St. Maarten Jeweler Recommendations?

A different thread lists lots of names of jewelers on St. Thomas, though many people believe St. Maarten is the better stop for gem stones. I'm thinking tanzanite and/or diamond slide or ring. Any recommendations? Also, what time do the jewelry stores close?

My DW and I just returned from the Adventure of Seas two weeks ago. We buy our jewelry from Zahveri jewelers at 53A Front St. in Phillipsburg. We have shopped with this store for 12 years, going back to the previous owners. They have been very good to us through the years. The new owners even honored a lifetime upgrade policy for my wife on a Tanzanite and Blue Opal ring. We feel they have always been very honest and, have given us prices that can't be beaten. Every piece we have purchased for DW DD and myself have appraised at much more than purchase price. On every cruise we have an idea of what we are looking for. We look on other islands and other stores but, never seem to find just the right thing. We have always seen just what we were looking for at Zahveri.

All St. Maarten regulars will have their favorite, but your best advice for any port would be to be well educated in the jewelry (prices and quality indicators) that you are intending to purchase, and then visit several shops to compare offerings and prices.

Check out my posting in this prior thread on the board.

gary

I've shopped their twice and feel that their prices are good, not great and be ready to negotiate and walk out. List price is about 2-3 times what you will actually pay so if they want $4000, offer $1000 and deal from there.

I recomend Denny at precious gems international. great service, no BS and I got two GREAT ring!

Just completed the Crown Princess to the Southern Carribean 3/3. I've gotten so many good tips on this board I had to share the Jewelry Outlet ( second side street off of Front St.)across from the Guavaberry Emporium. I had read previous CruiseCritic posts and fellow cruisers gave rave reviews to this store. The owner is Vicky, a delightful gentleman. Unlike the expensive stores that give kickbacks for recommendations he is willing to offer lower prices and pass the savings to the customer. I was interested in a high grade tanzanite ring and wound up with a blue diamond ring set. While the ring was being sized I went to the Crown Patter "must see" jewelers (Venetian, Majesty and DInter) they could not come close to the price I paid. I was extremely satisfied with the quality and service. He will continue to get my business.

Vicky at Jewelry Outlet was reccomended by our tour guide Joyce Prince. He & his wife are wonderfull people & they took very good care of us & our friends. He even threw in some cigarettes & a bottle of Bailey's in our negotiations. We all were very pleased with the service & the prices he gave us.

One note.......We are having trouble with a ring my husband purchased from him & I have emailed him already (today) to see what he can do. He did say if we have any trouble, just let him know. So we did & are awaiting his reply. I will keep you posted as to how he handles this situation. Now this will really tell us & all the CC members just how good he is.

We all do have to agree, St Martin IS the place to get your jewelry. It has bumped St Thomas out of the running, but they are running a very close second.

I was just wondering if you ever heard from Vicky?

All St. Maarten regulars will have their favorite, but your best advice for any port would be to be well educated in the jewelry (prices and quality indicators) that you are intending to purchase, and then visit several shops to compare offerings and prices.

 

Check out my posting in this prior thread on the board.

 

gary

This is the best advice anyone can give you. The sort of jewelry available in St. Martin should be viewed as nothing more than a commodity and valued the exact same way. You should pay roughly the same price for the same quality diamond anywhere you shop. The same for Tanzanite. Thus, you must know what you're buying. If you end up over-paying, that's your fault.

gtaylor, I agree. Regulars have favorites. I say try Boolchands. See Harish. Harish Boolchand. They are in St.thomas also. I have purchased many Items from them and have been more than happy, coming home and getting apraisals 2, 3 times paid. All that said, do your home work ahead of time. Get an idea of what color number, clarity and cut you want. Look at local places at home and see what the prices are. Then go to a bunch of places on the island and ask for close to those three c's with the size of the diamond you can swing. You will see the wide range of prices. Remember, dicker. Wait for three four prices. I always say "I dont have that kind of money", get up a couple of times. Kinda like buying a car.

Emailed Vicky earlier this week and still waiting for a response reply.

I tired to contacted him 4 times almost 2 months ago and I still haven't heard from him. I hope you have better luck.

We have had contact with Vicky finally. Actually after sending him 2 emails over 2 weeks ago, we emailed Joyce Prince (who reccomended him) & asked her to call him, to give him a heads up. She did so the same day & he called us the next, to let us know he will take care of everything. He has given us his FedEx account number in order to send the ring back. The package is going out today. So, now we wait & see how long this will take.

We were told by Joyce that he doesn't check his emails all that often. If there is any way you can call him, I'd suggest that.

Still holding our breath & keeping our fingers crossed!

I'll keep you posted.

