Grays Antique Jewelry Store Stands: 100 Dealers, Weekdays

Grays is shut on Saturdays and Sundays, which catches out a lot of visitors. On weekdays from 10am to 6pm, though, the red terracotta building at 58 Davies Street, London W1K 5LP, holds nearly 100 dealers across two floors, and a large share of them sell antique and vintage jewellery. If your idea of an antique jewelry store is one counter and one opinion, Grays is the opposite: dozens of specialists, each with a different eye, a few steps from each other.

The building is worth a look before you go in. Number 58 was built in 1889 to 1891 to designs by J. T. Wimperis and Arber for John Bolding and Sons, sanitary engineers who had been founded in 1822 on nearby South Molton Street. The Survey of London notes that most of the elaborate exterior ornament has survived. After Boldings moved out, the interior was refitted in 1976 and 1977 to house an antique market on the ground floor. A perspective drawing of the Bolding showroom was published in 1890, before it was even finished, and the Survey reproduces it; compare it with the real façade from the station steps opposite.

Bennie Gray, who gave the market its name, restored the building in 1977. For years a second section ran in Davies Mews behind, but that part has closed and many of its dealers moved to Alfies Antique Market, the sister business in Marylebone. Today everything happens in the main Davies Street building, which makes Grays easier to cover in one visit than older guidebooks suggest.

Jewellery is the backbone of the place, and the website lists around 5,700 jewellery items for sale online. Stand 155 belongs to Anthea AG Antiques, which deals in fine jewellery from about 1840 to the 1990s, including signed Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Boucheron, Bulgari and Tiffany pieces. Rowan and Rowan at stand 315 focuses on Georgian and earlier jewellery and eye miniatures, the tiny painted portraits of a single eye once exchanged by lovers.

Keskin Antiques at stands 360 and 361 specialises in old cut diamonds and Victorian pieces, and John Joseph Antique Jewellery fills stands 342 to 347 with engagement rings, earrings, pendants, brooches and bracelets. Mark Constable at stand 301 is the person to see for vintage Georg Jensen, Scandinavian silver and signed designer work. Eltons at stand 158 and Robin Haydock at stands 143 and 144 round out the antique jewellery specialists.

Each dealer prices its own stock, and Anthea AG's online listings give a fair sense of the upper middle of the market. An Edwardian jade and diamond ring is £3,900, a Boucheron coral and diamond ring from the 1960s is £5,900, and an emerald and diamond ring is £6,500. The same dealer lists an Art Deco diamond ring at £22,000 and a wide Tiffany bangle at £11,500. Other stands start lower, so walk the whole floor before you fall for the first window.

The advantage of a market is negotiation and comparison. Each dealer sets their own terms, and because the next stand may hold a similar ring, you are in a good position to ask about a piece's age, past repairs and stones before committing. Ask to see two or three rings from different dealers on the same day, note the stand numbers, and come back to the one that holds up best under daylight near the entrance.

Grays is also a service centre. Moira Fine Jewellery at stands 304 to 306 restores and repairs antique and contemporary pieces, and Fable and Windsor at stands 354 and 355 offers repairs and insurance valuations alongside antique engagement rings. Saddingtons at stand 375 provides valuations on request and also buys jewellery. O'Connell's Engravers at stand 109 does hand and machine engraving, and there is a Watch Repair Clinic at stand 384.

That mix is useful if you are already carrying an inherited piece that needs attention. You can have a clasp repaired, get a valuation for insurance and compare similar items for sale, all without leaving the building. Because each stand is a separate business, ask each one directly about its own returns, guarantees and payment methods, rather than assuming one policy covers the market.

Grays says it sits directly opposite Bond Street station and a minute from Oxford Street. The Elizabeth line entrance on Davies Street opened on 24 October 2022, which put the market literally across the road from a Crossrail station, and Bond Street is also on the Central and Jubilee lines. Because Grays closes on bank holidays as well as weekends, a Monday visit after a long weekend is a poor bet; Tuesday to Friday is safest.

One honest caution: every stand is an independent business, so the dealer you read about online may be away at a fair on the day you visit. If a particular dealer matters, contact them through their listing on the Grays dealers page before travelling, and ask them to hold the piece you saw. If Grays is closed on the day you have, Hancocks on St James's Street opens on Saturday afternoons and makes a good alternative.

Walk north across Oxford Street and you reach St Christopher's Place, a pedestrian lane of small shops and restaurants tucked just off the main road, entered from Barrett Street. Or head east to Brown Hart Gardens, off Duke Street, a raised public garden built on the roof of an electricity substation completed in 1905 to designs by Charles Stanley Peach. Both are good places to compare notes before making an offer.

Address: Grays Antiques, 58 Davies Street, London W1K 5LP. Hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm, closed Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays. Nearest Tube: Bond Street, directly opposite. Note stand numbers as you go, because the layout across two floors is easy to lose track of. Ask the Karpo APP for a coffee stop on St Christopher's Place while you decide.