Berganza Antique Jewelry Store: Hatton Garden Rings by Era

Berganza, at 88-90 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8PN, keeps nearly 3,000 antique and vintage jewels in one showroom, and the shop says it was the first in Hatton Garden to sell antique jewellery only. If you typed antique jewelry store into a map while standing on Holborn Circus, this is the address that answers the question most directly: rings sorted by era, from Georgian clusters to 1930s platinum, with prices published online before you walk in.

The story starts with Paul Daughters, who trained as a polisher on this street and, by 1972, ran his own lapidary firm, P. J. Daughters Ltd, on the top floor of 34-35 Hatton Garden. In 1981 he was asked to repolish the sapphire in the engagement ring Prince Charles bought for Lady Diana Spencer. Berganza itself was established in 1985 as a retail shop in Long Melford, Suffolk, before moving to the present corner of Hatton Garden in the early 1990s.

At that point the middle of the showroom held a working diamond cutting bench and a lapidary wheel, so customers watched stones being finished between the display cases. The family claims Berganza launched the first jeweller's website in England, and in 2014 it wrote and published a book on the history of marriage rings. Justin Daughters, Paul's son, became managing director in 2017, and in 2021 the firm bought the shop next door and renovated the whole showroom.

Prices sit on every item page, which makes Berganza unusual among Hatton Garden dealers, where many windows show no tickets at all. A Victorian sapphire and diamond seven-stone ring hallmarked in England in 1893 is listed at £2,850, and an early twentieth-century old mine diamond crossover ring of about 1.35 carats in 18ct gold costs the same £2,850. These two show what a modest budget buys here: honest period pieces with hand-cut stones rather than headline gems.

Step up the scale and an old mine diamond solitaire from around 1890, roughly 1.45 carats, is £9,000. A Victorian carved gold ring centred on a 1.10-carat unheated Burmese ruby with old mine diamonds either side is £22,500, and an Art Deco target ring built around a 1.55-carat Asscher-cut diamond from about 1920 is £24,000. At the far end sits a 1935 coronet cluster ring with a 14.70-carat no-heat Ceylon sapphire at £200,000.

The showroom keeps Monday to Friday hours of 10am to 5pm and Saturday hours of 11am to 5pm, and it is closed on Sundays and bank holidays. The website lets you book an in-person or online appointment for a date and time that suits you, and that is the smarter route if you want a specific ring brought out with comparable pieces beside it. A booked slot means a staff member has already pulled the trays you asked about.

Saturday opens an hour later, at 11am, and it is the only weekend day you can visit at all, so couples who work weekdays tend to cluster then. A weekday slot just after the 10am opening gives you the most time with the trays. Ask to try several eras side by side, a Georgian cluster next to an Edwardian half hoop, because that comparison teaches a first-time buyer more than any online photo.

Old rings rarely fit on the first try, and Berganza's policy is generous: two complimentary resizings within the first six months after purchase. Sizing takes about ten working days once a 50% deposit is paid, and the shop says all sizing is done by hand in era-appropriate gold where needed. That detail matters on a Georgian or Victorian band, where modern solder can leave a visible colour line on the inside of the shank.

New purchases come with an insurance valuation set at a replacement figure around 30% above the price paid. Updated valuations later cost £75 per piece and are offered only on pieces bought from Berganza, though customers who return each year for a check and clean get them free. The upgrade scheme is the quiet selling point: trade a piece back toward a new one and you can receive the full amount you originally paid, at the buyer's discretion.

Unseen items bought online can be returned within 14 days, with a prepaid return label sent by the shipping team. Delivery inside London on the same day costs £100, while Royal Mail Special Delivery within the UK is complimentary. For anyone flying in, the practical move is to shortlist online, book a viewing, try on in person, and have sizing done before you leave, allowing for the ten working days.

The mix on a given afternoon is mostly couples choosing engagement rings, some of them clutching printouts from the website, alongside collectors who come for mourning jewellery, Georgian foiled stones or signed French pieces. The family background is in cutting and polishing, and the showroom once had a working lapidary in the middle of the room, so questions about cut and wear are welcome. Ask them to compare an old mine cut with an old European cut under the same light.

An honest note: if your budget is under about £2,000, the choice at Berganza thins quickly, and the trays at that level lean toward smaller stones and plain bands. Browse the website filters first. If nothing fits, Grays Antiques in Mayfair gathers dozens of independent dealers under one roof and is a sensible second stop, reached on the Central line from Chancery Lane to Bond Street.

Hatton Garden runs between Holborn Circus and Clerkenwell Road, and the lanes behind it hide two of the oldest corners in the City fringe. Turn into Ely Place, a gated private road, and look for Ye Olde Mitre at 1 Ely Court, a tiny historic pub reached through a passage barely wider than a doorway. It is a good place to sit with a half pint and argue about which ring you actually preferred.

A few steps further, St Etheldreda's at 14 Ely Place describes itself as London's oldest Catholic church, and its medieval crypt is a cool, quiet contrast to the bright showroom glass. Leather Lane, the parallel street just west of Hatton Garden, has a long-running street market and plenty of cafés if you need something more substantial before the Tube home. Chancery Lane station on the Central line is the closest stop to Berganza, with Farringdon a short walk north.

Address: Berganza, 88-90 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8PN. Hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 11am to 5pm, closed Sunday and bank holidays. Appointments can be booked online, and WhatsApp enquiries are offered. Bring your ring size if you know it, a list of eras you like, and patience for the ten working days that hand resizing takes. Ask the Karpo APP for a lunch spot near Leather Lane while you wait.