WARNING do not shop at Milano's Jewelry in St. Thomas

[dasi11]

I have been cruising for years. I bought a diamond ring about 20 years ago from DI. Had it appraised when I got home and it was not at all what the appraisal said. 14 K instead of 18k and diamonds were way off in quality, weight and clarity. I paid the restocking fee of $115 dollars and cut my losses. Lesson learned. Never considered buying another piece of jewelry in the Islands again.

Sorry you got switched merchandise. It sucks when you don't get what you paid for.

[dread_pirate]

I actually have a great store to recommend in St. Thomas (not touted by the cruise lines). It's Ajanta Jewelers, a family-owned place. We bought a pair of long diamond earrings, a pair of colorful jeweled studs, a diamond cocktail ring, and a couple of other pieces. I was comfortable with the way they looked and the price I paid, knowing that they may not be objectively worth it.

 

On returning home, I had the pieces appraised. The appraiser looked at the diamond earrings and was shocked that they were made with "ring quality" stones. He looked at the colorful earrings (red, white and blue) and said that the white stones were not chips or white sapphires; they were Pave diamonds. The halos in the cocktail ring were also Pave diamonds.

 

Everything we bought at Ajanta was appraised for 25 - 150% more than we paid.

 

And no, I don't get a kickback from them! :halo:

[mollyeilis]

This was exactly what we both had in mind. The cost was about what we had been thinking. The diamond & ring are still amazing. First appraisal was for a tad more than we paid. Second appraisal a tad less. If Milano had given us what we paid for, we would be extremely happy. Worse case scenario we keep the set & get the baguettes fixed.

 

 

If you love the diamond and the ring, why would you waste your time on future cruises by warning people? You bought a diamond and two rings right? So which one is causing this stress if you say the diamond and ring are amazing and the appraisals are coming in just about right?

 

You said it's a textbook example of fraud. Sounds like Milano is thinking the same thing, but while you think Milano committed the fraud, Milano is wondering about the vendor they bought it from OR that it's you who are committing the fraud. I'm not sure it's a bad thing that they wish to investigate it thoroughly.

 

 

The sales things are always silly. I go, I giggle at this guide's story of how he's engaged to his fellow shopping guide and of course he bought the crown of light diamond, or this is a picture of that guide's model wife modeling this other diamond. Liars. :)

 

If we buy something it's because we like the looks of it and the price seems fair for how much we like it. From those criteria it seems, from your own words, that this purchase met that expectation.

 

 

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By the way I hope no one who is angry with Milano buys from Gordon Jewelers in the states. They do something that's one step away from bait and switch (and feels like B&S until you understand what they actually do). They made me cry in their store, when I went to return my engagement ring because it was NOT what we thought we had purchased.

 

They sell named rings, and show you the best one, take it back and wrap up a different one and hope you don't notice.

 

They weren't nice at all. Sadly for them the stone in the ring that was wrapped up for me had a visible to the eye inclusion, whereas the one we thought we were buying was perfect to the eye. They were incredibly condescending to me when I told them the problem, making a big deal about how I didn't know how to use a loupe and doing a big charade about the loupe and they couldn't see the inclusion. Which was visible to the eye. No loupe needed.

 

 

(And the above experience is why we go with "do we like it and is the price worth how much we like it?" on cruises. I hope we've finally cured dh of his urge to buy me stuff on cruises though. It's never as pretty once on dry non-Caribbean land. )

 

 

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[FOXTROT]

In business it is not the buyers problem about the vendors. It is the sellers problem. Before we purchased he showed us an 18 k gold ring. Saw the 18 k with his loop. Hitesh explained how the ring is 18 k & the prongs are 14 K. We paid for 18 k. The ring cannot even be worn due to loose baguettes.

 

Cruise Critic function is to inform people of their experience. We felt safe with the backing of Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean will only back the seller.

[MrsKC08]

We have been going to Imperial jeweler for almost 30 years bought my wife engagement ring there a ;long time ago, great service

We too have been dealing with Charlie and his family at Imperial Jewelry for over 15 years!!! Love him and their items and never once had a single issue and he remembers us every time we are there even if it has been a couple years since we were last there.

[Erwin Family @ Sea]

House of Rajah Jewelers is our go to place when in St. Thomas..

[SuiteTraveler]

First off, St. Thomas IS a part of the US.

 

You can have the switch verified by sending the diamond to a GIA lab to verify if the diamond matches the description on your GIA certificate and look at the diamond for the GIA inscription along with a copy of your GIA certificate. It is important to know that not all GIA diamonds have the number laser inscribed on them, however it is suspicious that your GIA report states your diamond does. On the other hand, seeing the GIA number can be hard for a regular gemologist. GIA has a lab in New York, and they offer a service to match stones to their prior reports (or not) for a relatively reasonable price. Call 800-421-7250 and see what they can do for you. They should be able to absolutely positively verify whether or not your diamond matches your GIA report and as they are the absolute experts on this Milano should listen to them if the diamond doesn't match.

Here's the thing to expect, this is going to turn into the jewelry store claiming you switched the diamond after you left the store vs. you saying they switched the diamond when you bought it and you didn't know at the time because you are not a diamond expert. I think overall you are best off working through your credit card company and getting GIA to verify that this is absolutely positively NOT the diamond described in your GIA report. This will be of great help to your credit card company in resolving this issue.

 

In future, be really careful about what setting you buy. I've looked at lots of settings in the Caribbean and most of them are substandard in workmanship. Also an 18k setting is too soft for daily wear. You really might be better off with a 14k setting or a platinum setting for a ring you would wear every day. 18k is good for people with metal allergies or plantinum is even better. 14k is much stronger than 18k. Platinum is better for holding diamonds than 18k gold, however Platinum scratches and dents more than 18k gold. Some people mix 14k gold with Platinum prongs as Platinum is more rigid.

