The certificate in the seller’s hand is not proof of anything. That sentence is the whole article, and almost nobody buying a pre-owned engagement ring understands it before they hand over the money. A grading report is a description of a stone. It is not a chain of custody, it is not attached to the […]
The lift doors open on the first floor, and you are already rehearsing what to say. Most people arrive at a first engagement ring consultation with a phone full of screenshots, a budget they are slightly embarrassed about, and a low hum of worry that they are about to be found out. Found out as […]
The box has been in a drawer for 4 years. You have opened it perhaps twice. The ring inside belonged to someone you loved, and it is not a ring you would ever have chosen, and both of those things are true at once and have been quietly bothering you since the day it arrived. […]
Two quotes. Same brief, same budget, same saved screenshots. One is 40% higher than the other. Both jewellers seemed competent, both produced certificates, and neither did anything you could point at. This is where most buyers make their worst decision, because only 2 moves appear to be available and both are bad. Take the cheaper […]
The engagement ring is done. It has been said yes to, photographed, admired at 3 separate dinners, and it has quietly become part of the hand it lives on. Then, some months later, a second question arrives that nobody prepared you for. What goes next to it? Matching a wedding band to an engagement ring […]
There is a specific moment at the consultation desks at 9 Hatton Garden when a buyer’s eyes travel down a grading report, past everything they have researched, and stop on a line nobody warned them about. Carat, they know. Colour and clarity they have read about for weeks. Cut, they have opinions on. Then, near […]
There is a moment in almost every engagement ring consultation at Smith and Green when the conversation shifts. The couple has spent twenty minutes discussing carat weight and colour grades, comparing two stones that look nearly identical in the light of 9 Hatton Garden. Then someone asks: Which setting? And the room changes. Because the […]
There is a particular kind of buyer who arrives at Smith and Green already knowing they do not want a diamond. Not because a diamond is wrong but because something else is more right. A deep Kashmir-blue sapphire in an 18ct white gold bezel. A vivid Mozambique ruby flanked by trillion-cut white diamonds. A Colombian […]
Most couples arrive at this question after they have already decided they want a white metal. The stone is chosen or nearly chosen. The setting style is taking shape. And then the jeweller asks: platinum or white gold? For many buyers, the question lands as an unwelcome complication. Both metals look the same in the […]
For couples planning a proposal or upgrading a significant piece, the most pressing question is often deceptively simple. Do you choose a natural diamond steeped in geological history, or a lab-grown diamond that allows you to achieve a far more generous carat weight for the same budget? In 2025, that choice is no longer about authenticity. […]
