The real value of buying a diamond ring in Antwerp

My partner & I are getting engaged but are shocked by the price of rings here in Ireland. I've my heart set on a diamond solitaire platinum ring but our budget is only 2500 euro. I thought this would be plenty but now see I was very naive. We've heard a lot about buying in Antwerp but after the cost of flights etc would it really be worth oyr while going there to get the ring I want for what we can afford. I've also read about diamont.ie in dublin who sell diamonds direct from Antwerp or can organise day trips over there. I would relly appreciate any advice.

A trip to Antwerp & Bruges is well worth it, even if you're only going for chocolates. Bruges is picture postcard town & Antwerp is also a very nice town.
If you do go, I believe if you pay in cash you'll get a better discount from the jewellery shops.

Some of this Key Post may be of interest.

We bought the ring abroad also. Could not believe the difference. It was half the price of Dublin....seriously! Got it valued here without telling the price I paid for it, for insurance purposes, and that confirmed it for me. Did go further afield but we were there on holidays anyway at the time. Your money will definitely go further. Make a romantic weekend of it after all it is a very special time!

mph: where did you get it valued and how much did the valuation cost?Trying to get a ring valued and insured at present but Mrs Cu doesnt want to part it with for fear of the usual ' urban legend' stories of diamonds etc being exchanged for glass or cubic zircona.

ESL in the Powerscourt Center in Dublin. They valued it while we were there. We just supplied info on the 'four c's'. Found them recommended here by other posters and they were excellent.

Diamond rings have to be the biggest con ever! I mean, they aren't even worth that much. De Beers keep diamond prices artificially high and convince us through advertising that they are an essential part of marraige. If people can't tell the difference between a cubic zircona and a diamond, then why get the diamond at all? Get a nice cubic zircona, and if it gets stolen or lost then hey-get a new one!!

MPH said:

ESL in the Powerscourt Center in Dublin. They valued it while we were there. We just supplied info on the 'four c's'. Found them recommended here by other posters and they were excellent.

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MPH, how long did it take them to value it...I've been told by some places that they need to hold onto it for a few weeks!?

I don't understand how it can be a valuation if YOU give THEM the 4 Cs - surely that's what a valuation should be confirming for you?

Thanks MPH, find the same as mobileme, want the ring for at least a week before they can come up with a value and I have tried a few. Again only want it for insurance purposes. either the insurance companies are putting the sqeeze on jewellers or else it's a closed shop act.

mobileme said:

MPH, how long did it take them to value it...I've been told by some places that they need to hold onto it for a few weeks!?

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They did it while herself was in the shop. Took about 15-20 mins all told.

orka said:

I don't understand how it can be a valuation if YOU give THEM the 4 Cs - surely that's what a valuation should be confirming for you?

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I supplied them with a copy of the Independent Certified Appraisal which all diamonds are sold with and the ring itself. It detailed everything except the foreign currency valuation as I was curious to see what sort of difference there would be. Insurance company wanted to know how much in euros the ring would cost to replace in Ireland and accepted that done by ESL.

Shnaek, don't buy a diamond then. Be happy with a synthetic gemstone/artificial diamond.
Sealee, I got a cheap Ryanair flight to Brussels, and got the train to Antwerp. I got a platinum diamond solitaire ring which I could never have afforded here in Ireland. I purchased from from Paul in Orsinis. [broken link removed] We made a huge saving and had a nice city break at the same time. And if they don't have the size, quality, colour, shape that you want, they can get it for you, which is what we did - we just flew Ryanair back again a week later to collect it. We didn't even have to fly back to collect it if we didn't want to - they would have fedexed it to us under insurance but we preferred to go back ourselves. You will definitely get better value for your money in Antwerp. We got an even further reduction on the price of the ring if we paid cash. Believe me, it is worth your while going to Antwerp. We were able to find a place in cork that would value it on the spot when we provided them with the certificate. The same place will clean it for you on the spot too. I admit, I am spooked by the thought of handing it in somewhere and the stone being swapped for cubic zirconia

Carto, Just wondering if you found it easy enough to get from Charleroi airport to Antwerp. Does a train leave direct from the airport?

I'm not 100% sure about getting a train direct as we wanted to stay in Brussels for the night when we got there. I don't think you can get a direct train to Antwerp. Didn't get the buses so don't know about them. I guess there will be more than one way to get there. We got the bus to Brussels. Stayed the night and got the train up to Antwerp the next day.

I did a quick search and found some info on this site
http://experts.about.com/q/Belgium-135/Charleroi-Antwerpen.htm

two options:
1/ There's a bus from Charleroi Airport to Charleroi Train station ( bus nr 68) at 21h20. ( it takes 10-15 min)
At the trainstation, you can get a train to Antwerp at 22h27. You need more or less two hours to get to Antwerp.
You can get a combined ticket for this at the Ryanair ticketing desk in the airport. It costs 10€.


2/ You take the Ryanair bus from Charleroi Airport to Brussels South train station. ( costs 10 euro)( there's a bus at 22h)
From Brussels train station, you take a train to Antwerp. The last train goes at 23h37. (costs 5,60 euro)
So, the first solution is cheaper.

Sealee, we bought my ring in Antwerp last December.

Flew Ryanair to Charleroi, got bus into Brussels south, train to Antwerp and walked from the station to our hotel on the Groenplaats. Think we arrived in Charleroi about 9am so by the time we got to Antwerp it was about lunchtime. I normally hate travelling but this was pretty easy. BF gets a reduction in hotels with work so we were able to stay somewhere fancy (and central) for half the price!

Anyway, stayed there just overnight but the city was just gorgeous - we'd been to Brussels before which we didn't like, but Antwerp was something else. Lovely little pubs and really nice restaurants, great shopping and of course, the jewellery stores EVERYWHERE! We ended up window shopping for the ring and didnt' go into any shops until I saw the sort of thing I was looking for in the window... so the first shop we went into, was the one we bought the ring in!! It fit me perfectly as well so no need to get it resized. Beautiful three stone, white gold ring, I love it BF got a great deal as well, we couldn't believe how inexpensive it was - seriously, we were trying to keep from laughing our loud when yer man in the store 'worked out' the price on his calculator and swung it around to show us!

I would say, go, you won't regret it. Having said that, I haven't gotten it valued yet. Was going to go into that place in Powerscourt as had been recommended to go there, but just haven't gotten around to it. Will post if I do...

Enjoy!

M