commission price guide - Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design

What will my engagement ring cost?

You define the budget and we will design your engagement ring to within that amount. It's that simple.

We always offer the best possible value for money, regardless of how much you decide to spend - part of the meaning of good design is knowing how to get a beautiful result within a budget.

If you have any questions or would like to arrange a design consultation,
please contact us.

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0.25cts diamond solitaire engagement ring in 18ct yellow and white gold

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We are often asked how much it will cost to commission an engagement ring - the answer is that it could be as little as £500 + VAT or as much as you want to spend, it's all in the size, type and quality of the stone and the time and precious metal needed to handmake your design.

If you have a rough idea of what you want, contact us and we can give you a ballpark idea of cost. We don't publish the prices people paid for past commissions but drop us a line and we can tell you around how much it would cost to design something similar - do bear in mind however that the beauty of bespoke jewellery is that your design can be concieved to suit your budget.

A few reasons why we represent the best possible value for money

What you need to know is that we represent 'good value for money' - in other words, if you compare our prices, like for like, against others you will discover that we invariably come out best.

A word of warning though - there are plenty of cheap HSI diamond solitaires available on the internet, but there are good HSI diamonds and bad HSI diamonds and properly hand made settings and cheap and nasty mass-produced settings, its rather hard to tell the difference from a website.

Our diamond prices are below the UK average

We check our prices every month against the UK average price for popular sizes and qualities of diamonds to be sure that we are always lower.

You won't save money by going to an online dealer

Lots of online dealers are springing up selling certificated loose diamonds at what purport to be trade prices - actually retail prices under another name. You buy a stone from a table of cuts and clarities, often sight unseen, which would be fine if diamonds were a uniform thing and every stone at a particular level was the same. However, we find that stones with the same numbers can be very different - one full of life and the next flat and boring. A certificate just isn't a guarantee of the most beautiful stone for your engagement ring.

Of course it's up to you where you buy your stone, and we're always happy to set a stone you've bought as beautifully as ever, but do consider getting us to source your stones for you. You not only get the benefit of our years of experience and network of contacts, but we buy at genuine trade prices, and you get to see and compare a number of stones with no pressure to commit to one that you don't love. Harriet can honestly say, hand on heart, that she has never set a customer's stone, bought elsewhere, that was a better price than we could have achieved.

Read more about buying your diamond or gemstone from us.

A properly hand-forged ring isn't the same as a cast setting from a catalogue

It is difficult to make direct comparisons between our setting charges and elsewhere. Many of our rings are completely hand-forged - meaning that one of our skilled craftsmen has spent perhaps more than 12 hours carefully constructing the ring from individual pieces of sheet metal and wire. The reason this often isn't more expensive than a like for like, mass-produced equivalent is to do with the enormous margins the jewellery industry has traditionally enjoyed. With the advent of the internet and consumers being able to easily inform themselves this is becoming less prevalent, but we believe there is nothing luxurious about overpaying for your engagement ring.

If it's right for the design and means you can get more for your budget we will use a precast collet and carefully alter it to fit your ring. It's always a considered decision though, and part of our drive to supply you with the ring you want at the right price for your budget. An engagement ring made by us will have been crafted by one of a rare breed of truly skilled expert jewellers right here in Hertfordshire.

Working with a designer doesn't mean you pay more

Our setting prices are roughly in line with the UK average for all settings - yet for that you get unlimited time with one of our designers to create a unique engagement ring that is personal to you. If necessary they can also guide you through how to interpret your ideas to fit within your budget without losing what is important to you about the design - sometimes using a less expensive metal means you can have the stones you want, or vice versa.

Proper design and master craftsmanship is a good investment

If you listen to the experts on Antiques Roadshow, while they do talk about the gems in a piece, (and diamonds are intrinsically much more valuable than semi precious stones,) they reserve the main part of the valuation for the design and level of craftsmanship of a piece of jewellery. Conversely, second hand jewellery shops are full of inexpensive diamond rings with ordinary settings. The design and craftsmanship make much more difference to the ongoing value of a piece than the difference between an H SI diamond and an H SI2.