Jewelry in St. Thomas - what's the hot buy?

[Love-to-ride]

Is there a particular gemstone that St. Thomas is known for ? Seems like Tanzanite was big in Mexico. Is there anything I shouldn't miss in St. Thomas ? Kind of looking for rubies. Any idea of what kind of selection I will find ? Only 10 days till we leave for San Juan and the Destiny on 01/23/05.:D

[mirage2u]

1st the destiny out of san juan was my favorite cruise by far, have a good time!

 

i got a beatiful "rainbow" topez in st. thomas for dirt cheap. it is a blue/green/purple stone. it has all 3 colors in it and is gorgous (sp?). i put rainbow in quotations b/c it is called different things. i know in the states it has a different name. i got a 3 carat gold ring for, i think, $50. i don't know about rubies though, i wasn't really looking for them.

[Kim]

Where did you find this Rainbow topaz??

[chocolatemaniac2]

Rainbow topaz is also known as Carribbean Topaz, and can be found in all jewelry stores in St Thomas as well as in St Maarten. I got a beautiful slide for my Omega and a pair of earrings for under 200 - I also found smaller stones in pendants for $35 or so, set in 14kt, that I gave to close friends as gifts.

 

We found that we got better deals in St Maarten March 04. However, i think St Thomas has a higher limit on what you can buy tax free, so if you are buying high priced items, check on the limits.

 

Have fun!

[kmbeachlover]

My mother also bought a rainbow topaz - I think it is also know as "mystic" topaz. Check out the alexandrites - beautiful and very rare stone that change color in natural light - but very expensive. My husband bought mine at Cardows.

[CaribbeanBlue]

The "HOT" stone in the islands this year is as always diamonds, this area moves a huge amount of them. Fancy colored diamaonds....pinks, blue, greens and yellows are moving.

 

Alexandrite is in huge demand but difficult to find, especially in fine quality or large sizes. What you look for mainly in Alex is color change....it should be a strong color change.

 

Fine rubies are available. The top seller in rubies by far is Shoppers Haven in St Maartin. Ask to see their larger rubies and you will be drooling all over their counter. These are perhaps the best rubies we've seen in a long, long time.

 

In St Thomas a shop to check out would be Gem Casa which is next door to Gladyce's restraunt. Their buyers are just back from the Tucson gem show, ask to see what goodies Brandon brought back. They do have an incredible opal in their center case that is nice, nice, nice. He also has an interesting blue topaz brought in from Brazil, its a treated stone but it looks a LOT like Tanzanite without the big price tag.

 

Have fun shopping and bring comfortable shoes!

 

CaribbeanBlue

 

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