Engagement ring shopping in Dubai/Antwerp

linola_c

Hello!

Would really like to hear from anyone who has purchased rings in either Dubai or Antwerp?

I'm really trying to get a feel for prices and/or ideas!

If anyone would be happy to PM me with your advice, I would be really interested.

I am based in Australia and jewellers prices here are just ridiculous! So we are trying to hammer out the figures and decide whether to stop in Dubai or Antwerp on our way home at Xmas.

Looking forward to hearing of your sparkles ladies! This whole process is very exciting!

Thank you!
Linola

Liam McPoyle

I booked flights to Antwerp and surprised herself with it when I popped the question.

Accommodation wise we stayed in De Keyser Hotel, it's smack bang in the middle of the diamond district and is literally 1 minute away from the main train station. It was grand, nothing too flashy but we spent feck all time in it anyway.

My first piece of advice would be to know what you want ie carat, cut, colour and clarity. Herself was a little over whelmed on the first day as she didn't know exactly what she was after and we found some of the jewellers quote curt when we told them we didn't know.

There are a huge amount of jewellers around the place, some are almost like H Samuel in appearance.

We visited probably 6 or 7 different places and ended up buying from a small family run place. The guys mother had opened it in the 50s, he then took it over and his daughter was in the process of taking it over.

He was so sound, not at all pushy and we got the vibe that he genuinely wanted to help herself find the perfect ring. It ended up as a toss between 2 and he recommended she go for the cheaper of the two as he said it suited her better.

We were very happy with the purchase and got a few quid off, don't be afraid to ask for money off.

We got it valued when we came home and the figure he jeweller over here put on it was approx 50% more than I paid which herself thought was great!

I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head but I will check the receipt when I get home this evening and let you know.

cozycaz

Hi! I got my engagement ring in Antwerp recently. I now have a lovely ring and overall it was a great experience. We got mine in Hearts and Arrows which is a very reputable jewellers. They provide certificates, weigh and measure diamond in front of you so it's all above board, which was a great relief as there are a good few dodgy merchants over there. We dealt with Vikan, Who is one of the owners and was a pleasure to deal with. Would highly recommend as we had such a positive experience.

FURET

If shopping in Dubai, negotiate the price like you're fighting for your life. You can get HUGE reductions if you bargain hard.

scrabble1498

Ohhh business cat sounds like we went to the same place!! We just picked up my engagement ring last week...wow, I looooove it! I did loads of research before I went, knew all about the four c's, did price comparisons on blue Nile and James Allen, so I really knew what I wanted. My fiancée was emailing the jeweller before we went and he gave us details of the diamonds he had (and cert numbers too so we could check them online) so we were pretty sure we knew which diamond we wanted...but wanted to see it properly before deciding (and also to suss the jeweller out). Anyway got a great vibe from the jeweller! We decided on the diamond, picked a setting and then ended up picking my wedding band too. His price was very good. We decided to come back to collect it as didn't fancy it being posted but think other people on boards have done it and didn't have any problems.

Got it valued by ESL jewellers this week as need an Irish valuation....was valued at three times what we paid. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I was told that!!