jewelry in St. Martaan

[soje]

Where do you buy jewelry in St. Martaan? Is it because of quality or price?

[cruisingfreak]

Where do you buy jewelry in St. Martaan? Is it because of quality or price?

 

I buy diamond jewelry at Kay Jewelers in St. Maarten. They have quality diamonds & jewelry, at a very good price.

 

 

 

Minette

[cruisingmimi]

Just walk up and down Front Street in St. Maarten & you will be in jewelry heaven. It is the best port to buy jewelry in and you can barter with the store owners also. They hate you to walk out without a purchase.

 

Know your prices & your quality & you will do great. I usually know what I am looking for and the prices before I go shopping.

 

Have fun.

[joelmarj]

Our last trip there we were talking to the owners of Cafe Amici which is right there on the main street(forgot the name of the street in town). They are actually from the states and moved to St. Thomas about 10 years ago and run this restaurant. It was wonderful, and I highly recommend it. Anyway, who better to get advise from than people living there. They highly recommended Cardow. Said they are very reputable, reliable and excellent quality and prices. They do have a store over by the ports as well (Haverstraw ?). Anyway, we looked and I was 1 second away from buying a beautiful diamond and sapphire necklace from them. The only thing that stopped me was that it was so extravegant that I felt guilty knowing I wouldn't wear it all the time. The price though was absolute great, and it was very high quality. I plan on shopping there again.

[TheWog]

Oro Diamonte on Front St. was very nice. They had great selection, quality and did really well on some prices.

[Northender]

I also recommends Kays on Front Street. Another good place is DK Gems which I think is right next door. The other posters are correct - do your homework in advance and know what you want. :)

[jewopaho]

You might also want to take a peek at Caribbean Gems and Joe's Jewelry (same owners). Please ignore the "recommended" tag used by the cruise line. Merchants pay for the privilege, and it's a nice supplementary income for the cruise director and shopping guide (ever wonder why store personnel ask, "What ship are you on?" Now you know).

 

By all means, do your homework! There are dozens of websites which can help you become somewhat of an expert (or at least appear so). I've worked in the industry, and have probably put several jewelers' children through college. Knowledge is indeed power - as is the art of negotiating. Brush up on both.

 

My two biggest caveats:

 

(1) Appraisals. There are all kinds of these things (wholesale, retail, insurance replacement, etc.) - and just because you've got a piece of paper that values your ring at three times what you paid, it doesn't mean that you bought it for 1/3 of its worth. The actual value of any item is what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

(2) Tanzanite. This is the most overhyped (and obscenely priced) semi-precious gemstone in the history of jewelry! It's a $100ct. stone selling for over $1000. Because there is only one source (coincidentally in Tanzania) the market can be artificially controlled - and is it ever! Just when prices level off, the cry, "The mine is drying up!" re-emerges. That mine has probably "dried up" a dozen times over the years. If supply is dwindling, why are there hundreds of pieces in dozens of stores (a scenario replicated in every tourist port in the world), including a chain of Tanzanite (i.e. Diamonds) International outlets? Color is a matter of preference. All that drivel about deeper, bluer tones being more valuable is just that. You may want to look at iolite as a reasonably priced substitute (it's mined everywhere from Sri Lanka to Brazil, so prices do reflect what the traffic will bear - generally under $100 ct.).

 

If you're sharp, you can really do well. St. Maarten has replaced St. Thomas as the Caribbean shopping mecca. But be careful - falling in love with a piece of jewelry is fine; but don't forget that the merchant wants to sell it as much as you want to buy it. Have a great cruise!

 

Al