spiros you are allowed to spend £148.00 in total before you have to declare it to customs anything more you have to declare it at customs. jewellery bought in uk has that many peple handling it before gets to the buyer, hence everyone puts therer bit on , all jewellery in the uk is over priced and not worth buying in my opinion, and indian diamonds are not the same grade and many are double cut so sparkle alot more, they can be valued at a great amount to replace but to sell is a differant story, but dont buy from the kashmire rip offs, or the bazzar type merchants buy from a goan jeweller whos been there for years or someone you can return to. is my advice

colleen you ladies tell us all size dont matter , now your telling us it does now.

Stavros i cant write what i really want to say or fiona will chuck me off the forum

lol colleen i can quess made me laff thanks.

Size obviously matters to me when my OH said he was buying me a ring for my birthday i said no way I am spending that much then when I put the smaller ones on my mind was soon changed I said good job we've got an overdraft it's the way that the diamond sits (so you can see it all) that I really like, Sanjay assured me it is very secure I can't find my camera lead, if I do I will try and post a picture ,however sanjay was paranoid about other jewellers copying their design

Debs do you know how to add the picture of the ring here on to the jewellery thread ..if you need any help in doing it P/m me and i will tell you how to add it here in jewellery .......colleen
so sorry this is not very clear ......

I found the discussion on Living Jewels and Askoka very interesting.

I've used LJ for the last 5 years, I bought from Perry in Feb 2003, it was his first full season in Candolim and always been more than happy with everything.

For reasons that I won't go into here (but it's not that I've been sold a 'dud' by them and not that I believe their goods are inferior), I would not buy anything from Ashoka and refuse to set foot in their shop at all.

Last week I bought a Mulberry handbag from Sanjay Jewellers, which is about a hundred yards from Ashoka's on the same side of the road going towards the Panjim Road.
I was really hacked off when I looked at the card that the woman on the jewellery bit gave to me as I was coming out:
it gave an email address which was http://www.ashokajewellers.com

So, they are off my list for our next visit too.

Polly

We have just returned from our third visit to Shamrock Jewellers ,Baga Road, Calengute.

Majeed and John have again delighted us with a beautiful diamond ring.

Not only delighted with the valuation but the comment from the jeweller on the workmanship and excellent quality of the diamonds.

As in our previous post we are very happy with the personal touch that Shamrock gives, it is good to see the name" Shamrock "popping up on the forum.

From two happy customers!!

Had phone call today from Ali [Raj jewellers Highland Beach]he was so pleased
a member of holiday truths had read my report on Ali and had made the journey
to see and buy from him all the way from Varca in the South ,to Candolim.[North]
All of you who know Ali this comes as no surprise as he is so helpfull.
He is also recovering after coming off his bike when it skidded after the rain
Ann

I bought a diamond ring and gold chain from the Crystal Rockshop in C andolim. The valuation back in the UK was 4x what I paid. The owner mr Vivek Jain was really helpful and not at all pushy - a real genuine person who I would trust if I wanted to buy more jewellery

Just a word of caution.
Bought wifey a ring that was described as 18ct, but on valuation in UK was found to be 14 ct and was indeed stamped on the inner shank with this.
We have certificate from jewellers and also guarantee card which both state 18 ct.
In fairness the owner of the shop was away to a funeral after dealing with a death when we collected it and possibly there has been a mistake rather than a cheat, we will see next year when we take it back.

The good news is that even though gold was less than we had ordered and paid for it was still valued at 4 times what we paid.
Bought from Glimpse of India, Candolim where we have bought a few times before without any problems.

Good of you to share that, Del.

My thoughts are that as the ring is actually stamped 14ct, it's maybe a mistake rather than an attempt to rip you off.
I think if the jeweller had intended to supply lesser goods than agreed, it would have been stamped 18ct.
Whereabouts is Indian Gems in Candolim?

Haver you been in contact with the jeweller about it?
Hope you get this resolved on your return.
Polly

Hi there , the jeweller I have used on my last 3 holidays was K I E gems in Baga, he is just near Brittos, on my last visit I chose a diamond of very good clarity (I am no expert but it is very , very clear) and had it mounted into a yellow and white gold 18 karat band of my design.
I was very impressed by the price and quality

I think I feel a diamond bangle coming on for Xmas

Pollycat, neither wife or myself feel that the shop owner has deliberatly ripped us off and think that it is a genuine mistake, will sort it next year, but not too worried as it is still a good buy.
Might e-mail them though just to forewarn them.

I have been using the same Jeweller in Calangute for the past six years,every time we have visited Goa, I have had something made. It has always been excellent craftsmanship, and I have never had any problems. The valuation has always been more than we paid.

Last year when we went to Calangute, I took with me a solid gold bracelet, it was 9ct gold, weighing 100 grammes, because of the weight of the bracelet it was very rarely worn, so I decided to have the gold melted down aand something else made.

We decided on a pair of earrings and a matching ring, studded with diamonds, an OM pendant, and a pendant that spelt my name in Hindi. the remainder of the gold 70 grammes was to be made into a necklace. The necklace was a very intricate curb chain design.

A week or so ago I took them to my usual jewellers to have them valued for the insurance, today I received a phone call from the jeweller saying that the earrings, ring, and pendants, were good quality and a good value.

The necklace which was soposed to be 9ct gold, was silver which had been gold plated. It has been acid tested. The only part of the necklace which is gold is the clasp, which looks as though it had been taken off another necklace, so the 70 grammes of gold is worthless. I have reccommended this jeweller to almost everyone who has said that they have wanted jewellery made, we have given them loads of custom, through reccommendations, but this time they have ripped us off.

The reason why they have done this is because, we told them last year that we didn't think that we would be returning to Goa, as after six years we had seen everything, done everything and wanted a change. It wasen't until our last week there, that we rebooked our apartment, and made arrangements for staying this year for another 3 months. They obviously thought that by the time we found out it would be too late to do anything, and as we were not returning there would be little we could do about it.

Well they will be having a shock coming to them, because the first place we will be visiting is there shop.
With the worthless valuation certificate, I will be threatening them with the Panjim equivalent of our trading standards and the tourist police. I understand that once a complaint is made they can issue a warrant within 24 hours. This Jewellers are well known in Calangute, any one who wants to know the name of the shop please pm me, also out side there shop is a cafe, I will be sat in that cafe every day, telling people what they have done, if I do not get the equivalent in the 70 grammes of gold. or goods to the same value, I think a couple of days of me ruining there reputation will soon sort the matter out.
I will be enjoying myself sat outside there shop drinking kingfisher, and showing everyone the chain.

I have calmed down a bit now, I was going to email them and phone them, but hubby kept on saying forewarned is forearmed, I think that he is talking sense (for a change).

Has any one else on this forum had a similar thing happen? if so what action did you take?

Interesting forum.

Friends and I have purchased quite a few diamond items in Goa.
The places we would not go purchase from again are Ashoka Pop Inn
We have always had good results from Crystal Forest, Amigo's (although part of the Ashoka family) and a tiny shop called Mary's opposite Guru and Sanjays. All these shops will sort out any problem immediately, and free of charge. All items bought especially in Mary's have valued up at least 3 - 4 times as much as we paid.

We have bought several pieces from the Crystal Rock shop in Candolim over the years and it has always been valued 3 - 4 times the price we paid.

Vivek wants returning customers and wants to ensure you are satisified with your purchases.
I would recommend them

I think that this thread http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=121740 contains a lot of good advice and things to take into account when purchasing jewellery in Goa and therefore warrants a link within the thread dedicated to buying jewellery/gold/diamonds whilst in Goa.