Buying jewelry on board

[mkam2821]

Not all jewelry sold onboarding can be bought for less elsewhere

Occasionally there's a trunk show and at week' s end the rep may offer a deal. I actually regret not buying a Roberto Coin necklace that I could never find again. Now however I'm at the stage of life where I'm divesting of 'stuff'. 

 

Hopefully wearing the piece will bring back memories of a great vacation 

[neverbeenhere]

Perhaps an expensive gift, but...Give the ring to your sister-in-law, you never really liked her and you will never like the ring again. 
 

 

[BirdTravels]

18 hours ago, MoniMommy said:

I purchased gold by the inch (royal Caribbean). We were told it was real gold. It made us break out. I spent les than 20 bucks for the 2 "gold" braclets. So I wasn't out much and really what could I expect. We are going on a Norwegian cruise, can I assume all of the "real gold" by the inch sold on cruise lines is fake?

“Solid” gold is too soft for most jewelry. You wouldn’t have a 24k chain (will always have some metal alloy mixed in), which you may be allergic to. 
 

And you are most likely getting a gold plated chain which looks nice, but cheaper. It is real gold. 

[Iamcruzin]

On 12/23/2019 at 12:48 PM, matj2000 said:

Let this be a lesson to others.

 

Don't get caught up in the moment while on the ship and fall into the sales trap.

 

Almost everything onboard can be purchased elsewhere for less.

Couldn’t agree more. Cruise lines and port Jewelry stores rely on the impulse buyer. They know that you will only be on the ship or in port for a limited time and take full advantage. They also know that passengers get all caught up with the duty free jargon. Effy a.k.a iffy jewelry can be found in any US department store probably on sale more days than not.

[Magicat]

I have to agree with Iamcruzin, however we were told a story by a couple we met on a cruise.  The husband was bitten by a very poisonous spider in their cabin (a story for another time) and was on IV and all sorts of drugs to help.  Anyway they were allowed 45 minutes out of the ship medical centre and went on shore to buy a piece of jewelry they were planning on buying.  They walked into Diamonds International with husband dragging an IV stand.  Told the sales person they had a certain budget and wanted the bracelet or whatever it was and only had 30 minutes to complete the deal.  They got the bracelet for what they had budgeted and went back to the ship.  So I'm thinking of packing some medical equipment for my next trip to St. Maarten.   

[Ocean Boy]

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

“Solid” gold is too soft for most jewelry. You wouldn’t have a 24k chain (will always have some metal alloy mixed in), which you may be allergic to. 
 

And you are most likely getting a gold plated chain which looks nice, but cheaper. It is real gold. 

The purity of gold and an object being gold plated are completely different things. And though answering yes to the question if something is real gold when it is actually just gold plated may not be technically a lie, I would certainly think it to be deceiving. But I guess it is up to the buyers to know what they are doing.

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, Magicat said:

I have to agree with Iamcruzin, however we were told a story by a couple we met on a cruise.  The husband was bitten by a very poisonous spider in their cabin (a story for another time) and was on IV and all sorts of drugs to help.  Anyway they were allowed 45 minutes out of the ship medical centre and went on shore to buy a piece of jewelry they were planning on buying.  They walked into Diamonds International with husband dragging an IV stand.  Told the sales person they had a certain budget and wanted the bracelet or whatever it was and only had 30 minutes to complete the deal.  They got the bracelet for what they had budgeted and went back to the ship.  So I'm thinking of packing some medical equipment for my next trip to St. Maarten.   

I have a feeling it had NOTHING to do with the medical equipment and EVERYTHING to do with the fact that the buyers knew what they wanted, what it was worth / what they were willing to pay, and they related those facts to the salesperson.

If you go in "just to look around" then the salesperson will try to show you (and sell you) anything and everything.  If you go in for "Item ABC only, and you're not going to pay more than XYZ" and you're firm about both ABC and XYZ, then there's no reason for the salesperson to offer you other items or other prices.  

