Blog: buying jewellery online – insider guide

We think it’s time to embrace the word recycled. Recycled used to mean toilet paper – rough toilet paper! These days recycled means ideal, sustainable and noble.

As a company, we have been recycling fine jewellery since 2011. We buy items made by distinguished jewellery houses like Cartier and Tiffany & Co. We then service and polish the items so that they look new or nearly new. Our engagement rings are always sold in “Proposal Ready” condition which means what is says!

As we do not support manufacturing at its source – our items are already made and do not require much in the way of additional resources. We are practically carbon neutral!

Pre-owned, second hand, recycled used to mean second best. We think that idea has been turned upside down. As we all seek to make the planet a better place to live we must embrace recycling in all its forms whether it’s paper or jewellery.

We are proud to sell recycled fine jewellery and we think you’ll be proud to wear it.

Cartier as investment? Can we expect that our Cartier jewellery purchases will increase in value?

Since its founding in 1847 the Cartier name has been synonymous with luxury. "Cartier is the King of Jewellers and the Jewellers of Kings" said Edward VII, more than 100 years ago. A brand with such fine pedigree, standing the test of time for more than 150 years should be looked at with more seriousness than just a purveyor of fine jewellery.

We have found that since Bloomsbury Manor began in 2011 the price of pre owned Cartier jewellery has markedly increased. We are looking at rises of 20-30% particularly across collectors pieces such as Panthere, C de Cartier, Bamboo and Trinity. There are more modest increases from the more well known Love collection. The slightly rarer collector's pieces are more rare and demand is strong from people wanting to invest in a piece which is both wearable and likely to increase in value. The Panthere range has been fashionable since the 1930s, King Edward VIII's consort The Duchess of Windsor was a keen fan. The collection has never been out of fashion as far as we are aware! C de Cartier, Trinity and Bamboo have all evolved over time and customers are both interested in vintage and current designs.

With Global financial uncertainty becoming constant background noise we would counsel that a solid investment in a tried and tested asset class would be wise. With dwindling supply and demand increasing we foresee that any Cartier collector's piece bought now might be worth 20% more in 5 years.

How can anyone resist?

Here are some investment pieces.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are no guarantee of future growth.

So, you're thinking of popping the question or maybe you just have? The thing is, you have an idea but you're not sure about the pitch. You know why you think it's a good idea to go down the pre-owned route but you're not sure how to approach the subject. You need help. You need some good points. Here are a few:

1. You Get a Bigger Diamond.

"You know the money we would have spent buying a brand new ring? Well we can put that into buying a bigger and better stone. Now isn't that a good thing"?

2. It's Sustainable!

Recycling applies to engagement rings too. It's environmentally friendly and wastes no new resources. Mining is a very resource heavy industry so you can feel better about your engagement ring being more green.

3. Diamonds are already around 2.5 billion years old.

Did you know this? Diamonds were created billions of years ago. The majority between 1.5 and 3.5 billion years ago. What's another few years added on to that?

4. When you polish and service you get "Proposal Ready".

If you buy from a company like Bloomsbury Manor Ltd you can rest assured that you will be receiving a ring that deserves the name "Proposal Ready". Once we polish and service a ring, to all intents and purposes it looks brand new.

5. You get the same returns policy.

Both us and Tiffany & Co offer 30 day returns.

For a conversation about your engagement ring needs please call us on 0207 692 5103 today.

The most valuable jewellery in the world is also the rarest. This is not a coincidence. Since the beginning of time human beings have cherished the rarest commodities. Would gold be so valuable if our rivers ran full of it?

Every year Tiffany & Co puts together an exclusive collection of gemstone jewellery. This collection "Colours" travels the world and comprises of one off pieces. Tiffany's renowned gemstone department curates a collection of large, unparalleled stones to be set in the finest settings, in which to display unique fire, scintillation and presence.

You might imagine that one off jewellery pieces are expensive. They absolutely are! Our unique Tiffany & Co Spessartite Garnet Earrings made for the 2009 Colours Collection were originally sold for £40,800!

They are available from us for just £11,700 and are sure to be a future investment. If you are more generally interested in the Colours collection it is touring right now and pieces are available in Harrods, London to view. There is a similar pair of rubellite earrings available for £41,000.

For enquiries about these earrings please contact us on +44(0207) 692  5103.

It's that time again! If you're thinking of buying pre-owned Cartier, Tiffany & Co or Bulgari jewellery for a significant other this Christmas then of course you have come to the right place. 

We were wondering about how to make our gift offering a little better. Obviously we cannot send your item ready gift wrapped otherwise you wouldn't be able to inspect it!

We decided the best thing to do would be to send out a stylish gift bag with tag and smart stickers to seal it. That way you can inspect the item, pop it in the bag, seal it up. 

Please let us know if the item you are purchasing is to be a gift and we'll make sure you receive a gift bag.

Jean Schlumberger was arguably Tiffany & Co's most important designer. His talent with colour and enamel proved to be an instant hit with wealthy, well-heeled women. Many of his designs from the 1950s onwards are still in production today, with his 'Jackie' paillonne enamel bracelet being the most famous example. 

Perhaps more than any other of Tiffany & Co.'s designers, Jean Schlumberger pieces not only hold their value, but tend to increase in value over time. His jewellery is highly collectable amongst the well-healed connoisseur.

With a firey orange spessartite garnet weighing 6.71ct at its centre and an additional 2ct of scintillating white diamonds, in a classic Schlumberger setting, this piece is sure to delight the wearer or collector. Please see the ring here or call 0207 692 5103 for more details.  Please note that this ring is re-sizable by Tiffany & Co. Currently size 5 (J 1/2 to K).

