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Frequently Asked Questions
Orders & Returns
Yes. We're based in the UK and deliver our jewellery to customers around the globe. Your international delivery options are as follows:
EU Delivery
£15
Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed
5-10 working days
EU Express Delivery
£50
FedEx®
1-3 working days
International Insured Delivery
£25
Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed
Approx. 7-10 working days
International Express Insured Delivery
£60
FedEx®
Approx. 2-3 working days
Please note that any duties or taxes at the point of entry are the responsibility of the customer.
If you're based in the UK, we aim to have your order processed within three working days. We'll send your jewellery to you via Royal Mail Special Delivery, which is a tracked and insured service that guarantees delivery by 1pm the following working day.
If you're based overseas, the possible delivery timeframes are as follows:
EU Delivery
£15
Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed
5-10 working days
EU Express Delivery
£50
FedEx®
1-3 working days
International Insured Delivery
£25
Royal Mail International Tracked & Signed
Approx. 7-10 working days
International Express Insured Delivery
£60
FedEx®
Approx. 2-3 working days
Your vintage ring will arrive in a keepsake white box, topped with our signature wax seal for a vintage-inspired touch - perfect for a memorable proposal or gifting. Accompanying your jewellery is a signed and stamped certificate of authenticity from The Goldsmiths' Company. We will also provide a simple at-home ring sizing kit so you can return your ring to us for a free resize if necessary.
Yes - we understand that we human beings sometimes change our minds! If you’d like to return your ring, we ask that it’s sent back within 14 days of delivery, in its original condition, with all packaging, your Certificate of Authenticity and your unique RAN (Return Authorisation Number) included.
For UK customers, returns are free of charge - please simply send us proof of your postage costs and we’ll reimburse you. For international customers outside of the UK, we ask that you cover the postage cost.
We will notify you once we’ve received and inspected your return, and when your refund has been approved. If approved, you’ll be automatically refunded via your original payment method. Please remember that it can take some time for your bank or credit card company to process and return your refund.
Please note that we’re unable to offer refunds for rings that have been resized. However, if the item is found to be faulty, The Vintage Ring Co. reserves the right to repair the item for you or issue a refund.
Please email us at hello@thevintageringco.com to request a RAN (Return Authorisation Number), and we’ll guide you through the next steps. This return policy does not affect your statutory rights.
Resizing
Yes. Every ring purchased from The Vintage Ring Co. comes with one free resize included within the first year of purchase - and any subsequent resizes charged at a small fee. We'll deliver your unique ring unsized in the first instance, packing a ring sizing kit in your parcel so you can measure your ring size at home. If you need to adjust the size of your ring after receiving it, we can facilitate this.
Most antique and vintage rings can be resized, though the extent of adjustment possible depends on the design, size and structural integrity of each individual piece. If you have any questions about a specific ring, we're happy to advise before you buy.
The resizing process takes 2-3 weeks door-to-door. This window allows time for delivery each way, the resize itself, cleaning, and quality control. If your vintage ring is set with gemstones, our stone-setter will need to give its settings a thorough inspection following the resize to ensure all stones remain safely secured in their settings.
We advise leaving resizing until after you've proposed. Accurate ring sizing is a nuanced art, and it's tricky to get it perfect without knowing your partner's ring size with absolute certainty. Resizing any ring more than once can compromise the structural integrity of its precious metal, particularly in the case of any antique or vintage ring that's on the delicate side. To avoid this, we suggest popping the question with the ring unaltered, encouraging your partner to take their own measurement using the DIY ring sizing kit we provide in your parcel, then returning it for a resize subsequently.
Quality & Authenticity
Yes. Every ring comes with a unique certificate of authenticity - independently created, signed and stamped by The Goldsmiths' Company. This certificate is unique to The Vintage Ring Co. It's a guarantee to you that any ring you see on our website has been professionally assessed by a third-party valuer and is exactly as described. Your certificate will tell you everything you need to know about your ring, from the purity of the precious metal used to the size and quality of the gemstones. It will specify the condition of the ring and the era in which it was made, right down to the year if hallmarking is present.
Please note that we don’t provide this certificate for the ‘hybrid’ jewels in our Reclaimed Vintage collection or any pieces set with semi-precious gemstones, but the majority of these jewels bear hallmarks that tell you what you need to know about metal purity and age. As jewellery experts fuelled by over 30 years of shared experience and a deep-rooted passion for beautiful things, we only source our treasures from trustworthy, reputable sources.
It depends on the level of care you show it. If you’re planning on wearing your piece every single day, it’s important to bear in mind that this exposure to the elements will inevitably challenge it a little over the time - that's the nature of heirloom jewellery. This is particularly true of rings, which come into contact with surfaces and substances more regularly than jewellery worn elsewhere on the body. However, there are some simple steps you can take to ensure the longevity of your special jewel.
We recommend removing your vintage jewellery during any activity that might leave it vulnerable. This means…
- To prevent scratching or warping, don't wear your vintage jewellery when exercising, playing sport, gardening or lifting heavy objects. (No weight-lifting in the gym, please!)
- Minimise contact between your vintage jewellery and hard or abrasive surfaces (Think car keys, garage doors or scrubbing cloths)
- To prevent metal corrosion at the hands of harsh household chemicals, remove your vintage ring or wear rubber gloves whilst doing any sort of housework
- Remove your vintage jewellery whilst showering and washing your hands. (Shower loofahs and sponges are a claw setting’s arch nemesis!)
