Engagement Ring Shopping in St. Thomas

[Betsy's Mom]

All the jewelers are in the business of making money. Rent and salaries, etc. are expensive, you are not going to get something for nothing. The rings shown are not necessarily their stock- by that I mean the jewelry suppliers "farm out" and the merchandise moves from island to island fairly frequently. This reduces overhead and keeps merchandise "fresh".

Having lived on the Island I agree with a previous poster who recommended a tanzanite or similar ring and then buying a diamond after more thought and research. Perhaps on another cruise even.

Best Wishes to the lady and enjoy your cruise:)

B.

[burrma]

[i know I'm prpbably too alte to help this guy but I plus many of my friends have been buying in Caribbean for years and if you kwno wher eto shop, the ring should appriase out at double when you get it home; with good bargaining and shopping at the right stores. Never at ship receoomended stores. In all the eyars my friends and I ahve eben buuying jeweelry donw there; only once did a friend buy at a store I told ehr not too. and she got takesn. Make sure you bargain and ask if they will guranatee that they willt ake it back if it doens't arrpiase dout at least double when you get it appriased abck home.

]If interested intb eh store not to shoip at, I"d be glad to share;l They shouild not be in busienss; theya re ruinign it for many others. Also will glad share stores that I know diamonds etc. will arrpiase out at least twice; often 3 times and one tennis bracekelt wappraidesd out at 4 1

[burrma]

THis post proably won't help the guy that posted the thread but hopefully it will help others.

I Highly recommend buying in St. Thomas and St. Martin if you know where to shop. Bargain and shop at stores where others have recommended. I take groups every year on cruises and there are many fabulous stores that I suggest to shop at that I know I can trust (been on 59 cruises and many to St. Thomas and St. Martin; the best deals in jewellery)and only once in all the groups I have taken, has a person got stung and that was because they shopped at a store I didn't recommend and the owner would not stand behind that purchase and it appriased out at less than what the guy paid. Terrible! Shameful! I would be glad to share that stores name in St. Thomas; they should not be in business when many others are fabulous and definitely worth shoppping at. Everything I or my people have purchased have appraised out at 2 - 4 times higher than what they paid and YES these stores do stand behind their product if anything goes wrong and will take it back if it doesn't appraise out at a higher cost; this has never happened.

Can always get a much better deal not shopping at a ship recommended store. Email me if you want to know more.

My philosphy is : what I save on a piece of jewellery easily pays for my husband and I do go on a cruise.

[O2B@Cagain]

Burrma: While the stores that are "recommended" by the cruise lines are really paying for advertising, that doesn't mean they are bad stores. Some of the biggest stores like Little Switzerland have plenty of money to advertise, but they also have longevity in the market and good customer service. Yes, some of the smaller mom and pop stores are great, too. If you only know of one person who had trouble in all the years you have been visiting, that is a pretty good track record, don't you think?;)

 

P.S. I find that many people who tell folks to go to specific stores get kick-backs from the owners. Just another form of advertising.

[burrma]

Burrma: While the stores that are "recommended" by the cruise lines are really paying for advertising, that doesn't mean they are bad stores. Some of the biggest stores like Little Switzerland have plenty of money to advertise, but they also have longevity in the market and good customer service. Yes, some of the smaller mom and pop stores are great, too. If you only know of one person who had trouble in all the years you have been visiting, that is a pretty good track record, don't you think?;)

 

P.S. I find that many people who tell folks to go to specific stores get kick-backs from the owners. Just another form of advertising.

 

I agree; they certainly aren't bad stores but after paying the cruise lines an unbelieveable amount per month; they can't afford to come down much lower in their price. I bring groups on cruises and NO, I don't get a kick back but have a very good knowledge of what people pay at the recommended stores and at the private stores that I can speak highly about and the difference that they pay in exact same itmes is unbelieveable. The mark up is unreal on jewellery.

I just feel bad when they buy at ship recommended stores and when they get home and have it appraised, they could have purchased it at home for similar money; this is not the case with the private stores that I buy at.

[HAULNTA]

Buy the ring at home!!! It is to big of a purchase to do at a souvenir stand. Spend the day at the beach relaxing with your Love, not negotiating.

[Hlitner]

If you want to purchase a quality diamond with GIA certificate, and get it at the best price, you probably would do better at Bluenile.com or Costco. If you really have your heart set on buying a ring on St Thomas we recommend avoiding most of the so-called cruise line recommended stores and going to a high quality store such as H. Stern. We mention Stern's because they have a terrific international reputation and operate a New York City office. This is very helpful in case you would have a problem with a ring such as a loose stone or other issue.

 

Hank

[bigeagle12]

We love Cardow's. They have locations at Havensight and downtown. I would recommend the downtown location for larger selection and better deals. Have received great deals and items always appraise much higher when we return home.

[burrma]

Buy the ring at home!!! It is to big of a purchase to do at a souvenir stand. Spend the day at the beach relaxing with your Love, not negotiating.

