Five hundred pounds is an awkward amount to spend on jewellery. It is well past costume, but it is not enough to stop paying attention. Spent badly it buys a thick layer of gold over brass. Spent well it buys something solid that gets worn for twenty years.
This guide covers what we actually make under £500, what each price step gets you, and where the money goes. Everything here is solid gold, hallmarked at the London Assay Office, and made to order in our Hatton Garden workshop.
What £500 buys in solid gold
The honest answer is small and good rather than large and compromised. At this level you are buying 9k gold, sometimes with a lab grown diamond or a coloured stone, in pieces sized for daily wear.
What you are not buying is scale. A 2ct pair of diamond studs does not exist at this price from anyone who is telling you the truth about the metal. That is the trade off, and we would rather say it plainly than dress it up.
Under £150
Coralie 9k gold stone set studs, £125. Small, solid gold, and plain enough that they get worn on a Tuesday rather than saved for something. If you are buying for someone who does not wear much jewellery, start here.
Brisa 9k gold gemstone studs, £125. The same weight and size with a coloured stone instead of a clear one.
Sabine 9k gold gemstone pendant, from £125, chain included. A single stone on a fine chain. It layers with whatever they already own rather than competing with it.
£150 to £300
This is where lab grown diamonds start.
Aveline martini lab grown diamond studs, from £232.80. The martini setting holds each stone in three claws and sits close to the ear, so it does not catch on a jumper. Carat weights run up from there.
Solenne classic lab grown diamond studs, from £237.60. A four claw setting, which is the more traditional of the two and holds the stone a fraction higher.
At £255 the gold gets heavier. Sanna knot studs and Clara gemstone studs sit here, and so do four 9k gold chains: Bliss, Faith, Grace in white gold, and the Nova belcher.
A plain gold chain is the most used piece in most people's jewellery box. If you are buying for someone whose taste you are still working out, it is the safest thing on this page.
£300 to £500
The top of this band is £385, and it buys noticeably more gold in the chain or a larger stone in the earring.
Lysa studs, £385. Serena 9k white gold chain necklace, £385. Jonty 9k gold chain necklace, £385. Joy and Aster both start at £385 and run up with length and weight.
To see everything we make under £500 in one place, browse our gifts under £500 collection.
If you can stretch past £500, the step up is real. Our guide to gifts under £1,000 covers 18k gold, larger diamonds and the point at which rings become possible.
There are no rings in this guide, and that is deliberate
We do not make a solid gold ring for under £500. We could, by dropping the weight until the band bends in a coat pocket, but it would come back to us within a year.
Rings also need a size. A size you guess at is a ring that spends the next month in a drawer waiting to be resized, which takes the surprise out of it either way. Studs, pendants and chains need nothing. They fit whoever you give them to.
If you are set on a ring, read our guide on how to buy jewellery as a gift, which covers reading the clues in what someone already wears.
The one thing to avoid at this price
Gold plating is a thin layer of gold over a base metal, usually brass or silver. It wears through at the points that rub, which on a pendant is the back and on studs is the post. Once it goes, the piece looks worse than cheap jewellery that never pretended to be anything else.
Under £500 is exactly where plating gets sold hardest, because it lets a shop show you something twice the size for the same money. Solid gold does not wear through, it can be polished back, and in twenty years it is still gold.
Our guide to solid gold versus gold plated goes into the detail, and whether 9k gold is worth buying covers the purity question.
How long it takes, and what delivery costs
Everything is made to order. Everyday pieces take two to three weeks in the workshop, then go out insured and tracked.
UK delivery is £4.99 by Royal Mail Special Delivery before 1pm the next working day, and the courier asks for a signature. Everything goes out in plain packaging with nothing on the outer box that says what is inside, which matters if the gift is arriving at the recipient's own address. You can also collect from Hatton Garden at no charge.
Some pieces are ready to ship and leave within one to two business days. If you are working to a date, email us before you order and we will tell you what is possible.
Made to order pieces can be returned within 14 days for store credit. Ready to ship pieces returned within 14 days are refunded to your original payment method under UK consumer law. Engraved and pierced pieces cannot be returned unless faulty, and we will say so clearly before you order anything engraved.
Questions we get asked
Is the chain included with a pendant? Yes. The price is the piece and the chain together.
What fittings do the studs use? Most use a screw back or a butterfly fitting. Tell us if you have a preference.
Can I buy for a child? Yes. Our children's pieces are designed to be worn from around three years old and most use a screw back.
Is 9k gold real gold? Yes. It is 37.5 per cent gold by weight, hallmarked, and harder wearing than 18k, which is why it suits daily pieces.
Do you gift wrap? Everything arrives boxed. Tell us at checkout if it is going straight to the recipient and we will leave the paperwork out.
Written by the Luma Jewellery team in Hatton Garden. Every piece is designed and made to order in London.