Hatton Garden Diamond Wholesale: A Trade Buyer’s Guide

Hatton Garden brings diamond dealers, jewellery manufacturers, setters, repair specialists and customer-facing jewellers into one concentrated London district. For a professional buyer, this concentration can make it easier to compare goods, inspect diamonds in person and coordinate sourcing with local jewellery production.

However, “based in Hatton Garden” is not a complete supplier check.

Before purchasing, verify the supplier’s legal identity, authority to sell the goods, grading documentation, product disclosures, sanctions controls and written trade terms. The strongest transaction is not necessarily the one with the lowest quoted price; it is the one in which the diamond, documentation, responsibilities and total cost are all clear.

Last reviewed: 6 September 2026

Quick answer: how should a trade buyer source in Hatton Garden?

Use a structured process:

1. Define the exact diamond or parcel specification.
2. Identify suppliers that genuinely serve trade buyers.
3. Verify the supplier’s legal and trading identity.
4. Request complete grading, treatment and origin information.
5. Inspect the physical goods.
6. Compare equivalent quotations and total acquisition costs.
7. Put price, VAT, title, return, delivery and memo terms in writing.
8. Match the invoice, report and physical diamond before payment.

A recognised address, trade reference or professional membership can support due diligence, but none should replace transaction-level checks.

Hatton Garden is a district, not one wholesale marketplace

Hatton Garden contains different types of businesses:

• Loose-diamond dealers
• Jewellery wholesalers
• Retail jewellers
• Bespoke jewellery studios
• Manufacturers
• Setters and polishers
• Repair workshops
• Findings and component suppliers
• Valuers and related professional services

Some businesses primarily serve consumers. Others operate on a trade-only or appointment basis. A retail showroom displaying diamonds is not automatically a wholesale supplier, and a trade supplier may not maintain a public storefront.

Before arranging a visit, establish:

• Whether the supplier sells to the trade
• Whether prices are trade or retail
• Whether VAT is included or excluded
• Whether the goods are owned, brokered or offered on memo
• Whether an appointment is required
• Whether the requested diamonds are physically available
• Whether the supplier can issue a complete business invoice

The London Diamond Bourse

The London Diamond Bourse operates in Hatton Garden and maintains an official members directory.

The Bourse states that applicants undergo a process that includes industry references and due-diligence checks before admission. Confirming current membership can therefore provide useful information about a potential counterparty.

Membership should not be described as a guarantee of:

• A particular diamond’s quality
• Competitive pricing
• Mining origin
• Sanctions compliance
• Ownership of specific goods
• Performance under a particular contract

Check the current directory directly. Do not rely only on a logo, an old membership statement or an unverified claim that a person “works with the Bourse.”

Prepare a sourcing brief before contacting suppliers

A clear brief prevents unsuitable stones from being presented and makes quotations easier to compare.

For an individually graded centre stone, specify:

For parcels or matched stones, add:

• Quantity
• Individual size tolerance
• Total carat weight
• Colour range
• Clarity range
• Cut or make requirements
• Matching standard
• Permitted fluorescence
• Drilling or treatment restrictions
• Replacement and replenishment requirements
• Packaging and parcel-identification rules

Avoid asking only for “a good one-carat diamond.” Different suppliers may interpret “good” differently, making the resulting quotations impossible to compare accurately.

How to verify a Hatton Garden diamond supplier

1. Confirm the legal business identity

Ask for the supplier’s:

• Full legal name
• Trading name
• Company number, where applicable
• Registered address
• Trading address
• VAT number, where applicable
• Business email and telephone number
• Name and role of the person handling the transaction
• Bank account in the business’s name

Check the company through the official Companies House service.

Review:

• Company status
• Incorporation date
• Registered office
• Directors
• Filing history
• Accounts
• Charges or insolvency-related entries where relevant
• Whether the company name matches the invoice and bank details

Companies House is a useful starting point, not a complete verification system. Its service warns that filed information is not automatically validated for accuracy. Independently resolve material inconsistencies.

A newly formed company is not necessarily unsuitable, but it may require stronger references, identification and payment controls.

2. Confirm the person’s authority

Make sure the individual offering the goods is authorised to act for the named business.

Be cautious if:

• Emails come from unrelated personal addresses.
• Payment is requested to an individual or different company.
• The invoice issuer differs from the person claiming ownership.
• The seller refuses to explain whether the goods are owned, brokered or on memo.
• The meeting takes place at an address with no clear connection to the invoicing business.

3. Check professional references and memberships

Ask for relevant trade references where the value or relationship warrants them.

Current London Diamond Bourse membership can be checked through its official directory. Other association or accreditation claims should also be verified directly with the issuing organisation.

A screenshot of a membership badge is not sufficient.

4. Establish who owns the diamonds

A supplier may:

• Own the goods outright
• Hold them on memo
• Broker them for another dealer
• Source them after receiving your request

Ask whether the supplier has authority to sell or place the goods on memo. The written agreement should identify the invoicing party and clarify when title passes.

This is especially important where several brokers are involved in the same stone.

Verify every grading report independently

Request the complete grading report before approving an individually graded diamond.

