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The UK's 25 cheapest 0.25 carat diamond engagement rings

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We've scoured online jewellery retailers to find the UK's cheapest 0.25 carat diamond engagement ring, and we've put together our top 25 results. You'll be relieved to know that we found that not all diamond rings cost more than £1000. In fact, there are many under £200 and under £500 and even a few under £100.

Our criteria was a ring that was:
  • at least 0.25 carat (1/4 carat) in a single solitaire diamond
  • any type of gold (9 carat, 14 carat or 18 carat)
  • any clarity or colour (we've included these details as well for comparison)
  • available to UK shoppers (so, we allowed some US websites, but only those offering international shipping and included the customs duty in the final price)

Searches were carried out in October 2015. Here are the results:
Ranking (cheapest first)

Ranking (cheapest first)

Retailer

Price

Carat[i]

Clarity[ii]

Colour[iii]

Metal[iv]

1

eBay [v] (second hand)

£55

0.25

I1

N/A

9 carat white gold

2

Etsy [vi] (second hand)

£95

0.25

N/A[vii]

N/A

9 carat gold

3

Amazon 

£221

0.25

I2

I – J

14 carat white gold

4

SuperJeweler

£248[viii]

0.25

I1 – I2

I - J

14 carat white gold

5

The Jewellery Channel 

£250

0.25

I3

G - H

9 carat white gold

6

Argos

£270

0.25

I2

I

9 carat white gold

7

Diamonds Factory

£285

0.20

I1

H

9 carat white gold

8

F Hinds

£299

0.25

N/A

N/A

9 carat white gold

9

Chapelle

£299

0.25

I1-I2

H

9 carat white gold

10

Jewellery World

£299

0.25

SI2

J-K

9 carat gold

11

Elma Jewellery

£311

0.25

I1

H

9 carat gold

12

Great Value Gold

£325

0.25

SI2

J

9 carat gold

13

Purely Diamonds

£350

0.25

SI2

H

9 carat white gold

14

Warren James

£350

0.25

I1-I2

H-I

9 carat white gold

15

Littlewoods

£356

0.25

I2-I3

H-I

9 carat gold

16

Zoara

£368[ix]

0.28

SI1

I

14 carat white gold

17

The Jewel Hut

£375

0.33

N/A

N/A

9 carat gold

18

Aspire Diamonds 

£385

0.33

I1

G

18 carat gold

19

Ideal World

£399

0.25

P1

G-H

9 carat white gold

20

Fraser Hart 

£399

0.25

N/A

N/A

9 carat gold

21

Goldsmiths

£399

0.25

N/A

N/A

9 carat white gold

22

The Diamond Store

£415

0.25

N/A

N/A

9 carat white gold

23

Shining Diamonds 

£419

0.25

I1

H

18 carat gold

24

Overstock

£427[x]

0.25

I2-I3

H-I

14 carat white gold

25

QP Jewellers

£435

0.25

SI-2

K-M

9 carat white gold

26

Ernest Jones 

£439

0.25

N/A

N/A

9 carat gold

27

Diamond Heaven 

£445

0.30

I2

I

18 carat gold

28

H Samuel

£499

0.25

N/A

N/A

9 carat gold

29

Gold Boutique

£499

0.20

SI1-SI2

G-H

9 carat gold

30

Wedding Rings Direct

£504

0.28

SI2

H

9 carat gold

31

Serendipity Diamonds

£524

0.25

SI2

J

18 carat gold

32

Lloyds Family Jewellery

£525

0.25

I1-I2

H-J

9 carat gold

33

Glamira 

£535

0.25

VS

H

14 carat gold

34

Orla James 

£550

0.25

SI1

G

9 carat gold

35

Congenial Diamonds

£567

0.25

SI1

I

18 carat gold

36

 

Vashi

£578

0.25

SI1

I

18 carat gold

37

Diamond Rocks 

£584

0.25

VS2

J

18 carat gold

38

77 Diamonds

£603

0.25

SI1

K

18 carat white gold

39

21 Diamonds 

£629

0.25

SI2

H

9 carat gold

40

The Diamond Ring Company

£632

0.25

I1

E

18 carat white gold

41

Laings of Glasgow

£660

0.25

SI2

G

18 carat white gold

42

Not On The High Street 

£750

0.25

N/A

N/A

Palladium

43

Samara James 

£800

0.30

SI2

H

18 carat gold

44

Diamond Geezer

£803

0.22

VS1

F

18 carat gold

45

Beaverbrooks

£950

0.25

I1

I

9 carat white gold



[i] Carat is the weight of the diamond. We have searched for the cheapest ring of at least 0.25 carat (1/4 carat). Anything smaller than this is really very small!

