jewelry/diamonds in cozumel.

Ive seen this cozumel square mentioned several times the place to shopin cozumel. where is it located in relation to the ships? is it in San Miguel? IS it the best place to shop? I am specifically looking for jewelry/diamonds as well as hand sewn fabric.

thanks

The main plaza is on the main boulevard, R.E. Melgar. It is about three blocks north of Punta Langosta Cruise Terminal and Mall, but about 2 miles from the SSA International Terminal. Directly across the street from the downtown ferry pier...you can't miss it!

This was taken and translated from today's edition of Por Esto!, a regional newspaper that covers the island.

Merchants of jewels on the island warn of a possible fraud against the tourists of cruisers, who, mostly, are humble people in their countries of origin that do not always have the possibility to buy jewels and therefore are not "experts" in questions of precious stones.

The situation occurs allong avenue Rafael E. Melgar, the main boulevard of Cozumel, where there should be NO traveling salesmen or simple con artists the ones that would be committing this irregularity, but established businesses.

Perhaps they are prompted by the economic shortage that the island experienced since "Wilma" in October of the 2005, as well as by the circumstance of in general.

Other jewelers of the same avenue, where the commerce of precious stones is a distinctive sign of the port, they affirm that this practice eventually will bring an important loss of prestige to the island because a lot of the people that purchase thinking to have made a good investment, will be frustrated when in their countries of origin they try to resell them, or they carry them to have valued, or even they deteriorate due to the materials of the ones that in reality are fake, among them a simple glass carved in lieu of a diamond.

According to these testimonies, the tourists of cruisers, people that can travel by very accessible prices and that in the United States they are not exactly rich, but people of the middle class of that country, are easy victims of this deceit. In their everyday life they are not large consumers neither experts of stones and jewels in general, but they are left impressed by the price.

The situation would be occurring, above all, with a gem called "Tanzanita", that is a blue variety or purple of the mineral zoisita, composed of aluminum and silicato of calcium; which is very popular because its relatively accessible in cost and its beauty. Its main deposits are in Africa, in Tanzania, from where it obtains it's name.

The commercialization of these "gems" has already caused claims on the part of the tourists to the local authorities, although to resolve these complaints is complicated because those cruise passengersp barely spend six or seven hours in the island and many times detects the deceit after they have concluded the cruise.

This commerce affects besides the true jewelers, since they cannot compete with the prices and the offerings of those who sell this fake merchandise.

thanks for the info. is there any way to determine a genuine dealer from a fraudulent one? are they licenced in any way? belong to or display membership to any group or agency? or should I just avoid them all? is this the same area where i can by arts/crafts/fabric goods?

thanks.

I would stick to the larger stores such as Diamond's International and not buy from smaller shops unless you know the merchant well.

Each ship has a shopping "expert" who will have on-board shopping seminars. She can guide you away from the bad places.

Keep in mind that these experts are compensated by the vendors, but still provide good basic information.

Oh yeah, haggle, haggle, haggle. No deal is done until you've said "NO" at least 3 times.

Good Luck!

thanks for the info. is there any way to determine a genuine dealer from a fraudulent one? are they licenced in any way? belong to or display membership to any group or agency? or should I just avoid them all? is this the same area where i can by arts/crafts/fabric goods?

thanks.

Cozumel has a policy of guaranteeing merchandise purchased in licensed stores. Trust me, they are all licensed. This merchandise they are talking about will be offered by street vendors, not all of which are cheats, so don't simply pass up opportunities for "inexpensive curios". Don't buy a $500 value ring from someone on the street at the "very low price of $50" and think you are getting anything worth more than $5. It's the same way just about anywhere really.

Sometimes I think the merchants in stores put this out even though there may not be any fact to it, but it keeps the public attention turned against what are called "ambulantes" or moving salesmen. The fixed stores consider ambulantes unfair and unscruplous competition.

I wanted to edit the above post but couldn't get that function to work for me, so I will add...

There will be shopping guides or "experts" onboard and they will give all sorts of stories, I am told. I have lived in Cozumel for 9 plus years and I don't know of any "bad" merchants. Some street vendors have shoddy merchandise and some may try to pass off junk as pure silver, so be smart. Typically, you get what you pay for in life, even in Mexico. This is a tourist "shopping" town, there are no real "fire sale bargains" on things like diamonds. You can get silver at good prices but that's because Mexico is a silver producing country and in Cozumel you save 5% in value added tax, still paying 10%

If you wouldn't buy a watch from a guy showing them inside his overcoat, then the same type of rules apply here.... and everywhere.

I have a story of shopping in Cozumel and its not a good one.When in Cozumel on a cruise in November of this year I was shopping for tanzanite,went into Silverado in Plaza Confetti,nice store.Salesmen was good,really trusting,100% tanzanite he said,you can trust us.I thought such a nice store,good location.

Spent $1500.00 on a pendant,bracelet,when I got home to get it appraised,its junk,glass,were to be diamonds in the pendant,glass also.

I couldnt believe it,how could this happen with all the people traveling to this area,and a nice store at that.Credit card company said sorry,can't help,it was a face to face transaction.I have tried to contact Silverado by phone and letters,no luck,any ideas from anyone.I hate the fact I was taken.

Just to worn the next person,don't trust anyone there,it could be you.

So when the cruise ships say good to certain stores,they mean it,you are protected for fraud in these stores,nothing they can do when its not on there list.

