Years ago I spent some time living in Sydney. It was on my way to a year and a half living in Tassie and some of the best months of my life. When we recently noticed more and more readers from Australia on our site, I didn’t need much of a push to head down under for a secret shopping trip.
We came to town at the best time of year to be in Sydney: New Year’s Eve. So diamond rings and flashy jewellery were not the only sparkly things we saw.
In this guide, we’ll cover the main retailers where we secret-shopped on our trip. We’ll also mention which areas are best for shopping as well as specific tips for buying a diamond locally in Sydney.
With our extensive experience in the industry, we feel strongly that you should purchase a diamond from a reputable online retailer like James Allen or Blue Nile. Even after negotiating, the retailers we visited in Sydney were 30%-40% more expensive on average than comparable rings we found online. We provide comparisons to bricks and mortar stores below (and you can read more about specific stores in our reviews).
We cover the local Sydney options below, as we understand that not everyone wants to buy diamonds online. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that you’re paying a premium to purchase from a local retailer, so make sure the place where you end up justifies that premium.
Why you should trust us
As a large city, Sydney has a good selection of diamond jewellery vendors. It’s also a major hub for gemstone sales in Oceania, with an Important Jewels auction held in 2022 featuring several large, headline-making diamonds.
There are plenty of jewellers scattered around the city, but the highest concentration of jewellery shoppes are clustered around the shopping areas near Hyde Park. In this area, you can find everything from the ultra-luxe shoppes to your more casual retailers.
Another option is to scour some of the shopping centres. I have to say that I was surprised to find a decent jeweller there: Gregory Jewellers. More about them later.
When you’re buying a diamond, there are several aspects to consider, which is one of the reasons we suggest buying online. If you are walking into a jewellery store, though, there are five important things to consider:
Because a diamond is often a substantial purchase, it’s important to take your time and compare your options. For instance, you may want to compare a ring you saw in a store to a similar one online to ensure you’re getting a good deal. You can even contact us to do a comparison for you. We’re happy to look at the details — try to write down the GIA certificate number — and we’ll give you our honest thoughts.
If you read our review, you’ll learn that we had a Jekyll and Hyde experience between Hardy Brothers in Melbourne and in Sydney.
In Sydney, our shopping experience at Hardy Brothers was unparalleled. We had an incredibly luxurious experience with fantastic service and saw beautiful diamonds. With that luxury, though, comes a price. As you can see in our review, we saw this stunning diamond in a gorgeous solitaire setting for AU$21,000. We found an equally stunning Astor Cut diamond from Blue Nile with this setting for 35% less. That’s quite a bit of saving, but at least Hardy Brothers in Sydney offers you an immersive experience that some shoppers might feel justifies the premium.
This one came as a surprise to me. Despite being located in shopping malls, I was very impressed with the experience at both Gregory Jewellers stores. I was doubly impressed at the Parramatta mall — considering the general ambiance of the mall.
Gregory Jewellers offered pretty good service and very nice diamonds, but there were some questionable ones as well. For example, we saw this diamond at Parramatta which was too deeply cut. On the other hand, there was a stunning 1.80ct pear shape diamond in a halo setting in the Westfield Bondi Junction that we would have recommended to readers.
When shopping with Gregory — or any Sydney jeweller — we suggest you keep in mind our recommendations for the 4 C’s of diamonds and compare what you find to an online dealer like Blue Nile and James Allen (to ensure you’re getting the best deal).
In addition to all of the big name jewellers, there are plenty of smaller independent shoppes around Sydney. In these places, you need to be even more vigilant about certification and other issues. But you can find some decent options. We were pleasantly surprised by GS Diamonds in the Victoria Building. They were definitely no-frills, but their premiums (compared to online jewellers) were more competitive than most jewellers we visited.
Before you buy a diamond, get personal buying advice from industry veterans. We'll help you get the best diamond for the money.
DISCLAIMER: We don't use your email for marketing. Period.
A diamonds’ price is determined primarily by the 4 Cs of the diamond. On the wholesale level, diamond prices are first based on a diamond shape and
Buying an engagement ring is often one of the first major purchases in a person's life. The process can be fraught with tension as there are so m
A wide range of 1 carat diamonds exist both in online markets and local diamond jewelry stores. Not only are there significant differences in beauty
Please enter your email address to receive your 25% off coupon code:
Here is your coupon code: GFDSF3GF