The question buyers ask me most often is whether lab grown diamonds are real. It is the wrong question. They are real diamonds, the same crystallised carbon, the same hardness, the same fire. After 20 years around the Hatton Garden trade I can tell you the honest decision is not about authenticity at all. The […]
A receipt proves what you paid for a ring in Hatton Garden. It does not prove what the ring is, and it does not tell an insurer what replacing it would cost. Those 2 jobs belong to a proper valuation, and the gap between the documents catches buyers out every year. Ring insurance and valuation […]
A diamond report is only as useful as your ability to check it, and most buyers never check it at all. They are handed a folded certificate, they glance at the grades, and they take the rest on trust. After 20 years around the Hatton Garden trade, I can tell you the certificate is where […]
Choosing an engagement ring is rarely a calm, linear decision. Most buyers arrive having scrolled through a hundred images and still feel unsure, because a screen cannot show how a stone behaves in daylight. A sapphire changes that conversation. For the buyer who wants colour, history and a stone that withstands daily wear, a sapphire […]
An oval diamond looks larger than a round one of the same weight and flatters the hand, but two things decide whether it is beautiful: its proportions and its bow tie. Neither appears as a grade on the certificate, so both have to be judged by eye.
Two stones sit on a tray at a Hatton Garden counter, both round brilliants of about a carat, both bright, one priced at a fraction of the other. The cheaper one is a laboratory-grown diamond, and the question the buyer asks is the obvious one. Smith & Green Jewellers is a fine jewellery retailer in […]
There is a small ritual that takes place every working day at the consultation desks of 9 Hatton Garden. A buyer is handed a folded piece of paper, slightly larger than a passport, with a hologram in one corner and a string of numbers running down its left edge. They glance at it, smile politely, […]
Pick up a diamond grading certificate in a Hatton Garden consultation room, and you are holding something considerably more specific than a piece of reassurance. You are holding a scientific assessment: a record of how one diamond compares to every other diamond ever graded, produced by one of the two laboratories most buyers will encounter. […]
For 2026, classic solitaire engagement rings are no longer the only serious option. Couples are gravitating towards designs that feel personal, romantic and a touch unconventional, with Toi et Moi engagement rings and vintage cut diamonds leading the way. The result is a new engagement language where your setting does more than sparkle; it tells […]
Walking into Hatton Garden in early 2026 feels different from even a few seasons ago. Behind the familiar façades of jewellers and workshops, there is a noticeable shift in mood. Engagement ring appointments are no longer hushed or tentative. Couples arrive with colour references saved on their phones, fabric swatches from outfits, and a clear […]
