Buying engagement ring in Antwerp

schlaps

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any experience of buying an engagement ring in Antwerp, Brussels. Where would you recommend to go? Anything I should avoid doing? Anything I should know before going?

Plan on looking around a few places in ireland before going to see prices and selection in ireland.

dreddredd

schlaps wrote: »

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any experience of buying an engagement ring in Antwerp, Brussels. Where would you recommend to go? Anything I should avoid doing? Anything I should know before going?

Plan on looking around a few places in ireland before going to see prices and selection in ireland.

doesnt directly help you! but we purchased our ring, in hatton garden in london. saved alot of money and you can haggle with the dealers there and its not that far away should anything go wrong and you have plenty of choice. we purchased the diamond first and then got the same shop to make a ring to fit it, didnt take very long and happy with the process even got a GIA cert as backing.

leap

Hi, I would definitely recommend going to Antwerp. Only buy from Adja recommended jewellers http://www.adja.be/

There are only 5 jewellers recommended by ADJA but this is loads as each has a large selection. Also make sure the ring is certified. These jewellers are really close to each other but you still need a few days to go see everything they have to offer, make a decision and get the ring sized etc. Most dont open on Saturdays.

We bought from Joe Katz, an absolute gentleman. We had the ring valued for insurance purposes here and it was double what we paid for it. Pay in cash if you can as you will get a much better deal.

Its a great city break and a fun experience as well as being much cheaper than Ireland. You probably should email the jewellers first to make an appointment and give an idea of what you are looking for as they can source the diamonds for you.

Best of luck.

Beruthiel

schlaps wrote: »

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any experience of buying an engagement ring in Antwerp, Brussels. Where would you recommend to go?

I was in Antwerp last month.
You need go no further than philippe harold

There are five top jewellers in Antwerp and he is the best. (All others are to be avoided)

I sent him pics in advance of what I thought I would like. We gave him a price to work within.
We made an appointment to see him and he spent an hour working within the price we quoted and the design I wanted.
We discussed everything in minute detail.
He makes all jewelry from scratch.
I cannot say enough good things about this man.
He made exactly what I wanted and did not go one cent outside the price.
It took three weeks to make.
It arrived by Fedex yesterday and it's even more beautiful than I imagined.
Furthermore, I cannot believe what I got for the price we paid.
I cannot recommend him enough!

freeworld777

if your budget is say €2500 - €3000 , is it still worth your while going to Antwerp???

Intothesea

Freeworld, if going to Antwerp would eat into your budget significantly you have the option to have pieces sent over -- though with diamondland.be: http://www.diamondlandselection.com/rings, there's a five-day return period after the day of shipment, so maybe not the best for peace of mind Overall you'd probably be better off trying to score a good deal in Ireland. These guys are in Galway and Dublin: http://www.diamondsandgoldireland.com/, and offer some very good deals for Ireland, anyway! You could pick out your preferred type of ring there, get a firm price and ask other jewellers to beat it. The best places to consider are usually online retailers (bluenile in Ireland) and independent jewellers (usually individuals who fabricate their own pieces, e.g. Barry Doyle: http://www.barrydoyledesign.com/displaycategory.php?id=14&name=Diamond%20Rings). HTH

aviendha

Beruthiel wrote: »

I was in Antwerp last month.
You need go no further than philippe harold

There are five top jewellers in Antwerp and he is the best. (All others are to be avoided)

sorry, are you saying to avoid all non-ADJA jewellers, or to avoid the other 4 ADJA jewellers??

we had a more negative experience with Phillippe Harolde, found him quite short and abrupt, and not very helpful when it came to suggesting ideas, dismissing the whole anglo-saxon tradition of wearing wedding ring with your engagement ring as complete rubbish, and just simply left his workshop with a taste in my mouth
having said that, his work is excellent and not to be questioned, and this was only my experience..

on the other hand, I had a great experience with Orsini and went with themin the end...

