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Expensive Engagement Rings - 10 Places To Buy The Best Diamond Rings
There’s a sizeable minority of shoppers looking for the best diamond engagement ring they can find – which generally means the most expensive engagement ring in the shop.
However, the best and most expensive diamond engagement rings aren’t just those with the largest carat diamonds, but should be those with the highest quality diamond with the very best clarity, cut and colour, alongside the most expensive setting (platinum or 18 carat gold generally). Flawless diamonds with a perfectly clear colour are extremely rare, so they make for expensive engagement rings but if your aim is to make a real impression and you can afford it, then I would take a look at the following retailers which sell the very best and most expensive diamond rings on the market: |
1. Diamond Heaven
For the very best quality diamond engagement rings, I’d recommend using one of the few online jewellers which allows you to customise and create your own ring rather than selecting from a limited list.
Diamond Heaven has one of the simplest to use interfaces for creating custom expensive engagement rings, and it has the added reassurance of being an established jeweller in Birmingham’s Jewellery quarter and in London's Hatton Garden.
My search allowed me to choose diamonds of the absolute highest clarity (IF, which means internally flawless), the highest possible colour (D grading), and the best cut (excellent cut). It is also certified by IGL/GIE (one of the main diamond grading companies) with options to choose others.
You can also choose the metal of the ring (platinum was the most expensive).
Choosing the highest grade possible on a 1 carat ring came in at just over £10,750 but you can increase or decrease the carat size to adjust the price. A top quality 0.30 carat ring came in at just £1700 which is a very good price for a diamond engagement ring of outstanding quality.
The most expensive ring on Diamond Heaven when I searched was just over £145,000 and was a diamond of 4 carat. I wonder how many of those they sell?
Diamond Heaven has one of the simplest to use interfaces for creating custom expensive engagement rings, and it has the added reassurance of being an established jeweller in Birmingham’s Jewellery quarter and in London's Hatton Garden.
My search allowed me to choose diamonds of the absolute highest clarity (IF, which means internally flawless), the highest possible colour (D grading), and the best cut (excellent cut). It is also certified by IGL/GIE (one of the main diamond grading companies) with options to choose others.
You can also choose the metal of the ring (platinum was the most expensive).
Choosing the highest grade possible on a 1 carat ring came in at just over £10,750 but you can increase or decrease the carat size to adjust the price. A top quality 0.30 carat ring came in at just £1700 which is a very good price for a diamond engagement ring of outstanding quality.
The most expensive ring on Diamond Heaven when I searched was just over £145,000 and was a diamond of 4 carat. I wonder how many of those they sell?
2. Purely Diamonds
Purely Diamonds is another online jeweller which allows good customisation so you can choose a diamond engagement ring which fits your exact specification. If you just want the very best (and so the most expensive) engagement ring then there’s a good choice – although perhaps not quite as wide a range as Diamond Heaven.
For example, although you can choose a diamond colour up to the very best grading of D, clarity is only available up to VVS1 (Very Very Slight Inclusions). That’s still a spectacular piece of jewellery, but it isn’t the IF grading offered by Diamond Heaven.
Of course, it’s worth considering that the difference may just be down to which company is providing the grading certificate. (Purely Diamonds don’t specify which grading company will assess your particular diamond, but they do use IGI and GIA which are reputable names in the grading business).
The best quality and most expensive engagement rings on Purely Diamonds range from £1305 for 0.30 carat diamond up to just over £8,600 for a 1 carat diamond.
The company is well established and rated with rings made in the UK (in London).
For example, although you can choose a diamond colour up to the very best grading of D, clarity is only available up to VVS1 (Very Very Slight Inclusions). That’s still a spectacular piece of jewellery, but it isn’t the IF grading offered by Diamond Heaven.
Of course, it’s worth considering that the difference may just be down to which company is providing the grading certificate. (Purely Diamonds don’t specify which grading company will assess your particular diamond, but they do use IGI and GIA which are reputable names in the grading business).
The best quality and most expensive engagement rings on Purely Diamonds range from £1305 for 0.30 carat diamond up to just over £8,600 for a 1 carat diamond.
The company is well established and rated with rings made in the UK (in London).