[ii] Clarity is a grading of how many imperfections there are in the diamond. The usual scale is (from highest to lowest): IF (internally flawless), VVS1 (very very slight inclusions), VVS2, VS1 (very slight inclusions), VS2, SI1 (slight inclusions), SI2, I1 (inclusions) I2, I3. I would be reluctant to buy anything at the very bottom of the clarity scale, but most differences are only really visible under magnification.

[iii] Colour determines whether the diamond is a nice white colour or a less pleasant yellow colour. The scale goes from D (white) to Z (yellow), although anything up to an H is pretty decent in my view.

[iv] Rings are usually gold (9 carat, 14 carat or 18 carat) or platinum. The cheapest is usually 9 carat gold, platinum is the most expensive. See our guide for more detail.

[v] Second hand ring, prices vary but you can expect to get a ¼ carat ring from eBay for £40 to £100 depending on how much it has been worn, whether it includes a box and receipt etc.

[vi] Second hand ring, prices vary and the range is smaller than eBay but you can get a ¼ ring from Etsy for £100 on a good day.

[vii] N/A denotes that the website did not specify the colour or clarity

[viii] Original figure was £203, but we have added on import duty and custom taxes for importing from the US to the UK. This is likely to be approximately 22.5% extra on this ring.

[ix] Original price was £301, but excluded import duty at approximately 22.5%

[x] We have added import duty and customs tax onto the original price of £349, as this has to be paid on diamond rings being imported from the US to the UK.

(Please note, some of the links on this site are affiliate links, but we include good deals regardless of whether they have the potential to earn money for the site or not).

Conclusions

A few conclusions from our search for the cheapest diamond ring online in the UK:
  • There is a huge range in prices for fairly similar diamond engagement rings in the UK. Yes, clarity and colour are important but there are hundreds of pounds difference between some rings which are quite similar, at least on paper. The range between the cheapest and most expensive brand new 0.25 carat ring was around £750.
  • As far as I can see, clarity is what really increases the price of a diamond - the cheapest rings are all rated as having several imperfections. It is worth asking whether that will bother you or not - do you want something that performs well under a microscope or just a diamond that makes a nice sparkle? Or perhaps a more relevant question is: if you are on a budget (and who isn't?) where would you rather compromise - on quality or on size? For more on this, see our guide to 10 things you need to know when shopping for cheap engagement rings online in the UK.
  • An engagement ring doesn't need to cost £1000 or £500. If you're on a tight budget, you can pick up a reasonable diamond ring for about £200 or £300.
  • Second hand is cheapest, by far (eBay, Etsy). Buying used jewellery isn't for everyone, but it is cheap as chips.
  • Amazon is hard to beat in terms of price for a new lower priced engagement ring.
  • Buying from the USA (SuperJeweler and Overstock for example) is a money saving option if you are willing to deal with any extra hassle that comes from returns and the fact that import duty needs to be paid on top (generally about 20% extra which we have included in the prices above). Some US retailers include the import duties and taxes in your total price at checkout.
  • Big name high street retailers (H Samuel, F Hinds, Argos and Goldsmiths) were somewhere in the middle. Not the cheapest, not the most expensive. Beaverbrooks was expensive in this particular test, but it is considered a luxury brand.
  • There are several lesser known jewellers operating online, which don't have the profile of the high street names, but have built up good reviews and which outperform many others on price (try Diamonds Factory, and Purely Diamonds).

For more detail on many of these sellers, see our guide to 10 of the best places to buy cheap engagement rings in the UK for under £1000, £500 or £100.