Check:

• Issuing laboratory
• Report number
• Report date
• Diamond type
• Shape and cutting style
• Measurements
• Carat weight
• Colour
• Clarity
• Cut grade where applicable
• Polish
• Symmetry
• Fluorescence
• Comments
• Treatments
• Laser inscription where stated

Use the issuing laboratory’s official verification service. Do not rely solely on a PDF or screenshot sent through email or a messaging application.

Where a report-number inscription is present, compare it with the physical diamond using suitable magnification. Also compare measurements, shape and identifying clarity characteristics.

An online report result confirms the laboratory’s record. It does not independently prove that the seller has presented the corresponding physical diamond.

For GIA-specific checks, use the GIA Diamond Reports Guide. For broader laboratory-report education, see the Diamond Grading Report Guide.

Inspect the diamond, not only the report

A grading report provides technical information, but two diamonds with similar headline grades can still look different.

When inspecting a loose diamond, consider:

• Face-up dimensions
• Brightness
• Contrast
• Fire
• Scintillation
• Transparency
• Inclusion visibility
• Inclusion position
• Potential durability concerns
• Girdle condition
• Symmetry visible to the eye
• Fluorescence where relevant
• Bow-tie effect in elongated brilliant shapes
• Windowing in step cuts
• Overall visual balance

View the diamond under more than one lighting environment where practical. Strong jewellery-store lighting can make differences harder to judge.

For fancy shapes, use video or in-person inspection to assess characteristics that are not reduced to one overall laboratory cut grade.

If the stone is mounted, recognise that the setting can restrict weighing, measurement, inscription checks and clarity examination.

Natural, laboratory-grown and treated diamonds

The invoice and supply documentation must describe the product accurately.

Confirm whether the goods are:

• Natural diamonds
• Laboratory-grown diamonds
• Treated natural diamonds
• Synthetic stones other than diamond
• Mixed parcels

Never rely on appearance alone to separate natural and laboratory-grown diamonds.

For loose centre stones, use appropriate laboratory documentation and screening. For parcels or melee, ask what testing or screening process was used, by whom and whether the result is recorded.

Do not accept vague invoice descriptions such as “white stones” or “diamond goods” when the product type is commercially important.

Origin and sanctions checks

“Bought in Hatton Garden” describes a sourcing location. It does not identify where a diamond was mined.

Similarly:

• A grading report does not usually establish mining origin.
• A UK invoice does not automatically establish non-Russian origin.
• A country of polishing is not necessarily the mining country.
• A London or Antwerp address does not prove sanctions compliance.

UK restrictions cover specified Russian-origin diamonds and certain Russian diamonds processed in third countries. Current UK guidance states that the third-country processed natural-diamond restriction applies to relevant diamonds of at least 0.5 carat from 1 September 2024.

Review the current UK guidance on third-country processed Russian diamonds before relying on a supplier declaration.

Ask for documentation appropriate to the goods and transaction. Where facts remain unclear, obtain sanctions or customs advice before payment or import.

Comparing wholesale quotations

A lower number does not always mean a better acquisition.

Compare quotations using the same:

• Diamond type
• Shape
• Carat weight
• Measurements
• Colour and clarity
• Laboratory
• Cut and finish information
• Fluorescence
• Treatment status
• Origin-documentation standard
• Payment timing
• Currency
• VAT treatment
• Delivery method
• Return conditions
• Transaction model

Then calculate the complete cost, including:

• Diamond price
• VAT treatment
• Delivery
• Insurance
• Currency conversion
• Bank charges
• Inspection costs
• Customs costs where goods cross a border
• Setting or removal costs
• Repair or repolishing
• Staff time
• Financing period
• Return-shipping exposure
• Risk of holding slow-moving stock

A heavily discounted diamond may still be unsuitable if its dimensions, appearance, documentation or resale suitability do not match the buyer’s requirements.

For detailed pricing terminology, read Diamond Wholesale Pricing Explained.

Purchase, memo and consignment terms

Hatton Garden trade transactions may be structured as:

• Outright purchase
• Memo
• Consignment
• Brokered supply
• Customer-specific sourcing

Before accepting goods, document:

• Legal owner
• Description of every stone or parcel
• Report numbers
• Agreed value
• Currency
• VAT treatment
• Possession date
• Approval deadline
• Return deadline
• Responsibility for loss or damage
• Insurance responsibility
• Permission to show, transport, photograph or set the stone
• When title passes
• Payment deadline
• Procedure for discrepancies
• Applicable law and dispute terms

Do not treat memo goods as the buyer’s owned inventory. Do not set, alter or send them to another party unless the agreement permits it.

See Diamond Memo Goods and Consignment for the full comparison.

Local purchase versus importing into the UK

Purchasing goods already held and sold by a UK supplier is different from importing diamonds directly into Great Britain.

If the buyer becomes the importer, additional requirements can include:

• A GB EORI number
• Correct commodity classification
• Customs declarations
• Import VAT
• Customs valuation
• Freight and insurance records
• Sanctions evidence
• A customs agent
• Additional rough-diamond controls

HMRC explains that businesses importing into England, Scotland or Wales generally require a GB EORI number. Commodity codes should be checked through the official UK Trade Tariff guidance.