Here at Bloomsbury Manor we are very serious about authenticity. We use a variety of methods to ensure that all our jewellery meets our exacting requirements and yours. Our jewellery specialist will perform tests using specialist diamond testing equipment and microscopes. Pictured below is a laser inscription from a Tiffany & Co engagement ring.

We check laser inscriptions to make sure that they exist and tally with any certification.

In addition to the testing of precious stones we are also well versed in the workmanship of master jewellers such as Bulgari, Cartier and Tiffany & Co. It takes years to understand what to expect from their craftsmen. So many years in fact that it really does pay to deal with and expert.

A final round of verification involves pure experience. Does the item "add up" does it feel right? There is no blog or youtube video that can teach you this skill. Only experience can tell you.

If you have any questions about our verification process or authenticity in general please do not hesitate to contact us on 0207 692 5103 or via email info@bloomsburymanor.com

1. Ask questions. A good seller will reply promptly and articulately. Bad English = bad jewellery!

2. Only buy from sellers with with a no quibble returns policy.

3. If you're in any doubt use a free authentication service such as ours. We can certainly tell you if we see something suspicious.

4. Pay with Paypal or a Credit Card so you're protected in case anything goes wrong.

5. Compare identical articles with another seller. Do the signatures and hallmarks match? Remember it is better to do this with more than one other seller as you could accidentally find yourself comparing your item against a fake!

Counterfeits, forgeries or fakes... they put a lot of people off buying Tiffany & Co. jewellery on-line. To be honest, I'm not surprised. It was my big fear when I started out. How would I know something was fake? Here's a little about what I've learned...

(Don't worry - if you'd rather not make the judgement yourself, you can use our Free Authentication Service.)

Fake Tiffany jewellery is generally made in Asia, in bulk by manufacturers attempting to pass off silver plated Tiffany designs as real Tiffany & Co solid silver jewellery. These items are sold on websites which mimic Tiffany's own website but are called things like 'tiffanydiscount' or 'uktiffanyjewellers'. You can only buy genuine Tiffany & Co new from Tiffany.co.uk itself.

With regards to the second hand market - and Ebay in particular - contrary to popular opinion, this can be a very safe place to get a great Tiffany bargain!

The kinds of sellers on fake sites like 'tiffanydiscount' don't have access to the Ebay market - because they are banned! (That said, it's entirely possible that individuals, having purchased items from fake sites might try to sell them on through Ebay.)

Fakes often mimic popular classics like the 'Return to Tiffany' range. Remember the people manufacturing these fake items are trying to make a fast buck. They are not highly skilled and cannot afford to finish the items to Tiffany's exacting standards. You'll find, for example,  that the links in a chain on a fake item will be pushed to, rather than invisibly soldered together like the real thing.

Have a look on the Tiffany website and check the item you want to buy against the genuine item. Has it got smooth links or can you see little gaps where the links have been pushed together? If you can't see clearly enough, ask the seller to send you close ups of the links. Gaps = fake, no gaps = genuine!

If there are no links to check, ask for the weight of the item - remember fakers don't produce items in real silver - it's too expensive. Compare the weight of the item you want to buy against the weight of the same item sold by other sellers. If your item weighs the same as most of the others then it's likely to be real. If it is significantly lighter then it's fake.

Finally look at how long people have been on Ebay and their feedback. If they mostly sell jewellery and have good feedback, the chances are they are running a business. The last thing they want is to ruin their business by selling fakes. A confident seller will also offer a returns policy. That way, if there are any problems at all, you can get your money back.

I've only been talking about Tiffany silver because that is where the counterfeiting problem stems from. I don't know of any large scale operation that fakes Tiffany & Co fine jewellery ie. gold, platinum and diamond. The reason for this is that it's impossible to make fine jewellery without skilled craftsmen and fine materials. Imagine filing down the prongs on a gold plated engagement ring - it wouldn't work because you'd see the base metal underneath. Of course you could re-plate the item once you'd got the perfect shape but why bother with all of that when you can make a fast buck with silver plated items? Maybe you could take the diamonds out of a genuine Tiffany ring and replace them with fakes? This is possible but you'd struggle to find enough second hand Tiffany rings to make a career out of it!

If you're not sure however, and you'd like an independent professional opinion about your jewellery, feel free to use our Free Authentication Service.

Hope this helps. Happy jewellery buying!

It can seem like a daunting task. How could you possibly buy jewellery online without seeing it first? What about fakes? How can I check what I have is authentic? What if it looks terrible in real life? 

Buying jewellery online sounds about as sensible as buying an ice-cream sundae online - it just shouldn't work! More and more, however it does work and, what's more, significant savings can be made by doing so.

Just think about for one second. Your local retail jewellery store has huge costs which it has to pay for out of its profits - staff, premises, utilities. An online retailer can reduce a lot of these costs and can therefore pass on these savings to you.

So if you're after a particular piece, say a Tiffany engagement ring, you should be able to get it cheaper online than in a store.

OK, so it's cheaper - but what about the risk? Well if you buy an item of pre-owned jewellery from a store, how do you know it's real? Not everyone is a qualified gemologist. Usually you'd place a certain degree of trust in the seller. Perhaps you know him or her personally, or perhaps the store has been there forever and, you know, they must know what they're doing.

But how often do you take your items to another jewellery store - to check if the diamond is the real thing, or the gold is really 18K? Probably never! But with buying from an online seller with good feedback and a no quibble returns policy (a minimum 10 days) you can go to your trusty local jewellery store, show it to your friend the graduate gemologist, and make sure you're OK with it. If for any reason you're not, a good online retailer will accept a return. That way you get to benefit from reduced prices whilst maintaining complete control.

Anyone for an ice-cream sundae?