Recommendation on where to buy Emeralds in Columbia

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on where to buy emeralds? I couple traveling with us wanted to buy an emerald in Columbia. I know the ship has their shopping seminars and it's usually dealing with Diamonds International but has anyone recently in Cartegena Columbia. Any ideas anyone? :)

Hi,

Two weeks ago I was in Colombia on NCL SUN ship and purchased a Colombian Emerald Pendant for my DW from Mister Emerald. If you search this site you will see a lot of positive posts for him. I priced pendants in the states before leaving and also priced them on the cruise ship before arriving in Colombia. I feel for what a paid and quality of the stones, I saved a lot of $.

Re: Two weeks ago I was in Colombia on NCL SUN ship and purchased a Colombian Emerald Pendant for my DW from Mister Emerald. If you search this site you will see a lot of positive posts for him. I priced pendants in the states before leaving and also priced them on the cruise ship before arriving in Colombia. I feel for what a paid and quality of the stones, I saved a lot of $.

Thanks ohsunreef! I've read many of the thread here and some were pretty dated. It's good to hear a recent experience. I've heard about Mister Emerald as well as the shopping area (Pierino Gallo shopping).

If I remember right from what I've read the taxi ride to the Pierino is 15 minutes or so. Is that the same location or Mister Emerald? Again I really do appreciate your info. :)

That is correct it took about 15 minutes to get back to the port. Bumper too bumper traffic.

Re:That is correct it took about 15 minutes to get back to the port. Bumper too bumper traffic.

Thanks so much for the reply! :)

In 2012 while in Cartagena, I purchased an emerald necklace from Mr. Emerald's shop. When I got home I had the necklace appraised and it came back 30% higher than what I paid. I will be back in Cartagena again in 2014 and have all ready contacted Mr. Miles via e-mail about getting some matching earrings. He assured me that he will have several pairs that will match my necklace when I arrive. I highly recommend his store.

In May, I bought a ring at Lee Miles shop, Mister Emerald, and am thrilled with it. It is a square cut Yellow Beryl stone set off by smaller square cut emeralds in the band's channel on both sides. It is totally unique; every time I wear it, I get loads of compliments and everyone wants to know where I bought it. Mr Miles is pleasant, professional and knowledgeable. I feel that I paid a fair price for a unique item.

BTW, we arranged our private tour of Cartagena through Mr Miles. It was just the two of us with a private guide and a driver in an air-conditioned minivan. It only cost a bit more than the ship's tour for two but we went at our own pace and saw the things we were really interested in. At several stops we were just leaving as all the big buses were rolling up. Our guide, Carlos, was very knowledgeable and his love for Cartagena was lovely to see. The best part was that, because we were just a couple walking around with a local, we didn't get swamped by the crowd of vendors that surround the people getting off the tour buses.

If we go back to Cartagena, we won't hesitate to arrange another tour with Mr Miles and look around his shop .

Going in march on PC trip and also interested in an emerald of good quality. Any input about stones, quality and prices appreciated.

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Have bought in Cartagena before and fist contacted mr. Emerald but his understanding of what I wanted and his suggestions did not make me feel good. I contacted the company I bought from before with great success and they are picking me up at the port and have sent many emails with design ideas and costs. Nice family run for a long time . Joyeria Emerald centre! they seem to have sub stores in two of the well know hotels also.

We are back from our trip and the couple that was interested in Emeralds ended up going to a mine. The bought each other an emerald ring and they looked wonderful. They had went to Mr. Emerald and ended up going to a working mine. They stated that felt safe there and everyone there was wonderful. The hubby and I ended up going to Mr. Emerald but I didn't see anything that grabbed me. We didn't have much time to look due to being on a tour and I didn't want to feel rushed. I'm so happy for my friends finding something that they loved.

Thanks so much for all of your help. :D

Going to a mine sounds like a fun option. How did they arrange to do that?

Hi,

 

Two weeks ago I was in Colombia on NCL SUN ship and purchased a Colombian Emerald Pendant for my DW from Mister Emerald. If you search this site you will see a lot of positive posts for him. I priced pendants in the states before leaving and also priced them on the cruise ship before arriving in Colombia. I feel for what a paid and quality of the stones, I saved a lot of $.

I have read that some people who bought emeralds did not get real emeralds, the stones were dyed? Have you had yours looked at by a jeweler since you got home. We are going in December and would love to purchase one. Mary

Hi,

Just back from my Panama Canal Cruise on the Island Princess. I had contacted Mr. Miles via e-mail regarding my wish to purchase a pair earrings to match my pendant that I had purchased from his store 2 years ago. He e-mailed me photos and prices of several types of earrings that were available in his shop.

His shop is only 1 of 2 that are recommended by the Princess Cruise Line in Cartagena. If you go to his website he has links to information about emeralds and a coupon for 25% off any purchase. I was able to purchase a pair of high quality emerald studs 0.78 carat set in 18k gold for around $1200. I took them to my jeweler today and he told me that they were worth much more that I paid for them.

I strongly recommend that you do your homework and if the ship offers a lecture about emeralds to sit in on it. There are many typed of emeralds available some are cloudy and some are clear but all emeralds have occlusions (aka flaws) in them.

Happy Shopping

Hey everyone, this post will be a little off topic, however, it seems to be the most recent and from reading I trust everyone here has far more experience with this port then myself and husband. This will be our first time in colombia, and we are there for 7 hours (6 if you take in account getting off and getting back in time). And while reading reviews (which i often take with a grain of salt) there seems to be some mixed reviews on safety. We are pretty low key and are experienced travelers so I don't think we will have an issue. However, I do tend to think like that all the time and am known to be sometimes a little to trusting and easy going. I often opt to build my "own" tour. Here I would prefer to take a independent cab to first see La Popa, which i have noted is approx. a 13min drive from the terminal. A short stop there just to see it, then i would like to get back in the same cab and continue on to the old city (16 mins from la popa) where we would spend the remainder of our time exploring. Most organized tours have to many stops and not enough time in each. i prefer quality of quantity and these are my 2 "Must See's" for the port.

What are your thoughts on this? Good Idea or Bad? And any other advice anyone can offer. We are leaving in less then 2 weeks and i simply cannot wait!

Thanks

Meg

I bought emerald earrings from Lee Miles at his Mr. Emerald store in Cartagena two weeks ago. I had done plenty of research and had priced what I was looking for at my local jeweler; the stud-type emerald earrings at the local store went for $350. When I got to Mr. Emerald, a similar pair was $155 so I also bought a second pair, set in a silver teardrop shape, for $160. That included the 20% discount they automatically gave Celebrity passengers.

My jeweler appraised these two pairs of earrings at $250 for the first pair and $260 for the second. I am extremely pleased with the quality and price of the emeralds at this store.

As far as safety goes, there are LOTS of street hawkers but they are polite and leave when you say no. The Old City is lovely and our private tour guide (Dora) bought us fruit from a vendor she knew and it was delicious. I would feel safe at both places without a guide.

I bought emeralds from Greenfire twice on trips to Cartagena. The first time We bought my Mom a ring, the second time, years later, they took that ring back at full price ( I did bring documentation) and my Mom choose a different style. I can't say enough good things about them. they sized the ring while we waited.

Negotiate your cab price if you get a cab. I heard a driver quote a $60 price to go to the same stores I paid $10 bucks, round trip. Be ready to walk away if it seems like a crazy amount. I think Greenfire was in that Joyeia Mall mentioned earlier, and our cabbie waited for us while we shopped.