Well, I have heard your nightmares and I guess I just got really lucky. I was in Cozumel in July. I highly recommend Elite Selections, Av. Rafael E. Melgar #301. I ventured into their store and began looking at Blue Diamond rings. After finding one I liked, not knowing anything about how to judge quality, Carlos and Pancho told me to buy the ring on my credit card, bring it home to get it appraised and if it wasn't what they said, dispute the charge and they are out the money. Fair enough. I bought it, a 1.5 carat blue diamond, brought it home and it appraised for 7.5 times what I paid. Carlos and Pancho were great, gave us shots of tequila, margaritas, Carbon Negras, and Coronitas. They even gave both a fifth of really good tequila. I can't wait to go back because I want blue diamond earrings. Go to ELITE SELECTIONS and see Carlos and Pancho. Great guys.

BEWARE: Just wanted to let all know that on Nov. 18th, COMING FROM THE CARNIVAL TRIUMP CRUISE LINES (THIS WAS NOT A LISTED STORE BY THE CRUISE LINE) - My husband and I got taken to the CLEANERS BY ELITE SELECTIONS . We do not believe that this was an honest mistake and occurs frequently - apparently for their survival - good ole Pancho & Carlos are not only surviving, but robbing Americans. The purchase was a MEN'S gold ring with diamonds and a small square Australian opal - 14K gold . - ALL FAKE - COATED SILVER , WITH FAKE GOLD overlay, WITH FAKE DIAMONDS, ETC., I BOUGHT this ring for my husband for our Anniversary. I was charged $260.00 U.S. DOLLARS - which translated to $272.22 on my debit card/cash through our bank. YES, I JUST CALLED MY BANK WHO ARE DISPUTING THIS CHARGE, AND I ALSO CALLED CARLOS AND PANCHO, Who constantly hung on me. STILL WAITING FOR A CALL BACK FROM THEM - cannot believe that anyone would treat someone like this - I plan on visiting back to this ELITE SELECTIONS soon with the Fake Ring, and my receipt to see if Carlos and Pancho, a/k/a ARE STILL IN BUSINESS. CONCLUSION: ONLY GO TO THE CRUISE LINE RECOMMENDED STORES. By the way Carnival Triumph was a terrific Cruise Lines, and plan on returning. Poor Carlos and Pancho, and they are indeed poor in spirit, will not get our business again, along with my telling all NOT TO GO TO THEIR STORE : ELITE SELECTIONS ROBS !

BEWARE: Just wanted to let all know that on Nov. 18th, COMING FROM THE CARNIVAL TRIUMP CRUISE LINES (THIS WAS NOT A LISTED STORE BY THE CRUISE LINE) - My husband and I got taken to the CLEANERS BY ELITE SELECTIONS . We do not believe that this was an honest mistake and occurs frequently - apparently for their survival - good ole Pancho & Carlos are not only surviving, but robbing Americans. The purchase was a MEN'S gold ring with diamonds and a small square Australian opal - 14K gold . - ALL FAKE - COATED SILVER , WITH FAKE GOLD overlay, WITH FAKE DIAMONDS, ETC., I BOUGHT this ring for my husband for our Anniversary. I was charged $260.00 U.S. DOLLARS - which translated to $272.22 on my debit card/cash through our bank. YES, I JUST CALLED MY BANK WHO ARE DISPUTING THIS CHARGE, AND I ALSO CALLED CARLOS AND PANCHO, Who constantly hung on me. STILL WAITING FOR A CALL BACK FROM THEM - cannot believe that anyone would treat someone like this - I plan on visiting back to this ELITE SELECTIONS soon with the Fake Ring, and my receipt to see if Carlos and Pancho, a/k/a ARE STILL IN BUSINESS. CONCLUSION: ONLY GO TO THE CRUISE LINE RECOMMENDED STORES. By the way Carnival Triumph was a terrific Cruise Lines, and plan on returning. Poor Carlos and Pancho, and they are indeed poor in spirit, will not get our business again, along with my telling all NOT TO GO TO THEIR STORE : ELITE SELECTIONS ROBS !

would you have an address for this place? I was also taken by Elite Selections....i bought a ring mid-October and they told me it was gold. well its not...its coated white gold and turned black. i cant find the receipt and I am disputing it with my credit card and they told me i need to send it back to get a refund. Any help would be great

For diamonds and high end jewelry purchases, this might be one of the few times I would recommend sticking to the cruise ship stores. Now as to price and value, an informed and educated buyer gets the best deals. You shouldn't allow yourself to be pressured into the deal now. It is very easy to compare prices between stores, but difficult to really compare quality and true value.

There have been more problems with people buying way over priced items than outright fakes. I question people's wisdom that buy diamonds and other gems from stores that sell primarily silver. You can get some good looking knock off tanzanite looking silver jewelry at a fraction of the cost of the real thing, but with no misrepresentation. A few rotten eggs spoil the whole basket.

sorry but I have to give them a thumbs up - I wanted a blue diamond anklet - they didn't have any - but had a couple of "blue diamond bracelets" so they took the two of them and made the anklet out of it - we bartered the price, or I should say my hubby did-- after he got them down to 175.00 I got embarrassed and jumped in a cab outside the front door - well needless to say I got the anklet for 150.00 - later we went to St Martin and asked our friend who owns Radiant Gems - now for the kicker - he offered me 450.00 for the anklet - but did tell me it wasn't blue diamonds, but the silver I thought I was getting was actually platinum - guess they had no idea what they were doing - anyway I am so happy with the anklet and wouldn't part with it - the stones are actually blue topaz:)

I have been taken 3 times in Cozumel so don't buy any jewelry there unless it is a well known store......... One store is called Ocean jewelry, the other is at Mr. Santos and the third is just outside the port where the ships come in.. I would stick to buying in the US....