Buying Moissanite and Lab Grown Diamond Jewellery in Germany

Germany is a well-protected market for online buyers, with one of the clearest distance-selling regimes in the EU. The catch for anyone buying a ring specifically is that the strongest protection — the 14-day withdrawal right — is precisely the one that does not apply to a custom piece.

1. Import VAT and customs duty

• Einfuhrumsatzsteuer — import VAT, applied at the German rate to the value of the goods including shipping and any duty. Since the EU removed the low-value VAT exemption in 2021, this applies broadly regardless of value.
• Zoll — customs duty, applying above the relevant consignment value threshold, based on tariff classification and origin.
• Carrier handling — DHL, UPS and others charge a fee for presenting the goods to customs and advancing the tax. This is not a tax and is not refundable.

Most engagement rings sit well above the duty threshold, so expect a formal clearance rather than an at-checkout arrangement. Confirm current rates and thresholds with the Zoll directly rather than relying on any retailer’s summary, including ours.

2. Hallmarking: voluntary, but accuracy is not

Germany, unlike the UK, has no compulsory assay office system. There is no legal requirement to have a ring struck by a state body before it can be sold as gold.

Fineness marks — 585 for 14K, 750 for 18K, 925 for sterling silver — are applied voluntarily. But if a mark is applied, or a claim made in the listing, it must be accurate. Misdescribing metal fineness is a straightforward legal problem for the seller, not a grey area.

German buyers should note that the numeric system (585, 750, 925) is standard here rather than the karat notation used in the US. They describe the same thing: 585 parts per thousand gold is 14K.

3. Widerrufsrecht — and the exemption that matters

Under EU distance-selling rules as implemented in the BGB, a consumer normally has 14 days to withdraw from a distance contract without giving a reason, running from receipt of the goods.

But §312g Abs. 2 BGB lists exemptions, and one covers goods that are not prefabricated and are made to an individual selection or specification by the consumer, or clearly personalised.

Purchase	Widerrufsrecht applies?
Stock piece, standard size, shipped as listed	Yes — 14 days
Same piece, resized to your finger before dispatch	Likely not — individual specification
Ring built from a CAD to your spec	No
Engraved piece	No — clearly personalised
Defective or not as described	Separate Gewährleistung rights apply regardless

That last row is important and often conflated with the first. The withdrawal exemption removes your right to change your mind. It does not touch Gewährleistung — the statutory liability for defects, which in Germany runs for two years from delivery on consumer sales and cannot be excluded. If a ring arrives faulty or is not what was described, that route remains open whether the piece was custom or not.

Delivery timing to Germany

Ask for production and transit as two figures. For our work: roughly seven to eight days on the bench, then 10–12 days standard transit or 6–8 expedited — about 17–20 days door to door on standard.

Add clearance. German customs handling is generally efficient but the depot-hold step, where the recipient must pay before release, regularly adds two to four days that no shipping estimate accounts for. Build in a fortnight of slack against a fixed date.

Ring sizing: give millimetres

Germany uses the circumference in millimetres as its ring size — size 54 means a 54 mm inner circumference. This is the most precise system in common use and it is unambiguous.

Do not convert it to a US number yourself. Give the German size directly, or the inner diameter in millimetres, and let the workshop convert once. Double conversion between the German, US and UK scales is where sizing errors come from, and a resize on a made-to-order ring shipped from outside the EU means a second round of customs.

Checklist for a German buyer

1. Ask verzollt oder unverzollt — DDP or DAP — before ordering.
2. If it is a surprise going to another address, resolve that first.
3. Give the German ring size (circumference in mm), not a converted number.
4. Confirm the fineness in writing: 585, 750 or 925.
5. Understand that a custom ring almost certainly has no Widerrufsrecht — but Gewährleistung for defects still applies.
6. Get production and transit quoted separately, plus clearance time.

General information about importing into Germany, not legal advice (keine Rechtsberatung). Rates, thresholds and rules change — check the Zoll and, for consumer questions, the Verbraucherzentrale before relying on any of it.

Frequently asked questions