Augustine Jewels

75 Ledbury Rd, W11 2AG · View on Google Maps · Visit website · 02035565780

Alexandra founded Augustine Jewels and remains its designer. Her route to it is not the usual one: Esmod fashion and design school in Paris, where she won a luxury jewellery design award, then Cambridge, then Stanford, then Global Head of CRM for Consumer Goods at Accenture, and only then bespoke jewellery design at the GIA.

The work is built around coloured gemstones rather than diamonds, in collections named for places: Santorini, South of France, Gstaad. For an engagement ring that means a sapphire, ruby or spinel is the starting point rather than the alternative, which is a meaningfully different design conversation.

The studio building has its own history. It was part of The Silver Studio design group from 1860 to 1963, whose collections are now held at Middlesex University and the V&A. She bought it in 1995.

The bespoke process runs to seven published stages: gemstone selection, a hand-drawn design, stone planning described as sometimes to a tenth of a millimetre, CAD modelling, handcrafting in the London jewellery quarter, one complimentary ring sizing, and packaging.

The detail worth noting is that you are given a signed copy of the hand-drawn design. That is a small thing that costs the studio almost nothing and gives the buyer something to keep beyond the ring itself, which is a nicer instinct than most.

The initial consultation is complimentary and bookable online. They publish stock prices from £195 up to around £5,000, but no bespoke starting price and no timescales, so both need establishing early.

Twenty-eight reviews at 4.7, with nine from the past year. That is a small sample, and the rating should be read as indicative rather than settled: a handful of reviews either way would move it noticeably.

Twenty-one per cent of reviews with text mention ring buying, with most of the rest covering gemstone jewellery more broadly, which is consistent with a studio where engagement rings are part of a wider practice rather than the whole of it.

Two reviews sit below four stars, with no shared theme. They reply to 61 per cent, which is a reasonable rate and means there is some public record of how issues were handled.

Review figures taken from Google and checked in July 2026. We recount them monthly.

This suits someone who has decided against a diamond and wants a coloured stone chosen by someone who works with them constantly. Sapphires and rubies have no equivalent of the 4Cs to hide behind, so the eye of the person selecting the stone matters far more than any certificate.

It also suits a buyer who values the design artefact as well as the ring. Being handed a signed drawing of your own commission is the kind of detail people keep.

It will not suit you if you want a certificated white diamond, a published price before you commit, or a guaranteed date. It is also a small studio, so the review sample is thin compared with the Hatton Garden operations.

Does Augustine Jewels do engagement rings?

Yes, with an Engagement and Wedding section covering engagement rings, wedding and eternity bands. The emphasis is on coloured gemstones rather than white diamonds.

How much does bespoke cost?

They do not publish a bespoke starting price. Stock runs from about £195 to £5,000, which gives a sense of the range. The initial consultation is complimentary, so ask for a figure there.

What does the bespoke process involve?

Seven stages: gemstone selection, a hand-drawn design, detailed stone planning, CAD modelling, handcrafting in the London jewellery quarter, one complimentary sizing, and packaging. You are given a signed copy of the original drawing.

Are the stones natural or lab-grown?

Their site does not state a general policy, though at least one lab-grown piece appears in the Santorini collection. Given the gemstone-led positioning, ask directly if origin matters to you.