The best way to get a good deal is to know your stuff. Know quality and how much it would cost you in NYC. Then you can bargain from a position of knowledge. Yes, you can get good deals, but you need to find out what a good deal is for you... Make sense??

Nick,
I think you will find when you get to St. Thomas that about 80% of the jewelry you can find cheaper in NYC. Granted if you walk into a jewelry store anywhere in the states your looking at a huge markup but as you probably know, you need to find the independent guy that works out of a basement for the good deals. I have a guy in Washington DC originally from South Africa who is a great contact for nicer stones if you ever want a second option.

I bought a new wedding ring for my wife in STT during my last visit. It wasn't anything too big or fancy, but the price I paid for it was about half of what I would have paid in the States.

I do not work for any jewelry store. I recently visited a friend who works at the H.Stern special design jewelry store. She brought out a calculator and told me that there was no haggling over the price, but that the same item if purchased elsewhere would cost more. I do not know the exact percentage, but ask about any item, you will see the price tag (which would be the same at any of their stores throughout the world) and out comes a calculator to show you the St.Thomas price. Why? Duty free and I believe no sales tax. So while the other stores may haggle and may not get you a better deal than stateside, there are an awful lot of jewelry stores here that must be doing something right. I would urge you to keep an open mind, and especailly if you know something about what you are looking at.

Wife bought a diamond at Diamonds International in Antigua. She was spending three grand while the store clerks were feeding me free Wadidli (sp?) beer to keep me settled down. Scared to death, we had it appraised by a reputable local jeweler when we got back. He said value was about five grand. Oh yes, the three grand also included taking her old tiny rock out and inserting it in a new gold band for me. The gold band had a couple of tiny diamonds in it too but we didn't get that appraised.

My wife had taken a diamond purchasing class on our cruise ship. I was amazed how much she had learned...clarity, carot, and all that. Anyway, I am not in the diamond business and consider them just artificially over-priced pieces of gravel but I do believe there are Diamonds International stores in St Thomas and St Croix...or so my wife has told me. We're going to St Croix in March.

Think how many bottles of Cruzan three grand would have purchased!

"Growing older but not up." Buffett

Al S

Thanks all for the responses - I went around some local stores to get an idea of the prices as was recommended but I will proceed with caution.

Thanks again,
Nick