Where to buy fine jewlery?

[KAWS]

Cardow Jewelers .. we have had great experiences with them. Good prices and items have appraised for much more when we get home. Feel free to haggle over price. :)

 

Another vote for Cardow. I always make sure to stop there when we go to St. Thomas.........in fact, can't wait for March! Another trip is going to happen. Hmmmm I think the treat this time will be a necklace!

 

Good value at Cardow and great service. They will even size your ring in an hour for you.

[dennis46]

Rita's jewelers on St Thomas and Royal Jewelers on St Martins. Same family I have been dealing with the for years. In fact we are cruising today and will be stopping in St Martins.

 

Dennis

[m steve]

and several of the ladies from previous cruises recommended Noble Jewelers. We had found a few items there we liked and was able to get a really good price. Just say you want "Iris' price". Ignore the tagged price as they discount a lot or maybe they jack up the price to discount. Whatever, we felt we did very well. Ask for Tony.

[reedoll]

Imperial jewelers and House of Rajah have very good quality, selection and prices. Very satisfied with my dealings with both shops.

[laser110]

Where to buy fine jewelry? Near home is probably best and the internet (Blue Nile) and Costco are great for diamonds that have legit GIA papers. Keep in mind that if you buy in St Thomas and are later not satisfied you will have little recourse (the cruise line guarantees are not very reliable). If you insist on buying in St Thomas you might want to go to H. Stern which has a worldwide good reputation and also has some stores in the USA (main office is on 5th Ave in NYC) where you can get repairs if there is a problem.

 

Hank

 

 

Hank, Not to start a war here, but I find your post lacking merit. I have been going to St. Thomas since 1983, when I was 9 years old. I am now 36 and own property on The Rock. I have never met a shop owner who does not want to statsify a customer in any way. I have gone back into stores I was in a year before, and not only has the shop owner remember me, he called me by my first name!

 

True, If you buy from stores like HStern who have stateside locations getting satisfaction will be quicker, maybe easier, but I can be sure that if you had a problem, contacted the store, acted like a human, and explained the issue, your problem will be solved. Store owners realize there are boards like this ( some may even go on here), they know people will talk and word of mouth, good or bad can help or hurt any business.

 

I would have no issue buying anything from any store.

 

A side story, my wife and I were on St. Thomas for a day stop during a cruise for our first anniversary. As a gift, she bought be a ring with 4 diamonds and 6 rubies in it at a local store on Main St. I bought her a diamond pendant she liked at Cardow. We went back about 2 years later, the same guy was at the shop I got my ring, he was the owner, remembered the purchase and offered to clean the ring for me, we had a really nice chat with him and his wife who also worked there. We went back to Cardow, and the sales person who helped us was no where to be found. Am I knocking Cardow? absolutely not! great store with a rock solid rep. My point is the owners take alot of pride in their product and service.

 

 

Scott

[Mr. Click]

We found Imperial Jewelers to be reasonable and they have a huge selection. You do have to negotiate with your feet though. Boolchans at the pier was ok too but Imperial had a better selection. Just remember that the price on the tag is just a joke.

[VegasCruiser01]

Jewels'n Style! Hands down nicest people we met! Family has been visiting for quite a few years and had received the best and friendliest care known to man!

[emporess]

Ballerina Jewelers.....we have had great success with them

 

 

I agree......Ballerina Jewelers is great. My mom got her wedding ring there many years ago.

[Sea Breeze]

They were there when I first visited in '61 and still offer great designs. I just avoid all other stores that the shopping advisor touts, especially DI.

 

I have purchased many items with Beverlys and once I had a stone come out of a ring... ( I wore this all the time never taking it off and I am rough with my rings ) I went back a year or so later and asked if they could repair expecting to pay and they said no charge.. so that is service after the sale... they are on a computer system so they know it came from their store. I am going back again in a few weeks hope they are still in business...

[Jiggycruise77]

When your shopping fine jewelery be very careful in the Caribbean. Most of the time they boost the value and make you beleive you're doing a very good bargain. The best tip I can give is to shop before your cruise to get an idea of the price of the jewel you want. We bought a pair of earrings at H Stern for 1700$ (value of 2700$). Back home, we get an independent evaluation and the real value was just 1150$. So we overpaid 550$. The grade of the diamonds was supposed to be VS but was SI. Never we will buy again diamonds in the Caribbean. :mad:

[Lsimon]

Also be aware that all diamond certifications are not equal. GIA is the standard here in the USA. There are a couple other certification agencies that are common in the Caribbean that are known for being much more lenient in their grading than the GIA graders are.

[marty's mom]

i agree with scott. large chain type or cruise line "ecommended" have higher overhead and less personal service

i have dealt with Jay at Grand Jewelers for a dozen years. he has designed jewelry for me and my family and shipped it as well as buying things there. he has a facility in NYC if there was a problem. i've had everything appraised (not by a jeweler, by a us customers appraiser) and I've always gotten the quality I paid for and they can't believe what I paid

[dennis46]

The above reasons are why my wife and I have been dealing with Royal Jewelers in St Martins for at least the last 15 years. One discussion with Vince the owner and you will see what we mean. Royal is no hard sell and honest. We are completely satisfied with all of our purchases.

 

Dennis & Angie

[linh123]

I love Grand Jewelers in St. Thomas and have been using them for many years. This is a family owned business. They are fair, honest and pleasant to deal with. I would highly recommend them.

I recently purchased a watch from Diamonds International. I like the watch, but did not do my homework for prices beforehand. I returned home and found that I could have purchased the same watch on Amazon for half the price. My fault.

All of the ships recommendations for jewelry stores are somewhat tainted. The stores pay a premium to the ships to be on that list, plus the ship and the ship's shopping, supposed expert, get a percentage from your sale.

Also, just because it is duty free does not mean that it is less expensive than what you could get at home.