3. Aspire Diamonds
Birmingham-based Aspire Diamonds offers customisation which gradually narrows down from a seemingly endless list of diamonds which they have access to. You can adjust sliders on price, carat, colour, clarity and cut as well as choosing certification.
I found it easy to use and it’s slightly more tangible seeing your potential diamond on a list, rather than just the drop down boxes used by Diamond Heaven. It’s also interesting to see which grading factors bump up the prices most significantly.
When I chose all the top grading options (D colour, IF clarity, Excellent cut) the choice became gradually more limited as I increased the size of the diamond (as you would expect, since large, highly graded diamonds are exceedingly rare and hence make the most expensive engagement rings).
When I was looking for 1 carat diamonds, there were only plenty of diamonds to choose from with prices around £10000 for the diamond, plus a few hundred pounds extra for whatever setting you chose. The final price for 1 carat was around £10,500 in a platinum setting.
The largest carat diamond on offer was 4.76 carat which will cost you around £338k! The choice also narrows if you specify which diamond grading company you use, although a big jeweller will only deal with reputable grading partners so I wouldn't be overly worried about which acronym it is.
If you’re looking for a diamond of outstanding quality on a smaller budget then I would certainly consider Aspire Diamonds. A quarter carat simple engagement ring, was just over £1300 with a colour D, IF clarity in a platinum setting.
With full customisation options, you can also engage in the tactic of 'buying shy' which involves deliberately buying a diamond which has a carat which is slightly above or below a round number (see more in our guide to 10 things you need to know when buying an engagement ring). High street jewellers prefer to sell a 1.0 carat diamond than a 0.97 carat or 0.98 diamond, so you can get some of the best quality diamond rings at a better price.
I found it easy to use and it’s slightly more tangible seeing your potential diamond on a list, rather than just the drop down boxes used by Diamond Heaven. It’s also interesting to see which grading factors bump up the prices most significantly.
When I chose all the top grading options (D colour, IF clarity, Excellent cut) the choice became gradually more limited as I increased the size of the diamond (as you would expect, since large, highly graded diamonds are exceedingly rare and hence make the most expensive engagement rings).
When I was looking for 1 carat diamonds, there were only plenty of diamonds to choose from with prices around £10000 for the diamond, plus a few hundred pounds extra for whatever setting you chose. The final price for 1 carat was around £10,500 in a platinum setting.
The largest carat diamond on offer was 4.76 carat which will cost you around £338k! The choice also narrows if you specify which diamond grading company you use, although a big jeweller will only deal with reputable grading partners so I wouldn't be overly worried about which acronym it is.
If you’re looking for a diamond of outstanding quality on a smaller budget then I would certainly consider Aspire Diamonds. A quarter carat simple engagement ring, was just over £1300 with a colour D, IF clarity in a platinum setting.
With full customisation options, you can also engage in the tactic of 'buying shy' which involves deliberately buying a diamond which has a carat which is slightly above or below a round number (see more in our guide to 10 things you need to know when buying an engagement ring). High street jewellers prefer to sell a 1.0 carat diamond than a 0.97 carat or 0.98 diamond, so you can get some of the best quality diamond rings at a better price.
4. Amazon
You might not associate Amazon with expensive engagement rings (since they also cater for budget buyers) but the choice of diamond rings on Amazon in vast, mostly because they allow third party sellers to use it as a shop window. For example, searching for rings priced between £4000 and £100,000 brings up a baffling list of 110,000 rings.
You can filter by seller, which is useful and you'll soon notice that Amazon sells very few of its own engagement rings in this more expensive category.
The main issue with Amazon is that whilst it has an excellent reputation for customer service, it is something of a challenge to search for luxury engagement rings by quality or grading. Sure, searching by price on Amazon is easy, but searching for a D colour or an internally flawless diamond has a reliance on keywords rather than tick box filters.
In my view, searching by price isn't enough flexibility as it may be that you are looking for an engagement ring which is expensive yet simple and subtle, rather than a diamond the size of a tennis ball.
However, you can still achieve good results by searching for keywords and after a few minutes searching I found:
You can filter by seller, which is useful and you'll soon notice that Amazon sells very few of its own engagement rings in this more expensive category.
The main issue with Amazon is that whilst it has an excellent reputation for customer service, it is something of a challenge to search for luxury engagement rings by quality or grading. Sure, searching by price on Amazon is easy, but searching for a D colour or an internally flawless diamond has a reliance on keywords rather than tick box filters.
