Jewelry from India? need ideas

[dbgaap]

A facorite co-worker is en route to India right now and he has offered to buy some jewelry for me while he is there. He will send pics via email next week and we''ll "shop" together.
He tells me that a lot of jewelry is 50-60% off and most of the gold is 22k.

I gave him a few links to necklaces i like (mostly antique-y looking things like what Fay Cullen sells - like this:
http://www.faycullen.com/necklaces/600/b1023c5.html

But if I knew more - I might ask for something else.
Anybody with any knowledge of this - also he is laying over in Dubai and I hear that''s a gold-lover''s paradise, too.

Any ideas?

 

[JulieN]

gold chains in necklaces and bracelets are easy. what I'd want if I went to India is a whole wardrobe of bangles in gold, glass, lacquer, in a veritable rainbow of colors.

 

[sxn675]

Hmm, I''d want a bunch of bangles (they come in sets of 12), a pair of huge earrings in gold (not for everyday obviously!), a big bangle (just in case I''m not in the mood to wear an armful of them) to start and maybe some smaller earrings with a chain with a matching pendant to start. I''d want gold with intricate work for the most part, though gold plus enamel would be cool too.

 

[day_lily_me]

My husband and I went to India last January. It was just for a vacation and we were there in different cities for 19 days. It was a wonderful trip but I didn''t find any bargains on jewelry. In fact, all the places that we were taken to is what I called the ''brother-in-law'' places where we figured that the tour operator got a kickback. I know this must have been the case since we priced some rugs (we finally bought one after much haggling) at one the shops they took us to and then priced simlilar rugs at the shop in the hotel (figured this would be the highest place to shop) and the hotel was CHEAPER! Anyway, I did find a necklace that I wanted and still regret that I didn''t buy but I sort of had a budget of around $1200-1500 and this one was $1950 or more. I can''t remember exactly now. It was 18kt oxidized gold and it was handmade. It screwed together where it met and you could not tell where the clasp was. It was really a work of art. I tried to bargain with them but they would not bargain. I did price a similar necklace at one of the hotel shops where we stayed later and they had a very similar necklace only it had semi-precious stones in it as well. They told me that they could get one like that one from another location for about the price I had in mind but we had some problems with the hotel the next morning that delayed us from returning to the shop since our schedule called for us to leave. I finally bought a necklace in Mumbai at the airport but I don''t like it and have never been happy with it. I too, heard that gemstones (Jaipur is supposed to be the gemcutting capital of the world) and gold were very reasonable in India. I think we just didn''t know where to go. Best of luck and keep us posted - with pictures too!

 

[dbgaap]

Thanks for the great ideas. I have never worn many bracelets so I decided to give that a try. I bought a (fake) set of 12 bangles at Target to wear for a while & see how they feel. They are stylish.
And I went to Bloomingdale''s, Lord & Taylor and an estate jewelry store to try things on.
(I don''t know why I hadn''t thought of that earlier!)
It seemed the most interesting things are in the estate store. Really unique stuff at great prices.

By trying things on I learned that 18" makes the best choker and 36" - 40" makes a great versatile necklace.

I studied the other thread on high karat gold and it''s just amazing. I still need to see more of it in person though. Bottom line is that you can''t really buy much unseen - so I won''t be taking any big risks.

In the paper it says 800 people died in mudslides in Bombay - I hope he wasn''t anywhere near there..
I''ll post pic if we pull this off.
thanks!

 

[Joane]

dbgaap, are you in the NY/NJ area? If so, there are two Indian jewelry shopping areas I know of, that have tons of stores. I''ve only been to the Oak Tree Road area myself and the jewelry displays will blow your mind! The jewelry (mostly 22k), from traditional to designer, is sold by weight (gram) depending on the gold price. I''ve bought bracelets and earrings there. The choices are stunning and prices are negotiable and competitive. Good restaurants too if you wanted to make a day of it!

http://www.oaktreeroad.us/jewelry.html

http://www.desijacksonheights.com/jewelers.html

There is also this site, of an Oak Tree Road jeweler who sells online. I''ve never bought anything from them so I can''t say yes or no I recommend, but at least it will give you an idea of a variety of jewelry styles and prices.

http://www.goldpalace.com/

Happy research!

 

[drkewl]

I''m Indian, been there many times, and have visited countless jewlery stores. Long story short, they can smell a foreigner 100 yards away... the WILL mark up their prices just for you bc they know you have money compared to the average Indian consumer. You MUST be willing to haggle very hard to get a good deal. If haggling isn''t your thing, just be aware that you will not find any ''killer deals.'' If your friend knows what he or she is doing, you should be able to get a good deal. Just remember though, 22K is mor expensive than 18 or 14K obviously, so you have to factor that into figuring out if it is a good deal

Although 22K gold is more expensive, I must admit, it is awesome. Shines so brightly and has that darker ''richer'' feel compared to this stuff you can get here in the USA. Hope you can get some great stuff!