Buying Diamonds in Barbados??? Any Tips?

[Scott B]

Hi Guys,

I recently went to Barbados to get Married and have our honeymoon and stumbled across a company called "Diamonds International".
Has anyone had dealings with these guys or heard any reports on them?
We did the sensible thing when there and did not impulse buy but decide to come away and educate ourselves before jumping in at the deep end.

The prices seemed fantastic but then i only have experience of being ripped off here in the UK.
We met another Scottish couple in the resort we were staying in who had returned on 6 seperate occasions purely to buy jewellery.
What is the "Legalities" of buying tax free as a visitor to a country like Barbados? Is there a limit to what you can spend?
My aim would be to buy say a loose stone to put away for the kids futures. Being a complete novice i would not know where to start. The diamonds we saw were GIA certified.

Are you best buying looses stones or having the diamonds mounted on a ring?
We have about £60,000 UK Pounds approx $90,000 US Dollars as a budget, what could that buy us?
The way pensions and other investments are currently performing buying diamonds seems a less risky idea.
Diamonds International offer a scheme where previously bought diamonds can be traded in for the purchase price against more expensive items to allow you to "Upgrade" your stones when you can afford to. Is this the Norm?
They have a web site www.welcometoourworld.com

As a newbee it would be much appreciated if anyone could help with any advice on the best way to proceed with our first purchase and how to "Educate" ourselves.
What are the markets like for buying expensive loose stones and selling them here in the UK for Profit? Is this a viable option also or is it best left to the experts?
Thanks for an excellent informative site, look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Scottie

 

[Iceman]

People think that if its off on an island that this is the lowest price and they mine them there. You as a consumer in UK will find better deals in Antwerp.

The place that was selling them in Barbados is from the USA , go figure the deal.

From the deals you see there, the bottom is deeper (jewelers buy much lower) and for you to try to resell them , with your limited knowlege on cut , color and clarity and market would be a waste of your money.

You are walking into a very unforgiving world, becareful.

Do some looking around , dont buy from the middle man, be smart.

 

[TheDiamondangel]

Diamonds as an investment are very risky. There are better ways of investing that money. As for purchasing on that island, don't do it! I've heard too many stories about people getting burned by bad stones that they thought were a good deal and turned out to not be.

If you have that much money to invest, I would talk to a financial advisor before doing anything with it.

 

[Scott B]

Thanks for the wise words of advice guys, i will take note and let you know how i get on.

Thanks again

 

[Iceman]

Furthermore ~ you are a world of knowlege

I look forward in readying more of your posts they are very interesting

Thanks

 

[Iceman]

I remember back in the early 90's that I had a guy come into my office with a suit
that didn't fit him and a brief case and he introduced himself as a gemstone dealer
and would i be interested ?

After seeing the sealed gemstones , I knew were he was coming from.

He paid $400 for a 4 carat blue topaz that might sell for $40 ! Same 20x mark ups
on all the other stones. After I told him about it , he said the company that sold
them to him said they had a judge in Canada that would buy them for more then he
paid for them. I told him to sell

Then he comes back a month later with more he bought?????????? After I told him
a month ago he got scammed!
To say the least I was shocked. He was complaining his wife was going to leave him
(smart girl)

There were a lot of people taken by that scam.

I had one person wanting me to mount a diamond he bought in Hawaii for $10,000
I looked at it and said it was a CZ! He held on to it for 5 years after the purchase!
When he heard what I had said he called the company that he purchased the stone
from ~ guess what they are not there anymore