emeralds in Cartagena Colombia

[monikaabr]

Hi! I am going to Cartegena on my first cruise and would like to buy an emerald. Does anyone have any suggestions on were to buy one? If you did buy one were you happy? Any information would be great. Thanks!! :)

[rjscott]

Hi! I am going to Cartegena on my first cruise and would like to buy an emerald. Does anyone have any suggestions on were to buy one? If you did buy one were you happy? Any information would be great. Thanks!! :)

 

If you go on a tour while in Cartagena, most will make a shopping stop at Plaza Pierino Gallo, and there are several emerald stores there. I bought some emerald earrings there and I was happy with the service I received and the price. They were very willing to negotiate, but you have to be willing to walk away and also mention that you want to look at the other stores.(What I did was; 1)ask if the price sticker was their best price. That got me a bit better price. 2) then I said, well, this is the first store I've been in. That got me another reduction. And, 3) I once again, after considering the earrings for a bit longer, said maybe I should look at some other stores. That got me a further reduction). ;) The store I purchased from was Finas Esmeraldas. The salesladies there were very pleasant to deal with; somewhat persistent, but in a low-key way. They were not at all high-pressure like you get in most Caribbean jewelry stores. An altogether pleasant experience and I love my earrings. But, I really would have left and looked at other stores if I hadn't really liked the earrings I had found at the price I wanted to pay.

Happy shopping!

[monikaabr]

Thank you!

[gailnnels]

We bought mine at "Jewelry New Millinium" . We thought the price fair and the quality outstanding. This was approximately 10 years ago. BTW, the gold is 18K there. You will get a guarantee with the purchase.

[monikaabr]

Thank you!

[jensue1]

Thanks for asking this question beacause I'm really interested in the responses too. :)

[Waverunner20]

Hi.... I read with interest, your question, and the helpful answers. We are on Island Princess, Oct 10-20, 2011 and will be in Cartagena also. Am wondering what your experience ended up being like, and if you found what you wanted (I would like to invest in a 2 carat or thereabouts, emerald pendant). I have looked and priced here in the US, so I have a reference point.... but ideallywould like to pay about the same price but perhaps a better quality, in Colombia Many thanks and I hope you see this in time!

[Loonbeam]

AnyHo - are you signed up for the roll call?

 

More to the point of the thread, we have a tour booked with Lee Miles (MrEmerald) and I figured to check his shop first. Does anyone have any experiences with him jewelry wise?

 

 

Hi.... I read with interest, your question, and the helpful answers. We are on Island Princess, Oct 10-20, 2011 and will be in Cartagena also. Am wondering what your experience ended up being like, and if you found what you wanted (I would like to invest in a 2 carat or thereabouts, emerald pendant). I have looked and priced here in the US, so I have a reference point.... but ideallywould like to pay about the same price but perhaps a better quality, in Colombia Many thanks and I hope you see this in time!

[joanne1]

Would love to hear more . . . we will be on the Island in December, so I have some time to gather info, but I usually trust the info on CC.

[Flute Teacher]

We were on a Princess Panama cruise last Feb and went on a JJ tour in Cartagena. When I asked to visit an emerald store, the guide took us to the Joyeria Emerald Center. It is a small family-owned business with three small stores as well as the main shop. We were in the main facility where they cut & process the emeralds - very interesting tour, to see the stones from rough cut right through to fine cut stones. My husband bought me both a ring with a fine, dark, smaller stone in it and a larger, lighter-coloured stone in a pendant. After we left, the store realized there had been a miscalculation in the exchange rate and they owed us $25. They phoned our tour guide and asked him to bring us back to the closest store. We ended up getting some earrings for our DD instead of the cash back, but I was very impressed with their honesty. I had done a great deal of research before we went on what to look for in a emerald and had gone into a few other shops in the downtown core. They appeared very glitzy in comparison and were much more expensive. IN the end, we are very happy with our purchases and would definitely go there again :)

[Loonbeam]

To follow up on my post, we bought a very nice ring from Lee (Miles). His pricing was very reasonable, enough that I never felt the need to play hardball. His shop is on the 2nd floor of the Pierno Gallo (or however you spell it) area.

[duck addict]

I, too, purchased from Lee Miles (Mr. Emerald). He was very straight forward, honored any "shipboard" discounts, plus an extra 5% off for cash.

I bought a 15.2 carat "rough" Emerald, mounted in silver, with a 24" sterling silver chain. Total cost $153. His prices are on the merchandise, and he believes in fairly pricing his merchandise rather than playing games with you.

[CruisinGerman]

Hi:

 

We live half the year in Colombia.

 

While Colombia's mining activities produce a good portion of the world's emerald supply, it is mostly on a wholesale basis to the major jewelry manufacturers and distributors in other countries.

 

Colombia is not at all known for a strong and reliable retail market to sell emeralds to the public. The few stores that you will find in the streets in the Old Town and in shopping centers are specifically designed for cruise tourists. Nobody else shops there.

 

Have a chat with the shopping specialist on board the ship. While that person usually has his own interests at heart (he is usually an employee of Diamonds International or one of the other large chains), he is usually very informative and will probably tell you not to buy anything of value in Cartagena -- just typical souvenirs.

 

The neighboring ports of call (Curacao, Aruba, St. Thomas, San Juan, St. Maarten) are far more reliable and trustworthy for purchasing jewelry.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[Trend]

Many years ago on a private tour I did purchase a beautiful bezel set emerald ring. The longs story is I am very small and they could not size it down for the finger I wanted and they were honest to say it would damage the ring, they were ready to let me walk. My son convinced me to size it for my middle finger and it was ok I had it appraised at home and it was of very good quality clear and clean and worth much more than I paid.

[Azulann]

We did a private tour with Lee Miles and went to his store and at the end of the tour our guide took us to Joyeria to see the workshop and the displays of how emeralds are mined.

At Lee Miles, my sister inlaw bought emerald earrings and necklace. Nice store, no pressure. She paid around $1,000.

At Joyeria, I bought a cabashon(sp) emerald ring in 18 kt gold. I paid about $650.

We both love our jewelry and I wear it often and think of my great trip.

 

Do you homework before you go and then find the piece you want and what you are willling to pay and buy yourself an emerald.

[Trend]

Set a price and love what you buy. Mine is is 20 years old and I still love it. Just remember emeralds are soft compared to diamonds so wear with care. I think the store I went to 20 years ago was Joyeria as I remember the name on the certificate.