The detailed process belongs in the Post-Brexit Diamond Import Guide, rather than being repeated here.

Rough diamonds require additional controls

International trade in rough diamonds is regulated through the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

UK government guidance states that:

• Rough diamonds may only be imported from or exported to Kimberley Process participants.
• Each qualifying rough-diamond export shipment requires a Kimberley Process certificate.
• Rough-diamond shipments that do not comply may be seized.

Trade buyers dealing only in polished diamonds should not suggest that a polished-diamond grading report is a Kimberley Process certificate.

See the current UK Government Diamond Office guidance before handling rough-diamond imports or exports.

Finished jewellery and hallmarking

When purchasing finished precious-metal jewellery, check the applicable UK hallmarking requirements separately from the diamond documentation.

A hallmark relates to the precious metal’s tested fineness. It does not grade or authenticate the diamond.

UK businesses supplying precious-metal items must follow the applicable hallmarking guidance, including requirements relating to the Dealer’s Notice.

Loose diamonds themselves are not hallmarked.

Payment and anti-money-laundering considerations

Use payment methods that create an auditable business record. Confirm that the beneficiary matches the verified supplier.

Be cautious about:

• Requests for large cash payments
• Split payments to avoid controls
• Payments to unrelated individuals
• Last-minute changes to bank details
• Unexplained third-party payers
• Cryptic invoice descriptions
• Pressure to omit the report number
• Requests to undervalue goods on customs documents

Businesses making or receiving high-value cash payments can fall within HMRC’s high-value-dealer requirements. Check the current HMRC registration guidance, because thresholds and obligations can change.

Collection, delivery and insurance

Diamonds should move through a documented and insured process.

Before collection or dispatch, confirm:

• Exact goods being released
• Identity of the authorised collector
• Tamper-evident packaging where appropriate
• Parcel and report numbers
• Declared value
• Insurance limit
• Territorial coverage
• Exclusions
• Signature requirements
• Handover time
• Delivery address
• Procedure for delay, damage or loss

Do not assume that an ordinary courier policy covers loose diamonds or jewellery at their full value.

For in-person collection, use a written handover record signed by both parties.

A practical Hatton Garden buying workflow

Before the appointment

• Prepare the specification and budget.
• Decide whether the price ceiling includes VAT.
• Check the supplier’s legal identity.
• Confirm current Bourse membership if claimed.
• Ask whether the goods are physically available.
• Request grading-report numbers.
• Ask whether the goods are owned, brokered or on memo.
• Confirm appointment and security procedures.

During the appointment

• Match each stone to its report.
• Inspect the goods under suitable lighting.
• Record measurements and report numbers.
• Ask about treatments and screening.
• Review origin and sanctions evidence where relevant.
• Compare genuinely equivalent diamonds.
• Confirm whether quoted prices include VAT.
• Do not allow urgency to replace verification.

Before payment

• Obtain the final written invoice or memo.
• Check the legal seller and bank beneficiary.
• Confirm title and authority to sell.
• Record return and discrepancy procedures.
• Confirm delivery and insurance.
• Verify every report independently.
• Resolve all differences before funds are sent.

After receipt

• Inspect the parcel immediately.
• Record the condition and packaging.
• Recheck the report-to-stone match.
• Enter the diamond into inventory.
• Store the invoice, report and supporting documentation together.
• Raise discrepancies within the agreed period.

Warning signs

Pause the transaction if:

• The supplier will not provide its legal business name.
• The payment account belongs to an unrelated person.
• A claimed Bourse membership cannot be verified.
• The seller refuses to provide the report number before payment.
• The report data differs from the physical diamond.
• The invoice does not state whether the diamond is natural or laboratory-grown.
• Origin or sanctions questions receive only vague assurances.
• The seller treats the polishing country as the mining origin.
• The quoted price changes when an invoice is requested.
• VAT treatment is unclear.
• The seller cannot explain whether the goods are owned or brokered.
• Return terms are entirely verbal.
• An unusually low price is combined with immediate-payment pressure.
• The supplier proposes undervaluing the shipment.
• High-value goods are offered through an uninsured delivery method.
• Memo goods arrive without a written memo agreement.

Frequently asked questions

Make the location useful by keeping the process disciplined

Hatton Garden’s value lies in access: buyers can meet suppliers, examine goods, compare options and coordinate with jewellery specialists within one London district.

That access should support due diligence, not replace it.

A professional buyer should leave the transaction with:

• A verified supplier
• A correctly described diamond
• A report matched to the physical stone
• Clear natural or laboratory-grown disclosure
• Appropriate origin and sanctions records
• A complete invoice or memo
• Agreed payment and return terms
• Proper delivery and insurance arrangements

When the required diamond is not available locally, trade buyers can also compare documented supply from other established markets. For Antwerp sourcing, use the separate Loose Diamond Sourcing in Antwerp Guide.

To compare available natural diamonds or submit a specific trade requirement, browse the Dalila Diamonds inventory or contact the team with the required shape, size, quality, laboratory and delivery date.