city centre fare, no cheaper than Dublin as far as I could see.

Don't go diamond shopping at the end July/ early Aug as this is when the dealers go on holidays. We were lucky in that some of them were opened, but a week later we would have had more choice.

For travel details on getting to Antwerp, see posts above.
 
Again I agree with the first poster. Only just back from Antwerp since Saturday morning. We actually read the details from the first poster initially and decided to give Antwerp a go. We got an Aerlingus Flight for less than 100 euros each and stayed in the the Alfa De Keyser hotel. Aer Lingus only fly into Brussels, but there is a bus that only takes 45 minutes from there to Antwerp for €8.00 per person - and it stops right outside the hotel.

We stuck to the main diamond retailers approved by the Antwerp Diamond Council. Went to Diamondland first and thought it was a bit tacky (more for the older diamond purchaser perhaps). The next place we tried was J. Katz. I found them to bit a little pushy and they kept showing us diamonds that were way out of our agreed budget which began to get a bit frustrating. At one stage the Sales person left us sitting there while he went in the back of the shop, with about 150K worth of diamonds just sitting on the table. I thought this was very slack and we decided that we'd move on and try the next vendor - which was Philippe Harold.

He was brilliant, as the first poster says - he was professional and courteous. He explained everything you need to know about diamonds in an unassuming and down to earth way, no BS and his complete undivided attention. He let us look at the diamonds under different lights and went through cut, clarity, colour and carat - in great detail - but it was never boring. We avoided the rat race and over inflated prices of Dublin. With Philippe Harold we got excellent customer service and really felt like our custom was valued. I have no doubt in my mind that we'd have NEVER received this level of attention in Dublin jewellers. Plus the knowledge we gained was invaluable. Harold even gave us a map and wrote out places for us to go and see during our visit - told us places to avoid and things to be aware of in the city. We stayed for three days, visited him on day and collected the ring on day 3. We saved about 2k on the ring compared to what they are charging for the same thing here. We will definitely be recommending this place to all of our friends.

Plus Antwerp is a lovely city, really well contained with culture, some great outdoor music around the Grote Markt and plenty of beautiful little coffee shops to sit out and have a glass of vino during the shopping.

If you do decide to go shopping for an engagement ring, our advice is to ditch the Rip Off Republic and take a city break to Antwerp, go to Phillipe Harold and you won't be disappointed! You will save lots of cash, have a fab couple of days and always have that experience to remember! Happy shopping !
 
You saved 2k, thats great!... Could I be so rude to ask what you did pay for the ring?
 
why bother going to antwerp. goto blackmans near grafton street. they build and sell to trade and will sell to private individuals. trade prices are roughly half the retail price when it comes to this sort of stuff. They sell all sort of stones and rings in all sorts of sizes. they probably make custom rings as they distribute to boutique/ designer jewellers. We bought our ring for 2000 euros 4 years ago. it was independantly valued at 3700 euros at the time, and it was revalued last month for insurance reasons for 4500 euros.
 
Re Diamont.ie in Merrion Square. Can you try on rings here or is it all done by photos? Really want to look at a ring before buying or something similiar. Also wondering how long it takes to get ring made then?
Want best value in Ireland really - princess cut, platinum solitare! All ideas appreciated.
 
How about a nearly new secondhand ring - have an almost new (!) platinum & diamond model that I would happily dispose of...
 
Your spending a wack of cash on probably the most expensive jewelery of your life...do lots of research

Antwerp has been covered - its were most of diamonds enter Europe so why not go to the source...

You get USD 1.28 for every Eur 1 so why not look into New York or somewhere else in the US, at that increased spending power you can probably get a nice weekend for yourself and a ring for the same price.


If you are really adventerous go to India, Indian jewelers are threatening to put Antwerp out of business - google it
 
What is the budget required for buying a ring in Antwerp? Do the reputable jewellers mentioned in this thread have rings for couples who are on a budget but fancy the weekend break as a celebration of their engagment. Would Mr Philipe Harold have rings for under 2k? 1.5K? 1K?
 
I also want to ask about people's experiences of buying rings in Antwerp.

Firstly I am buying the ring solo, no girlfriend in tow - aagh! So do they have a large selection of ready-made rings or is it mostly made-to-order?

Also do the jewelers open on Sat/Sun? The most convenient flights for me would be arrive Friday evening (prob after the shops have closed!) and leave Sun evening, so the ring would have to be bought Sat.

I was going to ask about whether it was worth while going for my budget (~5000 euro) but if someone answers Mouldy's question then I should be ok!

any advice appreciated!
 
RMcG - you are very confident to be buying the ring solo! Do you have a very good idea as to the type of ring she'd like - e.g. gold or platinum / shape of stones / delicate or chunky band etc..
Best of luck!
 
ragazza said:
RMcG - you are very confident to be buying the ring solo! Do you have a very good idea as to the type of ring she'd like - e.g. gold or platinum / shape of stones / delicate or chunky band etc..
Best of luck!
Click to expand...

Yes I have a very good idea what she would like, white gold/platinum single stone, square cut (not sure what this is called, but I will have all my research done before I go!), she has been less than subtle in pointing out nice rings in jewellers' windows :D

Even though she knows I am going to (eventually) propose, I still want it to be a surprise, it will involve much cloak-and-dagger trickery because she's going to be on high alert after my SSIA matures in April, which is why I intend to buy in Feb hee hee!
 
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