I think you can't go far wrong by dealing with either Orsini, Joseph Katz, Phillipe Harolde or Diamondland (although I found the factory-feeling about Diamondland quite offputting).

Not sure if I personally would travel to Antwerp on a budget of €2500, considering the extra costs of flights and accomodation for the weekend... but entirely a personal thing

Best of luck OP

godtabh

Beruthiel wrote: »

I was in Antwerp last month.
You need go no further than philippe harold

There are five top jewellers in Antwerp and he is the best. (All others are to be avoided)

I sent him pics in advance of what I thought I would like. We gave him a price to work within.
We made an appointment to see him and he spent an hour working within the price we quoted and the design I wanted.
We discussed everything in minute detail.
He makes all jewelry from scratch.
I cannot say enough good things about this man.
He made exactly what I wanted and did not go one cent outside the price.
It took three weeks to make.
It arrived by Fedex yesterday and it's even more beautiful than I imagined.
Furthermore, I cannot believe what I got for the price we paid.
I cannot recommend him enough!

Bought mine here as well. Went to the other 4 but this lad seemed the best of the lot

Beruthiel

godtabh wrote: »

Bought mine here as well. Went to the other 4 but this lad seemed the best of the lot

Congrats.

piptypibe

schlaps wrote: »

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any experience of buying an engagement ring in Antwerp, Brussels. Where would you recommend to go? Anything I should avoid doing? Anything I should know before going?

Plan on looking around a few places in ireland before going to see prices and selection in ireland.

Hi-congrats on your engagement.:D
We went to Antwerp to buy my ring and I would totally recommend it. We had looked in Ireland before we went so I knew what I wanted. I got recommendations from lots of friends of places they went and had emailed 3 jewellers and organised appointments with them before we went.
The first place we went was Diamondland and we ended up buying it there! I love my ring and it was far better value then if we'd bought it here. You chose the diamond and then the setting and then they make it up for you. Doesn't take long-you can watch!
We stayed in Antwerp for 3 days-it's a really lovely city-lots to do and see. Good for shopping too!!!
Best of luck with whatever you do-There are LOADS of older posts on Antwerp on boards with great advice. Read them all! Good luck!

groomek

piptypibe wrote: »

Hi-congrats on your engagement.:D
We went to Antwerp to buy my ring and I would totally recommend it. We had looked in Ireland before we went so I knew what I wanted. I got recommendations from lots of friends of places they went and had emailed 3 jewellers and organised appointments with them before we went.
The first place we went was Diamondland and we ended up buying it there! I love my ring and it was far better value then if we'd bought it here. You chose the diamond and then the setting and then they make it up for you. Doesn't take long-you can watch!
We stayed in Antwerp for 3 days-it's a really lovely city-lots to do and see. Good for shopping too!!!
Best of luck with whatever you do-There are LOADS of older posts on Antwerp on boards with great advice. Read them all! Good luck!

Just wondering how you made it to Antwerp.was it a direct flight and how much of a saving you made on the ring

badboyblast

Went myself last year, theres no comparison!! get on a plane--the choice is unreal.

piptypibe

No direct flight to Antwerp from Ireland unfortunately but train service is excellent!
It's better to phrase it as you get more for your (hard-earned) Euro over there, better quality diamond etc etc but yes cheaper than here too.

beertons

Probably a bit late to be saying this, but Aer Lingus to Brussels. Ryanair land another 1 hour away by train. We got our engagement ring off Harold a year ago, and he just mailed me today to tell me that the wedding bands are ready. Happy days.

freeworld777

For those who bought rings in Antwerp, did you buy platinum or white gold? Harold has a piece on his website where he criticizes jewelers for trying to push Platinum onto people while insisting that white gold is of better quality and less likely to scratch.
His argument seems to be that other jewelers are pushing it and saying it is better because it is more expensive and thus increases their margins...

I mentioned this in an Irish Jewelers recently and sure enough the salesperson in the shop was pushing for me to go for platinum instead of white gold... thoughts?