I did a lot of research before deciding on this shop. A LOT…read more
Mind, this was not my first tattoo. Not even my second. This was my fourth - it just happened to be my first tattoo done by someone other than my regular US guy, Guf. But I knew that if I was getting a tattoo on this trip, it was going to have to be done in London, for the meaning of it all.
As I say, I did a lot of research. I corresponded with several shops via e-mail, since we weren't in the UK at the time. The tattoos that we wanted were fairly simple - a band logo, all black, and nothing special or crazy to be done with them. I even sent the shops jpeg copies of the image we wanted, just so they knew.
We decided on Diamond Jacks for a few reasons, and planned our one Saturday in London around being at the shop right when they opened, and staying for as long as it'd take to do two small-ish tattoos.
We showed up right at 11 am, but the shop was closed up tight. Undeterred, we did a couple quick laps around the neighborhood (kind of sketchy, if you're easily scared off), and the next time we stopped by, the door was open.
Up the stairs we went to talk with the first person we came into contact with. We discussed everything we wanted, and he said he could have someone do it that day, but that he had an appointment already. They had us sit down to fill out some paperwork, and I handed over a high quality hard copy of the image in question.
Not long afterwards, they came to get us. We were taken upstairs to have our tattoos done at the same-ish time - and I think they were brothers. We never got their names, which kind of annoys me (they didn't introduce themselves, and I didn't think to ask till it was too late), but they were quick and efficient. My version is on my forearm, and is quite small, compared to my husbands (which is on his calf).
They went through the whole speech about care and placement and all that, and my guy seemed a bit shocked when I told him that this is my fourth tattoo. I think he may have thought I was fibbing, but I was more than willing to bust out two of the three, at least, to prove it to him.
At any rate, he quickly placed the stencil and got me set up, and before I knew it, he was going to town with the needle. It was quick and painless - for both of us - and we were in and out before the hour was up. It was kind of pricey for two small-ish tattoos, but I can't begrudge them that.
Overall I'm happy with my tattoo. It looks how I want it to look, and it's not nearly as in-your-face as I was afraid it'd be (all my other tattoos are bright and colorful and cheery, whereas this one is all black). I'm glad we went, and I'm glad we have this permanent reminder of our epic European vacation.
