Advice Pls - Buying Engagement Ring in Dubai

Just looking for a bit of advise, meself & the BF are heading on hols to Dubai next month & plan to buy a Platinum 3 stone engagement ring....we know nothing about buying diamonds etc. has anyone got there ring in Dubai??? i'd Really appreciate any advise on where to buy & what diamond certificates are universal . Thanks..... i cant even ask my friends as i dont want to ruin the surprise element .....

Hi, I got my engagement ring in Dubai. The most choice is in the gold souq, but it can be a bit over whelming as its so big, but the jewellery sections in some of the malls like City Centre in Deira have good selections and also if you're unsure the shops are all "real shops" IYKWIM. Do a bit of research before you go so you know about clarity, colour and the rest and know what you're looking at. Most places will give you some kind of certification on your diamonds saying the size, colour clarity cut etc etc, whilst others will come with "official certs" but all places worth going to will give you something. Damas jewellers are very good and there are several branches in Dubai, I didn't get my e-ring there but I have several other pieces of jewellery from them. However, give yourself time to have a good look round cos you will be blown a way by the choice, even if you hit the malls and not the actual gold souk!!! You may find with platinum that your ring needs to be made especially, as gold is more common, so you need to consider how long you are going to be there for (eg if you're there a fortnight you'll prolly be alright as usually it takes about a week) Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for!!

I live in Dubai. Got my e-ring in the Gold and Diamond Park, lovely air conditioned bright shops. Try Cara jewellers, always busy, a good sign and they have got great recs on tripadvisor.com. I got my ring there, just under 1 and a half carat, 1500euro, worth at least 4000 in ireland. Have fun!

I second Cara Jewellers! We got the ring there at the start of the summer. It was valued at over 4 times what we paid for it! They were so helpful in the shop, and they made the ring in just a few hours. Had to go back the next day because the size was too big (remember if its hot during day your fingers will be swollen), and they resized it on the spot with no questions. The cert we got with it was IGI which the jeweller here said is a good cert and international. If you want anymore info or anything just PM me.

I'm just back from Dubai and bought diamonds there. I definitely recommend the diamond and gold park, it's by far the best value. We did alot of shopping around and it came up the best. I would recommend going having a look first then go back a second time when you are sure of what you want. I bought diamonds in both Cara Jewellers and Passion, both gave certificates. The ring I bought in Passion was custom made within a day, which was fantastic. Don't buy anything without a cert. Make sure to haggle and know your budget.

Actually thats one thing I forgot to say - definitely haggle! I think our ring started off around twice or even three times the price we actually got it. We even left the store at one stage and H2B went back in to say I really wanted that one but X was all he had to pay for it (complete lie and not very romantic but it worked!). Another thing thats a good idea is to have a look around shops here before you go - so that you have an idea of what you want before you get there and so that you know roughly how much a few rings would be here, at least then you can be sure you're not paying over the odds.

Cara for my too!!! I'm only back about two weeks, it took two days to get mine made as it was in platinum. chose the stone first, then the setting, then the band. We were haggeling in there for about two hours but came out with a lovely ring! Got about €2000 off the price that they started with... Definatley make sure you know something about the 4C's (cut, colour, clarity, Carot), just so you have an idea of what they are trying to sell you. It can get quite confusing. Good luck M x

Girls Thanks you all sooo much for the helpful advise

Also got mine in Cara in the Daimond park (it's more like a shopping centre than a park). He said they called the shop Cara because they have so many irish cutomers- think the owners used to work in Marhaba previously. We spent a few hours one evening going around the shops there- once I'd settled on a style (solataire/platinum) we narrowed it down to one in marhaba and one in cara. It's funny actually because Marhaba seemed to own 2 or 3 other shops in the diamond park under different names. Make sure you get a International Gem. Inst. Cert - some places said they'd give a "shop" cert and not an IGI cert - don't know how reliable that would be. Ended up getting it in Cara anyway. They were really really helpful. He basically laid all the diamonds out on the desk in their little packs - so we picked the best one we could and settled on a price. Then picked out the setting. The cool thing about it is the owner actually brought us upstairs to their little factory to see it being made!!! There was about 12 Indian guys working away up there and we got to see every part of the process- twas mad- they were so highly skilled. Even got a few pics with the lads who made it. Ended up getting my wedding ring in Cara too- lovely channel setting band. Haven't had mine valued yet but saw a similar (colour etc) but smaller one here the other day and it was 2 and a half times the price of mine. My sister in law got her (3 stone) wedding ring in the Marhaba branch in the Gold Souk and found them to be very good as well. http://www.goldanddiamondpark.com Anyhoo, enjoy Dubai - great spot for chilling out! You'll have a ball ring-shopping!

Cara comes high;y recommended on Trip Advisor. Haggle, haggle ,haggle is what my friend who has realtions there said to do - keep your wits and also know your 4 c's in depth. Passion is another jeweller i see recommended on Ta. Girls just wondering where did you stay and things you would suggest to do in Dubai.