Goldsmiths Jewellery review

Goldsmiths offers a range of carat weights for their engagement rings – all the way from 0.10 to 1.00 carat. The most common carat weight offered is 0.50ct – a nice round number that will look significant on the finger.

Diamond carat weight is one of the biggest determinants of the cost of a ring, and we can see that prices start from around £350 for a 0.2 carat ring:

While the range for a 1 carat solitaire rings is about £3,500 – £11,500:

While carat weight may be the biggest determinant of diamond price, the factor that determines how much a diamond sparkles is diamond ‘cut’. Diamond cut is a measure of how well the diamond has been formed and it is essential that a diamond has good proportions to reflect light, otherwise it will be dull, lifeless and unimpressive.

If a diamond is too tall or too shallow, it won’t reflect much light:

Understanding the cut quality of a diamond is absolutely essential to be able to understand whether it will sparkle. If you don’t know the cut quality then you may very well be wasting your money.

One disappointing feature of Goldsmith’s website is that they don’t include a diamond’s “cut” information in the product information for their diamond. Instead, they just show the diamond shape, rather than the cut grade:

When I ask their about this information in their live chat, they said; “Unfortunately not all product information is available on our specifications”

The lack of information on cut quality is a huge red flag for Goldsmiths. Many other jewellers do include diamond cut quality on their websites – some of which make it one of the filters on their search tool.

Another thing to consider when choosing quality diamond is the clarity.

The majority of the clarity grades offered are I1, which is lower than I would recommend you choose if you want your diamond to not have any visible inclusions or flaws. I1 inclusions are also almost always visible to the naked eye, making them not eye-clean diamonds:

Below is an example of I1 diamond clarity – you can see that there are a large number of easily visible flaws all across the face of the diamond, which make the diamond significantly less desirable.

We don’t recommend choosing an I1 clarity diamond because of the obvious inclusions.

The most common colour offered is I, which I will not recommend because it can look almost completely colourless to the naked eye. I recommend G or H colour – above this level and the diamond doesn’t look much whiter, but is much more expensive, below this level and the diamond can look yellow (which most people don’t like).

Ranking the diamond quality, out of 5, I would award Goldsmiths a 2 stars for as the majority of their diamonds are low clarity and colour, and they also don’t provide diamond cut quality information on their website, which is essential to judge how much a diamond will actually sparkle.

Goldsmiths diamond grading labs

Diamonds are graded on four key factors – carat, colour, clarity and cut – and a host of smaller factors too.

Diamonds which score higher are generally more expensive – an F colour diamond will be pricier than an H colour, if everything also is the same.

It’s important therefore that diamond grading levels can be trusted – you don’t want to pay more for a diamond that has been graded as an F colour but it is actually an H.

This is why independent diamond testing labs are important. An independent testing lab doesn’t have any incentive to say that a diamond is higher quality than it is, as they don’t make any more money if they do. In fact, if they bump up diamond quality grades, it may mean people trust them less, which might mean that people use their service less and then they make less money. Being able to rely on the grading scores from independent labs is a key part of comparing diamonds across retailers – you know that you are comparing like-for-like.

On the other hand, retailers do have an incentive to increase diamond quality scores, as it will mean that they can sell a diamond for a higher price.

For this reason, I recommend that you always look for a diamond which has been graded by an independent authority – my usually recommendation is the GIA because they have the strictest standards, so you will be sure that you are getting the quality that you are paying for.

Goldsmiths doesn’t shown any diamond grading lab or certification information on their website, and weren’t able to provide any more info online – their live chat said:

“I am afraid I would be unable to confirm this however I would advise speaking directly with your nearest store to confirm”

“I am afraid as I do not specialise in this field I would be unable to advise further on this”

This is disappointing as being able to trust a diamond’s specifications through independent analysis is a key part of being comfortable with a diamond purchase. Without it, it’s like buying a second hand car that the dealer is telling you is in great nick, but you can’t verify that it actually is.