In my view, searching by price isn't enough flexibility as it may be that you are looking for an engagement ring which is expensive yet simple and subtle, rather than a diamond the size of a tennis ball.
However, you can still achieve good results by searching for keywords and after a few minutes searching I found:
- A platinum engagement ring with a D colour, VVS1 clarity, 0.48 carat diamond for £2500
- A similar platinum ring with a 0.67 carat diamond in a princess cut stone shape and an ideal cut for £4500
- A platinum anniversary ring (could also be an engagement ring) with a D colour, VVS1 clarity, 2.35 carat diamond for £13,800
5. Beaverbrooks
Beaverbrooks is at the luxury end of the high street jewellery market, so it’s a good choice if you want a more expensive ring but want the convenience of being able to return it easily if there are any problems. There are 67 branches of Beaverbrooks and it is well established, so it has the advantage that you could return your engagement ring easily after several years even if you had moved house, which you wouldn’t get with an independent jewellers.
Beaverbrooks doesn’t offer the same customisation options that Aspire Diamonds, Diamond Heaven and Purely Diamonds offer, but there are about 500 rings available, many of which could be considered at the expensive or higher quality end of the engagement ring market.
The most expensive engagement ring at Beaverbrooks when I searched was £40,000 and was certainly a highly graded diamond, in a substantial size (2 carat). It wasn’t quite the highest grade possible though. The colour was G which is the fourth best on the market (don’t ask me what happened to A, B and C in the grading system). The clarity was VVS2. The cut was ‘round brilliant’ (there are various measures of cut, but that seems to be the top in their grading system). It was on a platinum setting.
It was as similar story with the second most expensive Beaverbrooks diamond engagement ring (£37,500) which was a substantial size (2 carat) but wasn’t quite the very highest grading. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very impressive piece of jewellery but wasn’t quite as close to perfection as some of the diamonds at Diamond Heaven or Purely Diamonds
After using the filters on the Beaverbrooks website I did find another engagement ring which came pretty close, with a colour of D and a clarity of VS2 (it was a 1.22 carat diamond)
Please don’t misunderstand me – the diamonds in this price bracket at Beaverbrooks are outstanding pieces of jewellery, but once you get to the top end of the expensive engagement ring market it’s the equivalent of trying to find a cigarette paper between them. Quite honestly, the average shopper would struggle to notice the difference.
Beaverbrooks doesn’t offer the same customisation options that Aspire Diamonds, Diamond Heaven and Purely Diamonds offer, but there are about 500 rings available, many of which could be considered at the expensive or higher quality end of the engagement ring market.
The most expensive engagement ring at Beaverbrooks when I searched was £40,000 and was certainly a highly graded diamond, in a substantial size (2 carat). It wasn’t quite the highest grade possible though. The colour was G which is the fourth best on the market (don’t ask me what happened to A, B and C in the grading system). The clarity was VVS2. The cut was ‘round brilliant’ (there are various measures of cut, but that seems to be the top in their grading system). It was on a platinum setting.
It was as similar story with the second most expensive Beaverbrooks diamond engagement ring (£37,500) which was a substantial size (2 carat) but wasn’t quite the very highest grading. Don’t get me wrong, it was a very impressive piece of jewellery but wasn’t quite as close to perfection as some of the diamonds at Diamond Heaven or Purely Diamonds
After using the filters on the Beaverbrooks website I did find another engagement ring which came pretty close, with a colour of D and a clarity of VS2 (it was a 1.22 carat diamond)
Please don’t misunderstand me – the diamonds in this price bracket at Beaverbrooks are outstanding pieces of jewellery, but once you get to the top end of the expensive engagement ring market it’s the equivalent of trying to find a cigarette paper between them. Quite honestly, the average shopper would struggle to notice the difference.
6. Shining Diamonds
Shining Diamonds is based in Hatton Garden in London (the city’s diamond quarter) and it’s another online jeweller which has an easy to use website which allows you to choose the clarity, colour and carat that you want rather than picking from a limited list.
The largest carat diamond on offer is 5 carat and the highest clarity available is F (flawless). Carats are available in a range of numbers rather than just round numbers (0.30, 0.40, 0.50 carat etc.), which means you could buy a ring with a carat of 0.87 carat for example, which might be appealing if a certain number has some romantic meaning for you.