Medical equipment doesn't change that.

 

[grandgeezer]

On 12/23/2019 at 10:48 AM, matj2000 said:

Let this be a lesson to others.

 

Don't get caught up in the moment while on the ship and fall into the sales trap.

 

Almost everything onboard can be purchased elsewhere for less.

Almost, but not everything. We’ve bought several pieces of fine jewelry, and loose stones on cruises. Because of the price we pay, our insurance company insist that we have them appraised by a certified gemologist. Not one piece was appraised at less than 40% more than we paid. We insured it at the appraised price, not price paid.

We bought a loose gem stone and took it to a local jeweler to have it mounted with some diamonds taken from jewelry my wife inherited from her mother. The finished product was appraised at over double the cost of the stone and the value of the diamonds.

 

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

Almost, but not everything. We’ve bought several pieces of fine jewelry, and loose stones on cruises. Because of the price we pay, our insurance company insist that we have them appraised by a certified gemologist. Not one piece was appraised at less than 40% more than we paid. We insured it at the appraised price, not price paid.

We bought a loose gem stone and took it to a local jeweler to have it mounted with some diamonds taken from jewelry my wife inherited from her mother. The finished product was appraised at over double the cost of the stone and the value of the diamonds.

 

Purchased my wife engagement ring  at jewelry store at home. Took it to another jeweler at home for the appraisal for the insurance company. He appraised it higher than what I purchased it for. The appraisal is only as good as the appraiser. Its has been almost 30 yrs now. I should probably have it appraised again.

Edited December 26, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[bouhunter]

9 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

Almost, but not everything. We’ve bought several pieces of fine jewelry, and loose stones on cruises. Because of the price we pay, our insurance company insist that we have them appraised by a certified gemologist. Not one piece was appraised at less than 40% more than we paid. We insured it at the appraised price, not price paid.

We bought a loose gem stone and took it to a local jeweler to have it mounted with some diamonds taken from jewelry my wife inherited from her mother. The finished product was appraised at over double the cost of the stone and the value of the diamonds.

 

There are some decent deals to be had in the Caribbean on jewelry if you're willing to negotiate aggressively.  That said, people have been getting "appraisals" for decades when they return and somehow they are always much higher than what was paid.  Jewelry appraisers put very high values on everything they look at for several reasons.  It has nothing to do with the real value of what something would sell for.  It's always amusing to read the posts from people who think they got an amazing deal just because their "appraiser" back home said something is worth so much more than what they paid.

[grandgeezer]

5 hours ago, bouhunter said:

There are some decent deals to be had in the Caribbean on jewelry if you're willing to negotiate aggressively.  That said, people have been getting "appraisals" for decades when they return and somehow they are always much higher than what was paid.  Jewelry appraisers put very high values on everything they look at for several reasons.  It has nothing to do with the real value of what something would sell for.  It's always amusing to read the posts from people who think they got an amazing deal just because their "appraiser" back home said something is worth so much more than what they paid.

We don't buy the jewelry for an investment, we buy it with plans to enjoy it and pass it on to future generations like my wife got from her mother. All I care about is that if it's lost or stolen we can recover enough money to replace it and the value insured for will guarantee it. The gemologist we used is approved by the insurance company and if high appraisals were a problem they wouldn't trust them.

I'll be partially amused if I ever have to file a claim and get that big check. It is insured for a set amount, not replacement cost.

[bouhunter]

20 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

We don't buy the jewelry for an investment

That is smart  I didn't say you did.

 

Insurance companies are fine with the commonly inflated appraisals, since they're basing the premium on the inflated appraised value.....  Think about it, they're setting that premium based on a set number (appraised value) and plugging it into their formula's.  They couldn't care less what it's really worth, as long as there is an "appraisal" to document their file in case of a loss.

Edited December 26, 2019 by bouhunter