I know it sounds like a silly question, but I just want to be certain that I can pay by credit card.

They will take your credit card, but do keep in mind that they will give you a story about the extra cost to them when you use a credit card. We feel more secure using a credit card. With all the purchase protections they give now, you can always dispute a charge that was made.

*HINT* Be sure to let your credit card company know when & where you are traveling to before you go. If they see odd charges in different countries (or states) they will put a freeze on your card until you can call them & OK the purchases.

Heard from Vicky today, he has been ill with the flu. He promises to take care of all and we will hear again in about three weeks.

Had no problem putting purchase on credit card.

Dott and Karenvols------- Why do you need to contact Vicky? Problems? Well, I have to add that our friends who were with us on this trip are having some trouble with their purchases. They took it to an appraiser and did not receive good news. He is in the process of trying to get a hold of Vicky. (He emailed him today) And Vicky has received my husbands ring and now we're just waiting to get it back. Pretty scarey when your jewelry is all the way in St Martin (paid for) and you're all the way here and then you hear more bad news about that jeweler.

Has anyone ever taken their purchase and had it apraised?

I know, I know.........Buyer BEWARE! It is so hard not to get caught up in all the excitement while you're there.

Years ago my husband made a purchase at Columbian Emeralds in St. Martin. When I returned home I noticed an emerald had fallen out of the ring. I called their Miami service center and dealt with them to repair my ring and had no problems. If they are still on the island, I would highly rec. them.

SeaSeaRiders -- Had a prompt email reply from Vicky so far. My ring was sent for resizing and cracked under a prong setting. He has promised to have a new one made and sent within a month.. I have every expectation he will come through.

What response have you had? I have asked for appraisal details as well.

Doing research online I have not found another design I prefer. This was not an impulse purchase. I have ordered another diamond band to complement the set.

Please stay in touch.

I purchased a few items from Vicky in February. He promised to send the appraisals shortly as he was "out of appraisal forms". After two or three emails asking for them as well as a piece he promised to send me that was to be a gift, I gave up. Will try again to email him and see if I get a response. I had my pieces appaised here and they came in at over twice what I paid. That usually is the case I find with appraisals when they are replacement value. I love my bracelets and earrings and felt I got good value but wish he would answer my email. Never thought to contact Joyce for help but maybe I will. Will try Vicky again first.

Vicky did finally call me on Sat and said he would respond to my email. I still haven't heard from him concening my issues. I bought a tanzanite ring and I love the setting but a lot of the diamonds are cloudy. I was in a hurry when I picked it up and did not pay attention to the details(mu fault) I do want to keep the ring but I would like to have a better quality of diamonds. We will see if I hear from him again. He is really nice, but it bothers me he isn't responding faster to any of us. I am sure he will come through eventually. Best of luck.

karen - how large are the cloudy diamonds in the tanzanite ring you purchased? i have a ring on order from Vicky to match my blue diamond set and concerned about the stones.

seasea - how was your husband's ring return handled. did you have to insure and postage back to San Martin?

Dott............. Vicky had given us his FedEx account number so we did not have to pay anything for the shipping or insurance. We were told by the shipping service that if a package goes international, that we have to put a price & description of whatever is in the package, so we did. That was no problem at all. He did receive the ring aprox 5 days after we shipped it. Now we are just waiting for it's return.

As for our friends who also are having trouble with the tanzanite earings, they are currently in negotiations with Vicky as to what he wants them to do and what they want to do.

It's just that we all would like this resolved a little quicker than it is going. But we all do understand that dealing with someone out of the country does take time. So we are all trying to be optimistic.

Grammaz....... He was also out of apprasail forms when we were there. You'd think by now he would have gotten some, seeing how the majority of people want them.

Karenvols....... We have also received calls from Vicky, but as you say, he doesn't give you all the info you're looking for when he does call. Even though he gave us the FedEx account number it took 3 phone calls & 2 emails from him?

Odd isn't it?

I did email Vicky again after finding this discussion on the boards. And he replied the next day. He asked for my address again as he thought he had mailed my appraisals out to me but obviously I didn't get them. So will keep all posted as to when I receive them.

I guess after hearing I was wanting to talk to him he called last Sat and said to email him what I needed to know and he would be looking for my email. I emailed him on Sat and I still haven't heard from him. This makes email number 5. The stones are small but still cloudy. I think the total weight is .25 total. A few are good quality but the rest are very cloudy. I was not expecting a $1000 ring because I didn't pay that much but I would have hoped the diamonds would have been clearer. I am sure I will hear from him eventually. I actually still owe him money so you would think it would be important to him to contact me and get this transaction over with. Meanwhile I am enjoying my tanzanite ring at a discounted quality and price. Good luck to all.