Frequently Asked Questions
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1. Why hire diamond jewellery?
Because you’ll look just as fabulous wearing great jewellery whether it’s yours or not, and because we can give you a thrilling diamond experience for a fraction of the cost of ownership.
It’s the smart new way to enjoy exquisite diamond jewellery. Let’s face it, if you owned an expensive piece of jewellery then how often would you actually wear it? Most of the time it would sit in your jewellery box or a safe somewhere, out of sight, gathering dust and costing you money every year in insurance premiums.
With diamondthrills, it’s like having your own virtual jewellery box: you get to choose from a wide selection of the latest styles so that you can shine brilliantly on your special occasion, and then you just return the jewellery to us afterwards. Then the next time you have a special event you can borrow a different piece… a different style. So much easier and more affordable than owning such an impressive and varied collection!
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2. Does that mean that there’s no reason to buy or to own diamond jewellery any more?
Absolutely not. We know that you still want to give, to receive, or to buy diamond jewellery for some really special occasions — your engagement obviously (we don’t expect to be renting out engagement rings!) but also birthdays, anniversaries, and to celebrate personal successes at work or at home. When the act of giving or receiving diamond jewellery is filled with emotional importance, most obviously for a diamond engagement ring, then naturally you want that piece for keeps — a diamond is forever, after all.
But wearing diamonds is also about adornment, about looking and feeling great, about sparkling with confidence in a social setting, and for many occasions actually that’s the point — in that moment it really isn’t about last year’s birthday or some half-forgotton anniversary. For those occasions, why buy when you can borrow?
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3. How much does hiring diamond jewellery cost?
It depends on the value of the piece and the length of time that you want to borrow it, but our hire charges start at just £50 per week.
Most of our pieces can be rented for around £100 to £250 per week, including all taxes, insurance, delivery and return. The rental fee for each piece of jewellery is clearly shown in the online gallery on this site.
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4. For what sort of occasions might I hire diamond jewellery?
Weddings are the most popular occasions for hiring fine diamond jewellery, but when we did some research by speaking to hundreds of women they told us that in addition to weddings they would hire jewellery for other formal occasions such as charity balls or graduation functions, and also for personal social events such as parties. We also see demand for corporate events and business functions, and we rent jewellery for TV and film productions where the props department want the real thing rather than something fake.
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5. What is the normal hire period?
Our basic hire period is a week including delivery & return, but people usually want to borrow a piece of jewellery for a specific function such as a wedding so it’s typical to have the jewellery for a weekend, in which case we make sure it’s delivered to you on a Thursday and we ask that the jewellery is returned to us by Wednesday of the following week.
Depending upon where you are, we can also arrange for Saturday delivery and Sunday pickup, and if you want a piece for a mid-week event then we can normally arrange that too, subject to availability. If you want to hire a piece of jewellery for periods other than the basic week then please ask us about special rates – we aim to be as flexible as possible.
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6. Can I take rented jewellery away on holiday with me?
If it’s in the UK then yes, no problem. But we can’t allow you to take our jewellery overseas unless you make special arrangements for insurance whilst you are away.
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7. Do you take a Security Deposit?
Yes. We will ask you for a temporary Security Deposit which is equal to 10% of the retail value of the jewellery being rented. In certain circumstances we reserve the right to require a higher Security Deposit, as described in our Hire Terms.
We charge the Security Deposit to your credit or debit card shortly before the jewellery is dispatched to you, and it’s refunded in full as soon as the jewellery is safely returned to Diamondthrills.
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8. Where are you based?
Diamondthrills is based in central London.
This allows us to offer face-to-face jewellery consultations across London and the South East of England, and sometimes further afield such as the South West and the North West.
If you would like to view some of our diamond jewellery or to try it on with – for example – your wedding gown, then visit our Consultation page where you can complete a basic form and we’ll be in touch.
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9. Can I view or try on pieces before deciding which piece of jewellery to hire?
Possibly – we don’t have a showroom but we might be able to come to you with two or three pieces so that you can try them on in the comfort of your own home, or perhaps in your wedding dress shop so that you can see how the jewellery will look with your wedding outfit.
Our availability for these try-on sessions is somewhat dependent upon where you are and where we need to be on any given day, but please ask us about making an appointment and we’ll do our very best to help you try on the jewellery.
Don’t forget that if you aren’t happy with the jewellery when it’s delivered to you then you can have your money back – no questions asked – so long as the jewellery is returned to us unworn.
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10. How much are the pieces worth?
We publish the purchase price next to every piece in our online gallery so you can see the actual retail price.
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11. Can I buy a piece of jewellery that’s featured on the Diamondthrills website?
Yes absolutely: we’re very happy to order up a new piece of jewellery as seen on our site. Contact Us for details.
If you fall in love with the jewellery that you have hired – for example for your wedding – and you really want to own it, then we might be able to sell it to you at a specially discounted rate, depending upon upcoming bookings for that piece.
Note also that we can supply bespoke pieces – for example diamond engagement rings, diamond pendants, earrings, etc. We buy the diamonds to order and can get them set for you.
In all cases, visit our ‘Diamond Concierge‘ page and let us know what you’re looking for and we’ll take it from there.
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12. Can I buy a diamond engagement ring from Diamondthrills?
Yes. We don’t stock engagement rings ready-made because we believe that an engagement ring should be something bespoke and absolutely unique to you.
We have great contacts in the diamond and jewellery world and that allows us to source a diamond that is exactly right for you, and then to set it in a ring which is just to your specifications.
Visit our Diamond Concierge page and tell us what your looking for and we’ll take it from there.
