{"id":58243,"date":"2022-02-23T02:13:29","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T02:13:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ringspo.com\/uk\/?page_id=58243"},"modified":"2024-02-20T06:05:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T06:05:07","slug":"77-diamonds-review","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ringspo.com\/uk\/77-diamonds-review\/","title":{"rendered":"77 Diamonds Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
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77 Diamonds Review<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Should you buy your engagement ring from 77 Diamonds?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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77 Diamonds has been one of the UK’s pre-eminent online diamond sellers for the last 18 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For any business to survive that long, it has to be doing something right. But should you buy from tem in 2024?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this 77 Diamonds review, we’re going to examine them from the point of view of buying a diamond engagment ring. However, the indings are equally relevant for any other type of jewellery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019d like to jump straight to the \u2018value for money\u2019 section and see how choosing one of my recommended retailers could save \u00a3671 compared to 77 Diamonds, click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"diamonds<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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15 years ago, buying a diamond or engagement ring in the UK was a very different prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the High St, you could find low quality diamonds at low prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the top end of town, designer jewelers like Tiffany sold high quality rings at pumped-up prices. Someone has to pay for the beautiful stores, glasses of bubbly and expensive ad campaigns, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there were the specialised diamond shops, often found in clusters like Hatton Garden or Birmingham\u2019s Diamond District. These had a reputation for baffling buyers with terminology and sending them off with a very average diamond that they had been told was top quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was into this environment that 77 Diamonds launched in 2004:<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"diamonds<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Their aim was to leverage the power of the internet to bring greater choice, better prices and more transparency to diamond buyers in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while there were already businesses with similar models operating in the US, this was a new concept over here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Key takeaway:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

77 Diamonds has a wide selection of diamonds and fair prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are some pitfalls in buying through them that seem designed to catch people out and mean that they are more likely to choose a diamond that doesn’t sparkle particularly well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our recommended alternative is Taylor and Hart<\/a>, who put customer service first and ensure that every customer receives a diamond that sparkles beautifully.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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77 Diamonds Ring Selection<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When buying a diamond ring, I always recommend three steps, in this order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Decide your budget. Write it down. Look at it. This is important<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Find the setting style you are looking for. Note down the price.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The difference between the two is the budget for your diamond.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    This may sound extremely obvious, but many people get so caught up in the diamond purchase that they forget about the setting cost until it is too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    77 Diamonds has a wide section of settings to cater to any budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Importantly, they have many variations of individual styles. For example, if you\u2019re looking for a classic solitaire setting, there\u2019s 16 different settings to choose from:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"77<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Solitaire settings start from \u00a3481+VAT, which is reasonably competitive, although the prices quoted on the website exclude VAT, so the least expensive solitaire will actually bemore like \u00a3577 rather than the \u00a3481 it initially appears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Choosing a retailer that offers reasonably priced settings means that there\u2019s more of your budget available to spend on the diamond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And if you are looking for something more ornate, they also offer a good selection of other ring styles too:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"diamonds<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Lastly, if you\u2019re looking for a shape other than a round diamond, then 77 Diamonds offer a great selection for you too. For example, they offer five variations for pear diamond halo rings:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"Diamonds<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    This is not common, and again means that you should be able to find what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A wide selection of setting styles plus fair prices is a good place to start your ring hunt.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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    77 Diamonds: Diamond Quality<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The centrepiece of most engagement rings is a diamond, and getting the right stone is therefore imperative to ensure that your ring sparkles beautifully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    77Diamonds claim to have the largest selection of diamonds available in the world. With reportedly 500,00 available to choose from at any one time, this seems likely.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n

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    \"diamonds<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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    If we look at just round brilliant diamonds, they have over 400,000 to choose from:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"Diamonds<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    With so many diamonds available, it\u2019s likely that you’ll be able to find the right one for you, although such a huge selection can be slightly overwhelming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One thing to be careful of is that 77 Diamonds includes lower quality diamonds in their search results than many other retailers – diamonds with clarity of SI2, colour L and K or ‘good’ cut grades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If we limit the search to diamonds of a quality I would deem acceptable (VS2+ clarity, H+ colour, Excellent cut), the number of round brilliant diamonds is 14,000, which is much more manageable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"diamonds<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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    When searching, I’d recommend choosing the attributes that result in a great looking diamond without overpaying for ‘quality’ that can’t be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    77 Diamonds certificates and grading reports<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    One thing to know though is that in this huge selection of diamonds includes a small proportion of stones that have been graded by labs that I would recommend avoiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Some labs are less strict when grading diamonds, which means that you may not be getting the quality of diamond that you think you are. I go into more detail on this in the \u2018buying guide\u2019 further down, this page, but the bottom line is that when searching for your diamond, I recommend that you only consider diamonds with a GIA<\/a> grading report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Diamond certification is incredibly important to guarantee that you are getting what you are paying for. They are issued by laboratories who assess the diamond on the 4Cs and a host of other aspects too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ideally, all labs would grade diamonds equally, so that if you were looking at a 1 carat, G colour, VS2 clarity, Excellent cut diamond anywhere in the world, you would be able to compare it to another and be able to rely on the grading to compare them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The issue with some certificates is that the labs that issue them are less rigorous than others when assessing a diamond. So a diamond that receives a mediocre grade from a strict lab, may be judged to be excellent by another. This inconsistency can make it difficult to compare diamonds that have been graded by different labs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To test the labs, diamond industry body \u2018Rapapor<\/a>t\u2019 conducted a test where it sent the exact same stone to six diamond grading labs to see how they graded it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The table below shows the results from one of the tests:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"rapaport<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    If you compare the results you can see that GIA graded the diamond more strictly than all of the other grading labs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And the difference between some of them is pretty shocking \u2013 particularly GIA and EGL Israel. While GIA graded the diamond G for colour (fourth on the scale), EGL Israel awarded the same diamond the very top grade \u2013 D.<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"GIA<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Something to know is that the diamond industry knows that EGL grading reports are overly-generous. As a result of this, diamonds with these grading reports are priced significantly lower. Even allowing for this, I would recommend avoiding any diamond that has been graded by any variety of EGL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My strong recommendation is that you click ‘GIA’ when searching on 77 Diamonds:<\/p>\n\n\n

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    \"diamonds<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

    Choosing another certificate means that while it may seem<\/em> like you are getting a bargain, you are actually receiving a lower quality diamond than you thought.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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    77 Diamond Service<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Buying a diamond ring is a big purchase, both financially and emotionally, so it\u2019s important to find a retailer that has:<\/p>\n\n\n\n