Hancocks Antique Jewelry Store: 3 Floors of Old-Cut Diamonds

Hancocks has been selling jewellery since 1 January 1849, and since June 2024 it has done so from a five-floor Georgian townhouse at 62 St James's Street, London SW1A 1LY. Anyone searching for an antique jewelry store in London who remembers its old Burlington Arcade shop should update the map pin: the firm left the arcade after 26 years and now spreads its stock over three named galleries.

Charles Frederick Hancock, born in Birmingham in 1807, founded the business after working with Hunt and Roskell, the firm that took over the famous silversmiths Storr and Mortimer. When Queen Victoria instituted the Victoria Cross in 1856, Hancocks became its maker, and the company says it remains the sole supplier today. Every cross is cut from bronze held at the Central Ordnance Depot in Donnington, metal taken from Russian cannons captured at Sebastopol.

The address changed many times: Bruton Street until 1916, then Vigo Street and Sackville Street until 1970, then Burlington Gardens, and from 1998 the arcade units at 52 and 53. A 1992 merger with neighbours Young and Stephens brought in Stephen Burton and his family, who took a controlling interest. The Burton name still runs the house, and the gallery names in the new building nod back to those older streets.

The ground floor is the Sackville Gallery, built around a tiara cabinet that doubles as the centrepiece of the room, with a working library of jewellery books close by. Climb to the first floor for the Bruton Gallery, where vintage, antique and signed pieces are shown. The second floor holds the Burlington Gallery, home to an old cut diamond collection the house describes as one of the most significant in the world.

That layout is useful once you are inside. Couples hunting for a period engagement ring should ask to start on the second floor, because old mine and old European cuts are what Hancocks is known for, and seeing several side by side shows how differently each one throws light. Collectors after signed Cartier, Boucheron or Van Cleef and Arpels pieces will spend more time on the first floor.

An Edwardian panel ring from about 1910 sets five old European cut diamonds in millegrain platinum, framed by calibré-cut rubies, at £16,500. A ring built on a 3.21-carat old mine cut diamond of cognac colour, on an 18ct yellow gold tri-wire band, is £25,000. At the top of the new arrivals sits a 5.75-carat old mine cushion cut solitaire in a bezel setting at £95,000, a stone large enough to warrant a viewing appointment of its own.

Signed vintage work is the other strength. A pair of 1960s Van Cleef and Arpels flame brooches in diamonds and rubies is listed at £27,500, while Cartier Paris shell cufflinks in 18ct yellow gold from the 1950s are £9,850. Boucheron vintage diamond clip earrings are £14,950, and a French anchor chain bracelet in 18ct gold is £14,500. Every listed price includes VAT, so the figure on the screen is what you pay.

Hancocks opens Monday to Friday from 10am to 5:30pm and Saturday from 11am to 5pm, and it is closed on Sunday. The website has a booking calendar with slots at 11:00 and 11:45 in the morning and from 12:30 to 15:30 in the afternoon, roughly every 45 minutes. Book one if you want a particular ring waiting for you, or if you hope to discuss customising a wedding band to sit against an antique engagement ring.

Online purchases ship with insured, tracked delivery free of charge, apart from wedding rings, which carry a shipping charge, and orders usually leave within five working days. You can return an item within 14 days for an exchange or a refund, but anything personalised, resized or made to order cannot be refunded. If you collect in person from the gallery, bring a passport or driving licence, because the staff will ask for it.

Be realistic before you walk up St James's Street. The listed stock clusters well above £9,000, and the house is strongest in important diamonds and signed designer pieces rather than modest Victorian bands. Someone with £2,000 to £3,000 to spend will enjoy the visit as a lesson in cut and colour, but will probably buy elsewhere. Berganza on Hatton Garden publishes plenty of period rings below £3,000 and makes a sensible next stop.

For a serious buyer, though, Hancocks offers what few dealers can: a room where several large old cut stones can be compared on the same afternoon, with staff who know the history of each piece. Bring any grading reports you have from other dealers, and ask how a stone has been cut and whether it has been recut. Those questions get detailed answers here.

Several neighbours on this street are older than the Victoria Cross contract itself. Lock and Co. Hatters, at 6 St James's Street behind its famous green door, says it was established in 1676 and is the oldest hat shop in the world. A few doors on, Berry Bros. and Rudd at 3 St James's Street has traded since 1698 and calls itself Britain's oldest wine and spirits merchant.

Wartski, the Fabergé specialist, is a near neighbour on the same street, so a single morning can take in two very different approaches to antique jewellery. At the southern end the street meets St James's Palace, and Green Park station on the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines is the closest Tube at the northern end, by the Ritz. Ask the Karpo APP for a quiet lunch in St James's between viewings.

Address: Hancocks London, 62 St James's Street, London SW1A 1LY. Hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 5:30pm, Saturday 11am to 5pm, closed Sunday. Nearest Tube: Green Park. Book a slot through the website for a specific piece, carry photo ID if you plan to collect a purchase, and allow time for all three gallery floors rather than stopping at the ground-floor cabinet.