If you pick their highest grading options (colour D, clarity VVS1), you’ll pay £10,000 for a 1 carat engagement ring or £2500 for a half carat diamond. Watch out though, the 0.50 carat and the 1.0 carat engagement rings that I picked offered a diamond which had a cut which was a ‘minimum good’ rather than specifying that exact cut.
Also, you can save yourself nearly £2000 from the 1 carat ring price if you have it graded by Shining Diamonds rather than GIA/IGI. My personal view is that if you are buying an expensive engagement ring anyway then you would be wise to get a certificate from an external and well known grading authority, but it’s a good way to get a very high quality ring at a lower price if you think that’s a bit steep for a certificate.
They also have a showroom in London if you would rather see your diamond in person.
The largest carat diamond on offer is 5 carat and the highest clarity available is F (flawless). Carats are available in a range of numbers rather than just round numbers (0.30, 0.40, 0.50 carat etc.), which means you could buy a ring with a carat of 0.87 carat for example, which might be appealing if a certain number has some romantic meaning for you.
If you pick their highest grading options (colour D, clarity VVS1), you’ll pay £10,000 for a 1 carat engagement ring or £2500 for a half carat diamond. Watch out though, the 0.50 carat and the 1.0 carat engagement rings that I picked offered a diamond which had a cut which was a ‘minimum good’ rather than specifying that exact cut.
Also, you can save yourself nearly £2000 from the 1 carat ring price if you have it graded by Shining Diamonds rather than GIA/IGI. My personal view is that if you are buying an expensive engagement ring anyway then you would be wise to get a certificate from an external and well known grading authority, but it’s a good way to get a very high quality ring at a lower price if you think that’s a bit steep for a certificate.
They also have a showroom in London if you would rather see your diamond in person.
7. Goldsmiths
One of Goldsmith's main advantages is their high street and shopping centre presence which means that (like Beaverbrooks) you wouldn't have to trust the postal system with your £10000 engagement ring if there was a problem.
Goldsmiths has around 22 diamond engagement rings in the over £5000 category. They don't offer full customisation, but that may be preferable if you don't want to deal with the system of sliders and options offered by some of the other jewellers on this guide.
The quality of rings at Goldsmiths is very high, and competes with Beaverbrooks at the top end of high street jewellers. The clarity of some of the rings doesn't quite match up to the very best IF (internally flawless) or VVS1 (very, very slight inclusions) rings offered at some outlets, but colour is generally top notch (D grading) in their more expensive range.
The most expensive engagement ring on Goldsmiths when I searched was around £15000, and they also have some matching expensive wedding rings.
So in conclusion, I'd consider Goldsmiths if you are searching for an engagement ring at the expensive end of the market and you fit the following criteria:
Goldsmiths has around 22 diamond engagement rings in the over £5000 category. They don't offer full customisation, but that may be preferable if you don't want to deal with the system of sliders and options offered by some of the other jewellers on this guide.
The quality of rings at Goldsmiths is very high, and competes with Beaverbrooks at the top end of high street jewellers. The clarity of some of the rings doesn't quite match up to the very best IF (internally flawless) or VVS1 (very, very slight inclusions) rings offered at some outlets, but colour is generally top notch (D grading) in their more expensive range.
The most expensive engagement ring on Goldsmiths when I searched was around £15000, and they also have some matching expensive wedding rings.
So in conclusion, I'd consider Goldsmiths if you are searching for an engagement ring at the expensive end of the market and you fit the following criteria:
- You want a simple solitaire style with a high grading
- You want the convenience of returning to a high street store if you need to
- You don't want to battle with a vast choice and seemingly infinite customisation options
8. Steven Stone
Steven Stone wins the prize for selling the UK's most expensive engagement ring. OK, so I'm sure there is a ring which used to belong to a member of some Royal Family which is the world's most expensive engagement ring, but this is the most expensive diamond ring we've found online. (Actually, if you're interested, according to various gossip and celebrity websites, the most expensive engagement ring cost £6.9 million and belongs to Mariah Carey - reports say it is 35 carat).
