Blog: buying jewellery online – insider guide

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?