Buying fine Jewellery isn’t like buying anything else — even big-ticket items like a car or a house. Precious stones — Gems and Diamonds — and fine Jewellery come with their own language. It involves quality, style, even the way they’re marketed and sold. It’s next to impossible for an untrained eye to fully grasp the quality of a particular piece.
On top of that, most of us only dip into fine Jewellery purchases a few times in our lives, yet they’re the moments most filled with emotional significance. This means a critical step in finding the perfect Engagement ring is to find a Jeweller you trust. Don’t leave the purchase of a lifetime to chance. Ask yourself these questions when choosing a Jeweller.
Respected Jewellers should:
Choose someone with whom you can build a lasting relationship. Look at how long the Jeweller has been in business and research the store’s reputation. An established business is more likely to have great references. You can check their Facebook/ Google page for reviews.
When working with a reputable Jeweller, everyone on staff should be able to answer your questions with confidence and ease, or point you to someone else in-house who can. Ensuring there is a trained Gemmologist and Diamond technologist in-house, makes this more likely to happen. Don’t hesitate to walk away if a Salesperson refuses to answer a question — everything you ask matters.
A respected Jeweller will offer an array of services including repairs on most pieces of Jewellery, Custom design work, remodelling of old Jewellery into new, Valuations and Insurance quotes. Here are a few things to look for:
An important question to ask. A respected Jeweller should do their work on site in a secure premise to maintain control of every step of the process.
Don’t just take your Jeweller’s word for it: ask for a Third party Diamond Certificate from a respected independent gem lab such as GIA. The Certification proves the stone is natural and describes the characteristics of the gem such as the colour, clarity and quality of the Diamond.
You may not be trained to see a Diamonds 4cs but a good Jjeweller should guide you through the process, and provide the tools to help you see the true beauty of what you’re about to purchase. When viewing stones, make sure to ask the following:
You’ll find a lot of Jewellers focus – and rightly so – on the quality of the gems in their Jewellery. However, the metal matters too. So, you should ask about the metal quality and how it is made. A reputable Jeweller won’t hesitate to show you the stamps verifying the precious metal content such as 9ct (375), 18ct (750) or PT950 for Platinum.
It may not seem important for some but how your Jewellery is made is a very important question to ask your Jeweller. A respected Jeweller should not hesitate to tell you how they will make your piece. Some good questions to ask are:
Before plunging into a purchase, you need to ask yourself: Do I trust this Jeweller? And do I feel comfortable spending my money with them? The sense of trust can come from many places: a referral from a friend or family member, reputation in the community, or you having done your research online.
Equipped with these questions to ask both yourself and your Jeweller, you’re ready to shop for your next piece with a little more ease. Better yet, you’re positioning yourself to establish a lifelong relationship with a Jeweller you trust and feel comfortable with.
Learn more about our world of fine jewellery and beautiful gemstones.