Emeralds are cheaper in St. Thomas? Is this true?

[treysar]

I''m heading to the USVI''s for my honeymoon, and i heard that Emeralds are the least expensive in St. Thomas - is there any truth to this?

 

[Kaleigh]

cflutist can answer this best, but in the meantime I can tell you that they are not any cheaper there than they are here. Also there is a lot of crap out there too, so you have to be careful. They will tell you about big discounts and such but it''s all hype, IMHO.

 

[cflutist]

Just got back from a cruise of the Southern Caribbean in April. They had jewelry stores in every port. Generally found the quality to be poor e.g. K-I1/I2 tennis bracelets, sapphires that were inky dark blue etc. Initial prices were not good (but they expect you to bargin and since I wasn't serious about anything they had, don't know how low they would actually go).

Most of their colored stones were of "commercial" quality, stuff you would find at the mall.

 

[rphgemlover]

Date: 6/23/2005 2:25:57 PM
Author:treysar
I'm heading to the USVI's for my honeymoon, and i heard that Emeralds are the least expensive in St. Thomas - is there any truth to this?

My husband and I bought an emerald in St. Thomas at a privately owned store. As always, cflutist is correct in stating that the quality is often poor everywhere. I purchased a belly-heavy 1.09 emerald cut emerald for less than $1000. It is not the darkest color, but not the lightest either, and it is extremely eye clean - only 1 visible inclusion. It's the only emerald posted on page 3 of the colored genstone e-ring/eye candy thread (sorry - I don't know how to psot the link). Do your research before you go and have a good time!

 

[Libster]

I''ve purchased all my emeralds in St. Thomas. The last time we were there I purchased a loose emerald from Diamonds International to match another I own. Previously we purchased an emerald and diamond pendant (hmmmm have never posted a pic of it) and emerald and diamond anniversary ring at Cardow Jewelers.

Attached is a collage of all but the pendant. I love emeralds and have always felt the selection was larger and prices a little better than what I would pay in the States. Of course, these purchases were before I discovered Pricescope!! I wouldn''t hesitate to buy another emerald from a St. Thomas jeweler, if the stone was what I was looking for at the right price.

Have a great Honeymoon

 

[Sagebrush]

Treysar,

In the words of John Travolta in the role of Bill Clinton, I''m gonna do something really outrageous, I''m gonna tell you the truth.

Eight years ago I considered setting up shop in the Virgin Islands. It was either that or buy out my former partner here in Lenox, in the fridgid Berkshires of Massachusetts.

I had been buying most of my inventory in source locations for years so I went to St. Thomas to see what the price structure was. Could I compete in the "duty free" gems game?

Let me begin by making the point that with few exceptions gems are imported into the continental U. S. without the payment of any duty. Dont ask me why but there is, theoretically, a small duty on pearls, emerald and marcasite. I have been importing gems from Asia, Africa, South America for years, THERE IS NO DUTY.

In St. Thomas, I found that, with the exception of Tanzanite, all the stores I surveyed sold at full retail. Tanzanite sold at about 25% below what I consider to be normal retail. Otherwise, it was a retail structure all the way. Quality was generally poor to fair. Again, with the exception of Tanzanite. The Columbian Emeralds store was a high priced junk shop.

Rents is St. Thomas are astronomical, in fact everything is expensive because it is imported. I own a building in Lenox, Massachusetts. I could pay my mortgage and all my expenses for about a month''s rent in St. T. Now you folks on the forum are no dumb-dumbs, how can one sell cheap in that competive enviorement and meet that overhead? Here''s a little secret. I have a friend, a gem cutter who lives here in the Berkshires. I buy rough and recuttable stones for him on my trips to source locations like Brazil. He cuts the stones in Massachusetts and sells them "duty free" at a shop in the Virgins. His prices are dead on U. S. wholesale before markup

Here''s another fun fact, one that shocked me: I have friends that own opals shop in Sydney and Melbourne. These guys have been mining and cutting, particularly black opal for years, the have the best in the world, they know their stuff (you will find a photo of the finest Harlequin black opal seen in the last 20 years on pg. 191 of my book, I bought if from them). Opals in their shop sell for 50% more than I sell their stones for in Lenox. Why, simple, they have deals with U. S. tour companies to bring in the bodies, in return, they kick back 40% of their gross sales. Do the math! Now there is a topic for Night Line.

Is there no way to get a deal? I can just see all you bottom feeders out wringing your hands in frustration. Take heart, buck up, all is not lost! Want to buy well, educate yourself. This forum is a good place to start. In the short time I have been part of this community I have been gratified to see real growth in a number of the civilian member''s understanding and appreciation.

For five thousand years the basic strategy of gem dealers has been a good buyer is a dumb buyer. Most retail jewelers are abysmally ignorant. 90% of the jewelers in this country wouldn''t last one round against Ana, Widget or MJO much less professionals like Michael E. My good friend Fred Ward put it best, "its not that jewelers don''t read, they can''t read." That''s the real reason why mom & pop are becoming and endangered species.

Many of the best deals are to be found in the highest quality gems. Seems odd, but I have bought high quality stones from dealers at good prices because they didn''t know how rare they were. There is a good deal of ignorance in the dealer community as well particularly at the highest levels of connoisseurship.

