Buying Moissanite and Lab Grown Diamond Jewellery in the UK

Buying a ring from an overseas workshop is completely normal and usually the reason the price is what it is. What catches UK buyers out is not the jewellery — it is the paperwork on arrival. Three things are worth understanding in advance.

1. Import VAT and customs duty

When jewellery arrives from outside the UK, HMRC treats it as an import. Two separate charges can apply, and they are not the same thing.

• Import VAT is charged on the value of the goods including shipping. This applies broadly, and there is no meaningful threshold below which it disappears.
• Customs duty is a separate percentage that applies once the consignment value passes a threshold. Jewellery duty rates are relatively low, but they are not zero.
• A carrier handling fee is usually added on top for collecting the above. This is the charge people find most annoying, because it is not tax.

These are generally payable by the recipient before the parcel is released, unless the seller has stated that duties are prepaid. Rates and thresholds change, so confirm current figures on the GOV.UK site rather than relying on any retailer’s summary — including this one.

2. Hallmarking

The UK has one of the older and stricter hallmarking regimes. In broad terms, an item cannot be described and sold as gold, silver, platinum or palladium in the UK unless it carries a hallmark from a UK assay office — above weight thresholds that differ by metal, with lighter items exempt.

Many engagement rings sit close to or above those thresholds depending on metal and design. What this means practically:

• An overseas maker’s own stamp — “14K”, “585”, “925” — is a quality mark, not a UK hallmark. They are different things.
• You can have a piece hallmarked in the UK after import through an assay office, usually via a jeweller. There is a fee and the piece is away for a period.
• For your own wear this is optional; it matters more for insurance, valuation and any future resale.

None of this makes the metal anything other than what it is. A solid 14K ring is solid 14K whether or not a UK assay office has confirmed it. Hallmarking is independent verification, not a change to the object.

3. Your cancellation rights — and the exemption that catches people

Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, distance purchases normally carry a 14-day cancellation right from delivery, separate from anything a seller offers voluntarily.

But there is an exemption for goods made to the consumer’s specification or clearly personalised. A ring built to your chosen stone size, metal, setting and finger size is very likely to fall inside that exemption — and so is a piece resized before dispatch.

Purchase	14-day cancellation likely?
Stock piece, standard size, shipped as listed	Yes
Same piece, resized before dispatch	Likely not — treated as made to specification
Custom design from a CAD	No
Engraved piece	No
Faulty or not as described, any of the above	Separate rights apply regardless

That last row matters. The bespoke exemption removes the right to change your mind. It does not remove your rights if an item is faulty, or materially different from how it was described. Those are separate protections under the Consumer Rights Act.

Delivery timing to the UK

Ask for production time and transit time as two separate numbers. A made-to-order piece has to be built before it ships, and a checkout label showing “10–12 days” almost always describes transit alone.

For our own work: roughly seven to eight days on the bench, then 10–12 days standard transit or 6–8 expedited, so about 17–20 days door to door on standard. Add customs clearance, which is usually short but occasionally is not. If you have a fixed date, build in a fortnight of slack.

Practical checklist for a UK buyer

1. Confirm whether duties and import VAT are prepaid or payable on delivery.
2. If it is a gift going to another address, resolve the point above first.
3. Get metal and karat, and centre stone size in millimetres, in writing.
4. Ask whether the piece is bespoke — and therefore whether the 14-day cancellation right applies.
5. Decide whether you want UK hallmarking, and budget the fee and the time.
6. Get production and transit quoted separately, and add clearance time.

This is general information about how UK importing works, not legal advice, and rules and thresholds change. Check GOV.UK for current duty and VAT figures and the British Hallmarking Council for current hallmarking thresholds before you rely on any of it.

Frequently asked questions