Notes from Hatton Garden — what we have learned about diamonds, gemstones and the people who wear them, written down so you can walk into any shop on this street and know exactly what you are looking at.
The Loupe
Everything a jeweller wishes you knew
A loupe is the ten-times magnifier every jeweller keeps in a pocket. Put one to your eye and a diamond stops being a sparkle and becomes a piece of evidence: an inclusion here, a polish line there, a girdle a fraction too thick. Nothing about buying jewellery is mysterious once you can see what the trade sees.
These guides are written for people spending real money for the first time. No jargon left unexplained, no numbers without context, and no advice that quietly benefits the seller. If a guide tells you to spend less on something, it is because we would spend less on it ourselves.
Open the diamond chartAll guides
From the workbench
Long-form guides to diamonds, coloured stones, metals and the small decisions that make a piece worth keeping.
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By appointment · Hatton Garden
Reading is no substitute for looking
Every guide here ends in the same place: come and see stones side by side, under a loupe and in daylight. Half an hour on Hatton Garden will teach you more than a week of reading — including these pages.