A word about diamonds: The internet has put an end to the cozy relationship between De Beers and the neighborhood jeweler. Margins are shrinking. Not on the wholesale level, you understand, diamonds are cheaper because retail margins are becoming paper thin. If you buy a diamond you are buying retail. Its all about the cut. If you believe you can discriminate between high quality diamonds, then go for it. Fact is, the difference between an ideal cut and a super ideal are very small. With the introduction of the new grading systems the market is in a state of confusion. Yesterday I sold a D Si1. The client was looking at two stones, both ideal, one was an Evs2, the other the D. After studying the stones for a half hour he became frustrated. Couldn''t see any diffence. So, he asked me to pick. I picked the D, not because of the cut or clarity but because I could see a diffence due to the flourescence of the stone. He gladly paid me 20% for that, he wasn''t buying a stone, as he said, "I am buying your eye."

Good luck,

 

[cflutist]

Richard, thank you for your extremely informative post.

p.s. I still have your book on my Christmas Wish List.

 

[treysar]

Thank you eveyone for your respinses, and thank you Richard for your hilarious honesty!

You know the deal, people want to buy something "memorable" on their honeymoon, so I was hoping the answers would all be fabulous - but the truth is, it sounds like I should educate and wait. Thanks again!

 

[diamondlil]

Date: 6/25/2005 8:53:22 AM
Author: cflutist
Richard, thank you for your extremely informative post.

p.s. I still have your book on my Christmas Wish List.

I recently splurged on the book myself. It''s been a great read!!! I appreciate your "tell-it-like-it-is" approach to your posts. Thanks Richard.

DiamondLil

 

[Translucent]

Richard,

Thank you for a very illuminating post. All you have written is true, and for the most part, it is true for all shops on any posh
Caribbean island. I too, at one time, looked into setting something up in Bermuda. Good God, the rents were so high I gagged.
Just trying to become a resident would set a person back a million bucks(I''m not kidding here). Taxi cab drivers make 120,000 big ones
a year on fares alone! It''s a weirdly artificial economy. How could one possibly get a good deal on stones??? In fact, the first time
I did go to Bermuda, which was a long,long time ago, I though I had bought a fantastic Tanzanite. When I got home and had it checked out,
it turned out to be a blue topaz. Having never seen a Tanzie, and this being a very well known jewelry store, why would I have doubted
the salesman? How dumb of me. How rotten of the salesman.

There is another factor involved. People cannot believe that you can get excellent deals on stones from private sources, without being in
a jewelry store ambience. I have witnessed this with my own family. My sister-in-law knows very well that I can get very lovely fine stones
from private sellers from time to time. Stones that I run by many people in order to make sure they check out. Yet, my sister-in-law just
purchased a ruby from a jewelry shop in Thailand professing super wholesale prices. She payed 4000 bucks for a crappy piece of junk
that is spotted and dotted with carbon at 10X, has one of the worst native cuts I have ever seen. The colour of the stone is masked by
an interesting grey veil.

Bottom line is that this person does not think that she can get a good deal from someone in North America!!! She needed a jewelry/wholesale store
environment half way around the world with a salesman telling her that their stones were the ones being sold at "BIRKS" in Toronto. What a laugh.

If you must buy in the Caribbean, buy only what you have fallen in love with and will wear often. Try not to buy what you think may be "investments".

 

[cznite]

EMERALDS are Not Cheap in the Duty Free Shops! Emeralds are Very Pricey.

How I Got My Dream Emerald Ring.

I just came back from a cruise ship to the western Caribbean. We stopped in the Jamacia and the Caymen Islands. I have also traveled to the Virgin Islands. I was on a limited budget since my wife just bought a Diamond/Black Opal Pendant which sold for 599 in the Caymens. Our cruise director told us the savings on jewelry run about 30-50% off stateside prices and are tax free in our price range.

What my wife bought was very nice and I think shopping in the US we could have found something just as nice for about 100.00 more. The big thing is selection. The Duty Free shops have huge selections. They have real nice stuff but also sell inferior stones at moderate prices that are no bargain. They use high intensity lighting so almost anything shines.

TIP:

Wear one or two rings that are relatively inexpensive. Compare them side by side with what you intend to purchase. Now you have a price gauge to help you.

Columbian Emeralds is the biggest dealer and they get big prices, as almost any emerald is pricey. I wanted an emerald in a 14 kt setting. Anthing they had was priced in the thousands. This is well beyond my current budget. I chose to purchase an outstanding e-bay stone for 200.00 after careful research. I also purchased a 14KT setting. I will have the Emerald professional set , although I have set a number of stones myself. I do have some jewelry experience.

I figure with careful shopping and my emerald education I can walk away with a nice ring for under 350.00 that should sell for 750-1500.00 or more.

I will post a picture of my results after I finish.

Sure, I won''t have the memory of buying a decent Emerald in the Caymens, unstead I will enjoy a nice ring with a memory of what I created and what It would have cost me in the Caymens.

Date: 6/23/2005 2:25:57 PM
Author:treysar
I''m heading to the USVI''s for my honeymoon, and i heard that Emeralds are the least expensive in St. Thomas - is there any truth to this?