Ring Shopping in Dublin

lolly.o

Can anyone recommend a few good jewellers to visit when shopping for an engagement ring in Dublin??

Terpsichore

Hello,
Have been to see quite a few shops in Dublin city center. I was looking for a simple, timeless, classy solitaire diamond ring. It's quite difficult to find in Dublin!
I have found it though in Lorcan Brereton, South Anne Street. Lovely shop and great one to one service.
We'll be back there for the wedding bands

lolly.o

I was actually thinking of something similar myself.
What other jewellers did you try when you were looking?
Just don't know where to start!

DublinWriter

I generally found the smaller independant jewellers to be poor value in Dublin.

The Ernest Jones chain is pretty good if you are looking to spend 2K -> 10K.

Anything more than 10K, then check out Weirs and then get ready to bend over!

We were in Newry over the weekend and some of the smaller jewellers on the High St. had particular good prices (about £1,700) on what looked to be around 1ct solitare rings with 4 and 6 claw settings.

lolly.o

The jewellers in Newry sound good. Didn't think you'd get a 1carat for that price. Do you know any names of places you were looking in?
Might have a look in Ernest Jones, thanks.

gar_29

i got a ring for my OH in weldons, behind brown thomas. they do really unusual rings, mostly antique and art deco. they couldn't have been nicer, i was really impressed.

found their site, it's www.weldonsofdublin.com

Terpsichore

Dublin Writer:

I would have thought that too about smaller retailers in Dublin, but our curiosity has paid off by walking into Brereton. Also because the trend at the moment in Ireland is going for heavy three stones rings, there are good deals to be done on solitaire rings! And for much less than 5k!

Lolly O.:

Where to start? We went into town on a Saturday morning and we just followed our feet, including lunch and coffee breaks... It turned out to be a wonderful romantic day...

I wanted to check the antique jeweleries on South Anne Street and John Farrington on Drury Street. But nothing elegant there, only heavy +1 carat rings... no style, no taste... no real sparkle...

Also the lane between Grafton Street and Powerscourt Shopping center. But there again, nothing great in the displays... Maybe it would be good to walk inside.

I know the 1 carat mark is attractive from a marketing point of view, but really, believe me, I have a .64 solitaire and it's more than enough as far as the size of the ring is concerned. Make sure that you will feel comfortable wearing it every day. At the begining, I turned mine inside my hand quite often, because I was scared it would attract the wrong eyes!

If you can go for a D, E, or F colour: fantastic!
If you can go for a clarity VS2, it's not the highest but it's really good already.
Forget about carats, because sometimes, less is much more

Enjoy the shopping!
And Congratulations!

lolly.o

Thanks for the help... I was thinking of something about that size actually - less than a carat anyway.
Do you mind telling me approx how much rings of that quality were that you looked at?
Just wondering if Dublin jewellers are pricier than others around the country...

Terpsichore

You're welcome!

Well, the prices ranges are difficult to give as all depends on the quality of the stone, as well as the metal used for the mount. Is it white gold, gold or platinum? I never heard of platinum before but it seems to be the metal of choice for sensitive skins!
Check also what they mean by rhodium plated...

I have seen beautiful E VS2 solitaires on platinum for less than 4k. It is possible in Dublin city center.

A recent trip to Amsterdam where we visited the diamond center Gassan, confirmed that we got indeed a very good deal in Dublin! They charged about 1k more for a similar quality stone, loose, in Amsterdam. We're happy.

If you're around Dun Laoghaire, you can try Fawcett, opposite the library. They have nice solitaires for less than 2K on display in the window.

Price ranges and differences are incredible. I went to Blackrock and asked to see a few rings in the same shop. 4 rings in front of me, and prices ranging from EUR1,900.00 to EUR15,000.00!!! Scary!

Shopping around is a must! I was never really into all this before, but I must say that it is all fascinating! And what a wonderful ring to wear and look at all the time!

Helmet

We went to this lot in Harold's Cross

http://www.jsocjewellers.ie/

They were really friendly an dhelpful and we got a ring custom made for my girlfriend (she has tiny wee fingers), it took 5 weeks to get the ring because they were making it from scratch but it was well worth it.
It cost 2600 and we got it valued for insurance in another jeweelers and they priced it at 4500

All the best!

Terpsichore

Came accross these two while wandering in town:

-Rocks, Grafton Street
-Donovan&Matson, 2 Westbury Mall, Dublin 2

swimmingly

My husband and I got our rings designed and made up at Chris Osbourne and Son on Middle Abbey St. We dealt with a lovely, straightforward, straight-talking man. We were under a bit of time pressure as I had to move back to the States and the man delivered.

For a list of wedding jewelers, I recommend going to the Confetti Pink Pages.

Best of luck with your plans!

Gillo

I know it may be a bit "high street" for some people, but I bought my OH's engagement ring in Field's, she bought me a Tag watch there also (not big into jewelry, so have an engagement watch) and I recently bought my wedding ring there also. Have to say everytime there service was excellent, couldn't fault them, they were in no way pushy yet still very helpful when we needed assistance. Made the purchases in the Henry Street store but also looked in the Pavilions (Swords).

There may be no harm in giving them a look, worst case you waste half a hour and come back here to give out to me!