Please also take the time to examine your stone setting on a monthly basis to ensure your gem is safe and secure. You can do so by gently tapping your piece of jewellery and listening out to ensure you can’t hear a rattling sound. If your jewel has a prong setting, it’s important to gently run your finger over the claws, checking they haven’t lifted or moved. A tell-tale sign of this being the case is the catching of hair and fibres. If you have an inkling (big or small!) that your stone might be loose, please let us know – we’ll have it professionally checked over for you.
If the worst comes to the worst, accidental damage can be repaired. This blog post explores some of the most common mishaps with vintage engagement rings, and how we might go about resolving them.
No - every pre-loved ring on our website is sold already assessed, restored where necessary, thoroughly cleaned and polished, and ready to wear.
Once you begin wearing your vintage ring, we recommend cleaning it once a month to remove any film left behind by household or cosmetic products. To do this, fill a bowl with warm water and washing-up liquid. Let your jewellery soak for around 30 minutes, then brush it very gently with a soft-bristled toothbrush. Top tip: kids' toothbrushes are usually softer, which makes them perfect for cleaning delicate jewellery! Keep this toothbrush separate from your other cleaning brushes and use it only to tend to your jewellery so it stays soft and clean. Once washed, pat your vintage ring dry immediately using a soft microfibre cloth, ensuring it's completely dry before storing it.
We enlist a specialist craftsperson in London's historic Hatton Garden to thoroughly examine every single ring before we list it for sale. Where necessary, they will carry out careful restoration work to ensure the long-term structural integrity of the ring and its setting. You won’t find jewellery on The Vintage Ring Co. website with worn settings.
Shopping with The Vintage Ring Co.
No - we're a clicks-only business, which means we serve you exclusively online from our base in the UK.
We offer a 14-day 'cooling off' period, which means you're welcome to return your ring for a full refund if you decide it's not quite right after receiving it. If you'd like to sample more than one ring before making a final decision, please get in touch - we're here to support you via email.
Most home insurance policies cover the loss or theft of jewellery, but we recommend giving your policy holder a call to check. Should your vintage ring's value fall outside the remit of your existing home contents insurance, we recommend reaching out to TH March, a trusted firm of specialist jewellery insurance brokers that we have worked with for many years.
Always keep the receipt for your Vintage Ring Co. order and your ring's certificate of authenticity in a safe place so you’re covered in the event that your policy holder requires you to provide proof of purchase and value.
Our Jewellery
Actually, we also offer a selection of earrings and necklaces.
As our name suggests, The Vintage Ring Co. started out as a curated collection of pre-loved antique and vintage rings. As passionate jewellery lovers, however, we found the other possibilities too tempting to resist. We are now pleased to reveal our Reclaimed Vintage collection in partnership with our sister brand Lebrusan Studio, which revels in the possibilities of circularity by reclaiming antique Victorian brooches, eternity rings, pocket watch chains and Albert clasps, and combining them with newly designed components to create brand new pieces of jewellery.
It really depends on your engagement ring itself; the sizes, profiles and styles of vintage engagement rings vary significantly across design eras. Whilst many contemporary engagement rings are already designed to be 'wed-fit' with a raised gemstone setting and linear form, antique and vintage rings tend to offer a more interesting challenge.
In the first instance, we recommend visiting a few jewellers in person to try on some sample wedding bands alongside your engagement ring, gauging what does and doesn't work. If you're unable to find an existing wedding band design that feels like the right fit, it may be worth exploring the bespoke route. Our co-founder Arabel Lebrusan specialises in ethical jewellery design, and would be delighted to design you a custom wedding band using responsible materials like reclaimed vintage diamonds or Fairmined Ecological Gold under her jewellery design studio, Lebrusan Studio.
You can also gain some inspiration for complementary wedding bands in this blog post.
Unlike 'antique,' which strictly refers to any object dating back more than 100 years, 'vintage' is a looser term. Generally, it's used for pre-loved pieces made between 20 and 100 years ago. We use the word 'vintage' in our name to mirror how it's used in the jewellery world; to signal old, genuine and pre-owned.
Drawing on our founders' extensive knowledge of historic jewellery and the guidance offered by The Goldsmiths' Company's independent assessments of our jewellery, we take care to describe each ring using factually accurate language.
All of the rings listed on our website are strictly pre-owned, ranging in era from centuries-old antique pieces to more recent vintage-style designs. Quite simply, 'pre-owned' means that somebody has owned the piece of jewellery previously, whether for generations or just a few years.
Meanwhile, our Reclaimed Vintage collection combines reclaimed antique Victorian components like gold chains, T-bar clasps and brooches with newly designed parts crafted locally in environmentally-conscious materials like recycled platinum and recycled broken diamonds. On account of these newer components, these collage-like pieces of jewellery are not defined as ‘pre-owned,’ but their commitment to circularity aligns with the slow and sustainable ethos that gave birth to The Vintage Ring Co. in the first place.
The purity of gold is measured in carats, with 18ct being 50% purer than 9ct gold. Simply put, 9ct gold contains 37.5% pure gold – the rest consisting of other metals, mixed with the gold via a process called alloying. The presence of these other metals gives 9ct gold a slightly lighter and less saturated colour than 18ct gold. Meanwhile, 18ct gold contains 75% pure gold, the 25% most commonly consisting of silver or copper. Since 18ct gold contains twice the amount of pure gold as 9ct, it's generally around twice as expensive. Both types of gold are tough, scratch-resistant and practical for heirloom jewellery like wedding bands and engagement rings, 18ct is a little more resilient over a lifetime of wear.