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13. Can I hire more than one piece at a time?
Generally, yes – you can hire up to three pieces at once — so you can match earrings to a pendant, for example — but our insurance company gets a bit nervous if we send out too much value to one customer, so we might limit you to just one or two of our more expensive pieces at any one time.
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14. How many times has the jewellery been worn before?
Diamondthrills is a new business in 2009 and all jewellery offered for hire on the website was brand new in June-July 2009, so in many cases the pieces have never been worn before.
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15. How do I know that the jewellery is clean and hygienic, especially earrings?
We have invested in state-of-the-art jewellery cleaning equipment which uses ultrasound to make sure that all jewellery is thoroughly cleaned after it has been worn. We also carry out a physical inspection to ensure that the jewellery has not been damaged in any way. So you can be sure that when you receive your piece of jewellery it is as close as possible to as-new condition.
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16. Are the diamonds genuine and conflict free?
We take our responsibilities very seriously in this area. The founder and Managing Director of diamondthrills spent 13 years working for De Beers and as a result he knows more about how the diamond ‘pipeline’ works than most people working at the retail level in the diamond jewellery business. We have used that knowledge to select suppliers with extreme care and to ask the right questions in order to get assurances that all diamonds in our jewellery have been responsibly sourced and are compliant with the standards that you would demand and expect, including the requirements of the Kimberley Process.
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17. Is there a membership fee?
No. We believe that you should have the freedom and flexibility to use the diamondthrills service as much or as little as you want, completely free from any membership commitments of any kind, especially fees. Do you need to pay Avis or Hertz a membership fee to hire their cars? No. So why should you pay membership fees to us to hire diamond jewellery?
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18. Are there membership / loyalty schemes for regular customers?
Yes. Details still to be determined, but in principle we expect to offer a membership scheme to regular diamond jewellery hirers at preferential rates. It will work a bit like car clubs: pay a modest annual fee in order to be a member of the club and then borrow jewellery once or twice per month or several times per year at a discounted rate.
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19. How do I reserve a piece of Diamondthrills jewellery?
Go to our online gallery and select the piece that you wish to hire, then complete the basic contact details and the date of your wedding or other special event.
We’ll get back to you as quickly as possible (and always within 24 hours) to let you know whether your chosen piece is available for your special occasion. Then you need to pay a deposit (25% of the Hire Price) to ensure that the piece is reserved for you. If your event is less than 7 days away from the date of booking then we ask for 100% of the Hire Price at the time of booking.
Please note that we also charge a temporary security deposit to your card which is equal to 25% of the retail value of the jewellery. This security deposit is refunded to you as soon as the jewellery is safely returned to Diamondthrills.
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20. What about refunds and cancellations?
We want you to be completely happy with the jewellery that we hire to you, so we offer a complete money-back guarantee: if you want to cancel for any reason at any stage then simply let us know and we will refund 100% of the money that you have paid to us: deposit for rental fee, the balance of the rental fee, and of course the security deposit, if applicable.
We will even refund you once the jewellery has been sent to you. If the jewellery is not what you expected or you change your mind, then just let us know, and immediately send the jewellery back to us (before your special occasion), and we will refund everything.
We probably lose a few sales by offering such a generous refund policy, but we reckon that we gain a few friends.
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21. How does delivery of the jewellery work?
We will discuss delivery with you depending upon where you are and the date / timing of your special event. Generally we use Royal Mail’s Special Delivery service (to arrive before 1pm), in which case you will need to sign to be at home in order to sign for the Special Delivery. In some cases, for example if you’re in the London area, we can arrange delivery and collection of the jewellery by hand.
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22. How do I return jewellery to Diamondthrills?
If we sent the jewellery to you by Special Delivery then we will include a pre-paid pre-addressed Special Delivery envelope for its return, so simply pack up the jewellery just as it was packed when it arrived, then pop it into the return Special Delivery envelope and take it to any Post Office.
If we delivered the jewellery by hand or by courier then we will make the same arrangements with you for its collection.
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23. What if I lose a piece or it is stolen whilst in my care?
Well first of all, of course it’s important that you do all you can to look after our jewellery whilst it’s in your possession – treat it as if it’s your own. For example, don’t leave it lying around, especially out in plain view; lock it away when you are not actually wearing it, don’t tell people where it is stored, don’t wear it on the last bus home…. fairly obvious precautions when you think it about it.
If the worst happens and you lose the piece whilst it is in your possession then contact us at diamondthrills as soon as possible.
We have an insurance policy which covers loss in certain circumstances, but the insurance will not be applicable if adequate precautions were not taken, in which case you will be liable for the full replacement value of the piece. So look after it! Remember that you pay a security deposit when hiring a piece of diamondthrills jewellery; this deposit will be at risk if the piece is lost whilst in your care.
Having said all of that, please relax! You will only have the jewellery for a few days and if you are sensible about looking after it then the chances of anything happening are extremely remote. Keep in mind that most women spend most of their lives wearing diamonds every single day in their engagement ring without any problems whatsoever.
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24. What if a piece is damaged whilst in my care?
Our jewellery collection here at diamondthrills have been selected with durability in mind so it should be fairly robust so long as you treat it sensibly. If you damage a piece then please contact us and let us know what’s happened. If it has been damaged before the event at which you want to wear the piece then we might be able to offer you a replacement piece.
When you hire a piece of diamond jewellery from diamondthrills you pay a security deposit; this deposit will be at risk if any damage sustained whilst the jewellery is in your care goes beyond reasonable the wear and tear that can be expected.