So how much is the ring at Steven Stone? Well, when we searched we found a diamond going for £380,415 at Steven Stone. So, what do you get when you spend this much on an engagement ring? The diamond in question was 5.7 carat, with a colour E, a clarity of VVS1 and an excellent cut. So, basically it is as close to perfection as a diamond can be, in an absolutely enormous size - which is what you'd expect for that money.
If your budget for an engagement ring won't quite stretch to seven figures then there are plenty of options in between with nice simple options for customising.
Steven Stone has branches in London and Manchester.
So how much is the ring at Steven Stone? Well, when we searched we found a diamond going for £380,415 at Steven Stone. So, what do you get when you spend this much on an engagement ring? The diamond in question was 5.7 carat, with a colour E, a clarity of VVS1 and an excellent cut. So, basically it is as close to perfection as a diamond can be, in an absolutely enormous size - which is what you'd expect for that money.
If your budget for an engagement ring won't quite stretch to seven figures then there are plenty of options in between with nice simple options for customising.
Steven Stone has branches in London and Manchester.
9. Tiffany & Co
Tiffany & Co has done a terrific job of establishing itself as perhaps the best known of the expensive engagement ring sellers (helped along by fans of Audrey Hepburn and that song by Deep Blue Something…). But how do Tiffany's rings stack up when compared to other expensive engagement ring jewellers in this guide?
Well, the first thing to note is that Tiffany engagement rings aren’t really comparable to those from other online jewellers. Tiffany's website is deliberately a bit short on price information - it really is a teasing shop window to show off the brand and encourage you to book an appointment with a 'Tiffany Diamond Expert'. That then requires a visit to a store in London, Heathrow or Manchester or a phone call.
If you do end up looking into buying a ring from Tiffany & Co, I would get yourself a little familiar with the gradings of diamonds first. Prices for the ring I looked at start ‘from £10300’, so for that price I would expect to see a ring which was at the very top of the gradings (or a very large carat diamond that was a lower grading).
There is certainly something very appealing about presenting your engagement ring in a Tiffany’s box, but don’t fall into the trap of assuming that brand is everything when it comes to diamond engagement rings.
Well, the first thing to note is that Tiffany engagement rings aren’t really comparable to those from other online jewellers. Tiffany's website is deliberately a bit short on price information - it really is a teasing shop window to show off the brand and encourage you to book an appointment with a 'Tiffany Diamond Expert'. That then requires a visit to a store in London, Heathrow or Manchester or a phone call.
If you do end up looking into buying a ring from Tiffany & Co, I would get yourself a little familiar with the gradings of diamonds first. Prices for the ring I looked at start ‘from £10300’, so for that price I would expect to see a ring which was at the very top of the gradings (or a very large carat diamond that was a lower grading).
There is certainly something very appealing about presenting your engagement ring in a Tiffany’s box, but don’t fall into the trap of assuming that brand is everything when it comes to diamond engagement rings.
10. CostCo
Finally, I had to mention CostCo as they have a ring on their website for sale at the price of £4799. For that price you get a 1.00 carat diamond with a clarity of VS2 and a colour of I (the sixth best on the scale). It is in a platinum setting, which you would expect.
A couple of points though – firstly, whilst the diamonds on offer are of a reasonable size, they don’t have spectacular gradings.
Secondly, they aren’t a brand name I associate with jewellery so I would question whether you would feel slightly coy when your potential spouse asks where the ring came from. If you needed to return it, would you end up queueing in a warehouse off the A52 surrounded by tins of paint and TVs?
Incidentally, at one stage CostCo had a ring for £279,999.99 which was a staggering 6.55 carats and one of the most expensive engagement ring we’ve found but that seems to have gone, so I can only assume someone bought it…
A couple of points though – firstly, whilst the diamonds on offer are of a reasonable size, they don’t have spectacular gradings.
Secondly, they aren’t a brand name I associate with jewellery so I would question whether you would feel slightly coy when your potential spouse asks where the ring came from. If you needed to return it, would you end up queueing in a warehouse off the A52 surrounded by tins of paint and TVs?
Incidentally, at one stage CostCo had a ring for £279,999.99 which was a staggering 6.55 carats and one of the most expensive engagement ring we’ve found but that seems to have gone, so I can only assume someone bought it…
We've also written a blog post about our search for the UK's most expensive engagement ring