Diamond earings

[LHP]

As others have said, (as with anything in life) you must be an informed consumer.

 

Also understand that the shop onboard is NOT owned by Carnival.

 

There is a company that rents the space onboard all the cruise lines.

 

(just like the Spa)

 

IF you go to a company like Diamonds International, settle for nothing less than 62% off. (that is the "manager" discount)

[ellie1145]

Congratulations on achieving such a wonderful anniversary. I am sure that your wife will be thrilled with whatever you purchase.

 

However, we have had a horrendous experience buying rings at shops recommended by the cruise lines, so just be aware that though many are satisfied, that is not guaranteed. Also the warranties on items purchased in this way is pathetic - just 30 days.

 

My husband purchased a beautiful diamond eternity ring for me for my 60th birthday. I wore it and within 4 months a large stone had dropped out - we never found it. The international diamond store (which has shops in every Caribbean port) we dealt with were apalling. They took no responsibility at all for the poor quality of the setting, nor for re-sizing the ring (which their agents said was perfectly ok) which was also a factor. In the end we had to pay for the ring to be posted to New York (quite expensive with insurance) and we had to pay for the stone to be replaced. Had we bought the ring in the UK from a reputable jeweller we would have had at least a year's warranty, and probably more for goodwill. I am wearing a ring purchased by my grandmother nearly 100 years ago, and nothing has ever fallen out of it, so the quality of this ring wasn't up to standard.

 

However, we were assured that it was very unusual, a great rarity, and I guess we should have learned by experience, but we didn't. We celebrated our 40th anniversary on another cruise and stupidly I fell in love with a tanzanite ring - something I had longed for ever since we first cruised 15 years ago - and within 6 weeks a diamond fell out of that. We had it examined by several very reputable and long established jewellers here who said the setting was very poor, and the tanzanite was cracked. We were horrified. Nobody would touch the ring to repair it, so we had no alternative but to go back to the international diamond store we bought it from.

 

Despite the ring lasting days, the same international diamond store refused a refund - which in the UK would have been easy - and after weeks and weeks of fruitless phone calls and emails we ended up going to their shop in Cozumel when on Allure and choosing another ring to replace it - their only offer, despite the ring lasting just days. Not only did we waste a whole day as they spun it out over several hours, but we ended up paying a whole lot more for the next ring.

 

Yes, we were fools, but sometimes the emotion of a situation takes over.

 

I have never had it valued here as I am sure I would be disappointed.

 

I would never, ever contemplate purchasing anything from this outfit again. Just because a company has shops all over the Caribbean, does not mean it is reputable, as we found out to our cost. Nor does the recommendation of the cruise line as being the place to shop offer any protection - they are only out to make as much money as they can from steering you in the direction of shops they have a deal with. The salesmen in these shops are abslolute experts at the selling game, and unless you are an expert in precious stones yourself (and a half hour talk on board a ship about how to buy diamonds really isn't sufficient!) then you are at their mercy as you have nothing to compare it with. Not only that, but the protection which the customer has is almost zero. We even tried to sort this out via our credit card company to no avail.

 

As many have said, you may be better off buying from a reputable jeweller nearer home, so if anything should go wrong you have no problems about seeking redress.

 

Good luck, anyway, and I hope your wife finds something she loves as much as she obviously loves you! ;)

[MissMeggieMurphy]

my understanding that, besides furniture, jewelry has the biggest mark up of any consumer product probably from 100-200%, this from a jewelry middleman. An appraised value of any diamond or precious stone is what it would sell for retail and not what it is worth in the resell market, where, it would sell for maybe one third of its appraised value and settings are virtually useless.

 

i buy my movado and my citizen watches on the islands and have always paid far less than i would at a reputable local jewelry store. and buying jewelry on a ship is just as reliable as buying at home other than you can't get it fixed like you can at home.

 

and, irregardless (i do love that word) of anything jewelry should be about emotion and feeling when it is bought and received as a gift, not about the economics of an investment, i think. buying something so permanent on a cruise is just fun and memorable, much more so than going down to the local hole in the wall jewelry store and getting their best deal in my book.

[gelo7]

If you are going to buy diamonds on board or in port, make sure you price the same item at several retail stores in your area first. Then you'll know if you're getting a good deal.

Ditto...