Buying jewelry or diamonds in cozumel

[spotter27]

Has any one ever bought anything of value in cozumel any kind of diamonds and do u trust them? If u know of any place I can find a good jewery store please let me know. thanks

[PAPERBKWRITER]

If you use only recommonded stores (by Carnival) they guarantee that you are getting what you pay for and you have 30 days to bring your purchase home and get it appraised. I hope you have good negoiting skills. Be tough. Walk out and come back later to get the best price.

[firefly333]

If you use only recommonded stores (by Carnival) they guarantee that you are getting what you pay for and you have 30 days to bring your purchase home and get it appraised. I hope you have good negoiting skills. Be tough. Walk out and come back later to get the best price.

 

Im just the opposite . I would avoid any of these so called recommended stores that have to jack up prices because of kickbacks they pay.

 

I think you can do better elsewhere .. esepcially just from sitting home on the internet. I paid $350 for a ring, and could have gotten it for less than $100 on bidz.com .. way ripped off .. dont trust their sales and sales on top of sales. You can do better NOT buying in the ports. Unless you have a trained eye, dont do it.

[toomuchluggage]

Im just the opposite . I would avoid any of these so called recommended stores that have to jack up prices because of kickbacks they pay.

 

I think you can do better elsewhere .. esepcially just from sitting home on the internet. I paid $350 for a ring, and could have gotten it for less than $100 on bidz.com .. way ripped off .. dont trust their sales and sales on top of sales. You can do better NOT buying in the ports. Unless you have a trained eye, dont do it.

 

I have to agree! We also spoke to an art gallery employee that told us on our cruise last week that they get an 80% disc off of jewellerywhich tells me how over priced these stores are. The mdse is also marked up to give cut backs to all the cruise lines.

Having spent 30 some years in retail I know that the best place to buy stones is from a reputable pawn shop. The shops will have appraised values as well as grading of stone(s) on all their rings, so you buy a ring for the stone then remove from setting and have it reset in a setting to your liking by any reputable jeweller they can also melt down the gold and re use but the settings are worth next to nil. In Toronto we have a couple shops that are large and been in business for over 100 years.

You would be surprised over the savings.

The hardest part of all of this is getting your partner (usually woman) in the right mind set.

[maggiepie11]

We have invested in 2 big value items in Cozumel over the years.

 

The first was on our honeymoon. For our wedding, we had my engagement ring and wedding wrap soldered together back at a local jewelry shop in the US, and each day that went by on our honeymoon we grew more and more bummed about it. They soldered it just slightly off-center and it just bugged us. While we were in Cozumel, we found a new diamond pave setting of my dreams and had my diamond re-set in it. A little unorthodox to get a new wedding set while on the honeymoon just days after the wedding, but I still have it 6 years later and still love it. That came from Diamonds International clearance center, and the quality has been great and the price was fantastic because we looked both in stores and online for something similar before the wedding to no avail.

 

The second item was a 5 carat tanzanite stone, which we had set in a diamond band at Tanzanite International. I'm sure the price on the sticker wasn't a great value, but pay no attention to the price on the sticker! Know what you're willing to pay, and if they can't sell it at that price, be willing to walk away--not to just pretend walk away with the intention of coming back later, but really walk away if you can't get what you want at a price you can accept. We got excellent deals on both big purchases. Shop around at home and know the comparable values so you have a better comparison.

 

On the flip side, we bought a diamond tennis bracelet from a store that was not sponsored by Carnival, and the safety clasp broke as soon as we got home (could probably have happened regardless of the store, but still...) and they never sent the appraisal certificate as promised. Not a huge deal--still a beautiful bracelet and good price, but left me feeling wary.

 

OOh--have fun shopping for sparkly things! We just had a baby, so no more shiny bobbles for me for a while! :)

[LHP]

The best advice is to be very WELL informed before you buy anything.

 

Of course, the obvious disadvantage is that IF you have an issue...you don't have a brick and mortar in town to return it to for a repair.

 

I have been pleased with several purchases I have made over the years....but I researched it "to death" before making the purchase.

 

The one thing I like the most about Diamond's International is that they create their own designs. My first purchase was a tennis bracelet because I hated the xoxox and ~~~~ designs in the United States back then. DI offered something different.

 

Over the years, I bought from DI because I found a Canadian manager that I felt I could trust. She has now retired.

 

But I can not stress enough that you MUST be an informed consumer.....

[reason201]

We also purchased a diamond ring and a diamond pendant from Diamonds International at the pier. We took some time to talk with Rico our ships shopping advisor. We told him what we were looking for (size, clarity, etc.) When we got in the store, we looked at what they had out and it was not what we were looking for. Rico spoke to the person we were working with and they got the manager on duty to assist. They found a set of stones that we wanted and set them into the pendant. Rico spent almost an hour working with us and we felt very comfortable. I would not have made such a purchase in Cozumel without his help.

 

We had the pieces apprased when we returned home by the jewler we work with here and he said we got a very good buy and that the pieces would appraise significantly higher that what we paid. We are going back on the Dream in March and really hope Rico is still with the ship.

 

Their are resources like Rico on each ship, take advantage of them and let them help you find just what it is that you are looking for. They want you to be very happy with your purchase so that you will come back again.

 

Good luck and happy cruising...

 

John

[blacksheep2]

Grand Jewelers in St Thomas or St Martin-have bought many items from them and have been very happy-have sent friends there also and they are also pleased!

 

They also have a web site!

 

Tell them Vicki sent you --beleive it or not I get a Christmas card from them every year--Ask for Jacki

[cantwait06]

we bought a journey diamond necklace in cozume at diamonds internationall that appraised for exactly what we paid for it. We were happy that we didn't pay too much even though we were told it would appraise for more at home. However, the price we paid was significantly lower then their original asking price so don't be fooled, and don't budge....they will eventually lower their price or you need to leave! also, don't let them give you any alcohol....they'll try!