You have lots of money and don't care about spending it foolishly. Personally I like to save the money and I have top quality diamond rings plus many cruises as well from all the money I've saved by buying in St. Thomas and St. Martin.

[HAULNTA]

You have lots of money and don't care about spending it foolishly. Personally I like to save the money and I have top quality diamond rings plus many cruises as well from all the money I've saved by buying in St. Thomas and St. Martin.

When I buy, I but right from the cutter, not the wholesaler or the retailer. More money left over for cruise'n:cool:

[elaine5]

Cardow's! It's refered to as the "Tiffany's of the Carib." I already had a stone and got my setting there. A prong fell off a few months later. I called Cardow's and they said send it back andt they would fix it, or find a jeweler I trusted near me and send them the bill---they totally stood by their product. I would trust them to be honest and give an honest deal.

[Langley Cruisers]

Nice bump. This thread is almost 2 years old. I bet they're married by now! :D

.

[zqvol]

deleted . . . OP bought the ring at home and took it with him. He proposed last January, so that takes care of that.

[sail7seas]

Oopps.

Sorry. Deleted

[Hlitner]

We are always a bit amused when we hear folks talking about "appraisals" of jewelry. Professional jewelry appraisals are somewhat of a "con" since they have little meaning. An insurance company will demand a professonal appraisal and you will pay an insurance premium based on the appraised amount. So if the appraisal is inflated this makes the insurance companies quite happy...because, if the jewel is lost or stolen they will only pay the "fair market value" or replace the jewel. This means you might be paying premiums on a $10,000 diamond....but if you file a claim you might only get $5000 (i.e. the Fair Market Value). It is very common for appraisals to be much higher then the fair market value....so a diamond ring bought for $5000 might be appraised for $10,000 and the owner can tell all their friends they have a $10,000 ring. But try selling that ring and the owner quickly finds that the real value is no where near $10,000 and is probably somewhat below the $5000 they originally paid for the ring. So how do the insurance companies play this game? Any GIA (or similar appraisal) will have a specific descrption of the stone (cut, color, clarity, etc). The insurance company will simply pay based on that description...not the appraised value (even though they made you pay for the appraised value). If you are curious about the replacement value of a diamond, simply go to a reputable site like Bluenile where you can search for a stone with a similar description and find the cost (from Blue Nile) which is generally close to the fair market value. It can be eye opening.

 

One has to only walk by a typical jewelry store that has sales where they are selling diamonds for 50% off. And of course that 50% off price is still well above the price paid by the jeweler and probably above the real fair market value. Many jewels are marked-up by a huge margin so after a while the poor consumer really has no clue about the real value.

 

Hank

[sail7seas]

I think the trick is to pay what you think that item is worth to you.

 

When I used to purchase jewelry, the seller would tell me his/her 'dream price'....... as in they hoped in their dreams to get that amount. I would decide if it was worth that much to me or not. I would never insult them and say that it wasn't worth it. I would merely say I don't love it $5,000 worth. ALWAYS the price went down. Then they would ask me how much it was worth to me. They NEVER got an answer. They either quoted me a price that was agreeable to me for that item or I smiled sweetly, said thank you and left.

 

It isn't what it is worth..... it's what it is worth to you. IMO

Never buy jewelry thinking you can later sell it and make money on it. Never think jewelry is a good investment. IMO

[luvtravelms]

777, I read your post and had to smile. First, let me pick on you just a bit. Many years ago, I could have written that post myself. I bought my wife's rings at Cardow's. Let me give you a couple of "truisms" that I have learned over many years. First, NEVER take your wife with you when you buy her jewelry (a mistake you will only make once). Second, never tell her, as you/she is about to divorce the other, I will just leave the house, take what you want, just be fair. A serious error in judgement. Now that I have gotten a chuckle at my own expense, Cardow's is a great place to buy the rings. Let them do every thing. They will give you a very fair price biased on the quality of the stone you choose. Good luck, and I hope that you guys will be as happy as my wife and I are.

[burrma]

777, I read your post and had to smile. First, let me pick on you just a bit. Many years ago, I could have written that post myself. I bought my wife's rings at Cardow's. Let me give you a couple of "truisms" that I have learned over many years. First, NEVER take your wife with you when you buy her jewelry (a mistake you will only make once). Second, never tell her, as you/she is about to divorce the other, I will just leave the house, take what you want, just be fair. A serious error in judgement. Now that I have gotten a chuckle at my own expense, Cardow's is a great place to buy the rings. Let them do every thing. They will give you a very fair price biased on the quality of the stone you choose. Good luck, and I hope that you guys will be as happy as my wife and I are.

My first wedding ring we bought at Cadow's and it appraised out at the same price at home as what we paid but we were happy as we didn't know better. My next wedding ring; no divorce but we upgraded, I bought at one of the stores that I now recommend when people ask and it appraised out just a little more than 3 times what we paid. End of story!