 

Anyway, here are some fine points in selecting a setting that will last - it is best if part of the main diamond is down in a bezel so the prongs are protected so the diamond is less likely to fall out. Secondary diamonds are best channel set so that when you run your hand over the setting, it is fairly smooth and they don't feel or look loose and there is nothing to snag on your clothing - look at this under a loupe. Sometimes when choosing a setting, I will gently run a sweater sleeve over the setting to see if it snags. Also, hold the setting to your ear and give it a shake. If you hear noises from the setting, diamonds are loose and it is a bad one that you don't want to buy. Take a look at these halo settings from SimonG as an example of the type of design that will last:

https://www.simongjewelry.com/collection/passion/engagement/

These are finely made settings where it is unlikely that a small diamond will get loose or fall out. The larger diamond may become loose, but there are several prongs that will prevent it from falling out until you can get it in for repair because not only is the diamond held by the prongs, but that is backed up by the diamond being down in the bezel somewhat so it cannot just slip out sideways.

 

To be honest with you, a lot of the settings I've seen in the Caribbean are no-name brand settings that are basically a bunch of wire sautered together - so no surprise that with the softness of gold, the small stones fall out later.

 

What I want to suggest is that after GIA looks at your diamond, if it is the right diamond you consider transferring your diamond to a better quality setting. Most jewelers will allow you to trade in your failing setting in order to buy a new setting for credit towards your new ring. The brands I'd recommend are SimonG, Tacori, David Yurman, Jeff Cooper, Tiffany, Harry Winston, Michael B., Verragio, Charles & Colvard, Bulgari. These are the best quality engagement ring settings on the market and well designed so that they won't fall apart. The first two I listed are among the most affordable name brand engagement ring companies with settings in the $1,000 -$5,000 range.

 

If it is not the right diamond, according to GIA, then you need to decide what you want to do. If you just want a refund, go through your credit card company.

[Truluv]

Very thorough and excellent advice, Suite Traveler! I absolutely agree about the quality of many settings in the Caribbean (another reason why we would shop for loose stones there, obtaining some tax benefits but having stones set when were were home.) Sometimes it felt like buying a used car. The price would be X with the setting, and Y without the setting...and sometimes the price would be Z as we were heading out the door.

[FOXTROT]

Thank you Suite Traveler for the advise. It has come down to going through the credit card company. We do not trust them. Of course they say how spotless their reputation is. If it was we would not be having a problem. We gave them several choices that are acceptable to us. Of course no response. We are waiting for the Gemologist to rearrange her report for the credit card company.

 

Wlfe' does not want to wear the ring everyday. That is why we went the way we did.

 

Royal Caribbean has been no help what so ever.

[SuiteTraveler]

Thank you Suite Traveler for the advise. It has come down to going through the credit card company. We do not trust them. Of course they say how spotless their reputation is. If it was we would not be having a problem. We gave them several choices that are acceptable to us. Of course no response. We are waiting for the Gemologist to rearrange her report for the credit card company.

 

Wlfe' does not want to wear the ring everyday. That is why we went the way we did.

 

Royal Caribbean has been no help what so ever.

 

If you search online you will find numerous complaints against this jewelry store (not only in St. Thomas but other locations as well) for poor quality ring settings and stones falling out. Even people here on Cruise Critic having a similar experience with this store:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=710495

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147365-r114966850-Grand_Cayman_Cayman_Islands.html

 

http://www.revdex.com/reviews/milano-diamond-gallery/1513154

 

I want to encourage you and your wife to seriously consider a better designed setting when you eventually get a new ring so you don't lose stones. Wire baskets for secondary stones are a very poor choice as they can easily catch on clothing, hair, fabric - anything really and then the stones fall out. Also, just by design, they are essentially wire and can bend very easily, so if you bump the ring on anything, even something as soft as an upholstered chair or sofa, the wires bend and then you have loose stones. From the jewelers perspective, they like to use these wire baskets as it takes less gold than a bezel setting or channel setting so the setting is relatively inexpensive. From the customer's perspective, wire baskets just lead to heartbreak and endless problems with the ring.

 

You might find it interesting to learn that even very high end jewelry is problematic with prong settings. For example, Princess Diana's famous blue sapphire engagement ring had to be remodeled. Initially it only had 8 prongs (2 at each corner of the oval stone), but after she wore it a few times, the sapphire kept getting loose and many more prongs had to be added around the entire perimeter of the stone to secure it. Even with the additional prongs, they tend to get bent as you can see in this photo of Kate Middleton wearing the ring:

http://whatkatewore.com/2014/05/20/kates-eternity-band-identified-scotland-engagements-final-tour-polls/

 

Yes, that famous ring was due for a repair in the photo above.

[banshee72]

This was posted in a local paper.....just an FYI....http://woodtv.com/2017/03/30/victim-warns-of-jewelry-scam-ahead-of-spring-break/

[FOXTROT]

Thank you Suite Traveler for the advise. You will love this one. Yesterday a Representative of Milano said just because the ring is marked 14 k it most likely is 18 k. It would take a goldsmith to know for sure.

[cdrmer]

Burned several years ago by a RCCL preferred vendor who reset a stone in a new setting. . When I later noticed a problem, I took it to my local REPUTABLE jeweler-he was in a panic thinking we had bought the ring from him. Told him it was reset in the Carribean. He said the ring setting had cracked and was previously repaired!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

NEVER AGAIN. LESSON LEARNED-BUY FROM A LOCAL REPUTABLE JEWELER.

[poncho1973]

I'm glad that I paid the $7.95. This is a lot more info!!