2 IMORTANT Questions about Bangkok-Your recent Experience
 

We will be in Bangkok in late April when it is very hot but hopefully Ratt's car is well Air-Conditioned. It seems best to go to the Floating Market in theAM rather than the end of the day. Am I correct? Is 1/2 hour on small floating boat trip worthwhile or do we have to spend 1 hr. Is their another very..very interesting destination on the way or within 1/2 hour of the market worth going to for we want to be back at the Penn by 12:30?
Also, at SJ Jewelers what should I expect to pay for a high quality (with very few flaws) 2 carat sapphire in a distinctive cut to bring home for someone to put in a pendant> I need 2005 prices for now $1USD=about 40BAHT.
Thanks for all the info you can give me.

stan---i looked at a 3K+ sapphire of very good quality last june and it was $2000...it was not at SJ but at my jeweler thai stone jewelry in the nana hotel...fabulous stone..i have bought tons of 1/2 K sapphires in the past for $10 to $100 each...

sapphires come in many colors...karen's favorite sapphire earing are a wonderful deep green color..

consider having the stone set in thailand as it is so reasonable for gold work there....if it is to go in an existing piece of jewelry, take the piece and have it done for a fraction of the cost of having it set at home...

ratt's car is well a/c..

i don't think the FM is still running in the late afternoon....morning is the only time i have heard of anyone going....ratt picked us up at 6:45AM in order to avoid the crowds and it was a good plan....the other time we went i think we left at 8:30 which was also ok but i prefer the earlier...

riding on the small boat at FM is not only worthwhile but mandatory imo....ratt took us to a boat away from the mkt to go on but i prefer the small 3 person boats for hire at the back of the FM (400 B)....i was not interested in the surrounding canals which i think have lots of tourist items for sale...i was primarily interested in the food boats, the color and the activity...fabulous picture taking

After visiting the FM, I enjoyed the stop at a place that had carved wood furniture for sale. It was worth the stop to see the furniture. IIRC, it was northwest of the FM (Bangkok being to tne northeast). I don't recall how far it was from the FM.

Stan, depending on the color you want (the highest prices are for the "cornflower blue" you should be able to get a sapphire of your descritpion for US$1500 or so. Make sure you use my name at SJ "Kathie from Seattle" is adequate. My sales person is Lily. When you call for pick up, tell them that I referred you to Lily. If it so happens that it's a day she isn't working, someone else will take care of you, but they will know you have been referred and will give you the wholesale price.

My husband bought me a ruby and diamond necklace form SJ jewelry in Sept. We used Kathie's name and the price was $983 for 2 caret of rubies and 1 caret of diamonds. I have it at the appraiser at the moment. The jeweler guess it would come in about $2500 in value. I will let you know next week when it comes back.

God help us all!

AnnieP; Why the comment? Is it shoppers who have the money spending it or do you think the tourist is being "taken" because the novice knows little about "real" quality of a stone?

rhkkmk; For an 18K yellow gold tension setting how much +/- $100 would the setting and reasonanly thick chain because of size of stone 2-3 carats cost? Could you compare to cost in Northeast US. I do not want to guess on how someone else wants a setting unless they are going to save $300+ on the setting alone.
Would a $1500 cornflower near flawless at $1500 sell for double in US? Then there is the duty. I think 10%?
Thanks.

Stan, there is no duty on unset stones. In my long experience in buying unset stones, I found I could reliably buy sapphires and rubies for one-fourth the US retail price (one-half the US wholesale price).

Stan, you may already have done this, but let me give you the recmomendations I give to anyone thinking about buying an expensive stone.

First, read up on the kind of stones you are considering.

Next, visit the best jewelers in your area and ask to look at fine sapphires (or whatever the stone is). Ask what makes this stone better than another, look at colors, see what you like and look at the most expensive color (cornflower blue for sapphires and pigeon's blood red for rubies). Look at the stones through a jeweler's loupe. There are characteristic imperfections in various types of stones, learn about these. This will also give you an idea of what stones cost in your area. As your jeweler will be setting the stone when you return, they will be glad to educate you.

i don't know what a "tension setting" is by that name....do you mean a tiffany type setting that applies tension to the stone at certain points vs a bezel setting??

the setting is the least expensive part of the equation...

and of course it all depends on the complexity of the setting....my jeweler sits with us and we draw a picture of what my wife wants or we supply them with a picture....the final product comes back exactly like what we wanted---never a problem of any kind....if there were it would be redone immediately at no cost...

i think the gold is sold at the current gram weight price plus a small workmanship charge...like less than $100 for workmanship...

we were shown some pave settings on our last trip and there must have been 80 or 90 small diamonds in one and about the same in another with sapphires...the comment was this is very expensive because of all the work to set the stones---nothing about the gold price or the stone price...they thought this was unusual....

so i really can't estimate the price of the setting for you, not knowing what it looks like...

chains are all over the map...

the most expensive one i have ever bought was for a man and very heavy and it was $700.. a similar one for a woman was $650....my wife says the same thing here might be $2000-3000, and that's not at tiffany's...these were way heavier than for a pendant...

a recent 24 inche 18 K chain for my wife to hold a moderately heavy nantucket basket was $100...just a plain chain..

Stan, Perhaps it was your header -- 2 IMPORTANT questions. Important to you, no doubt, but in the grand scheme of things? You're not even going until April... Some posters have had flights or reservations cancelled a day or two before the trip.

I for one, really appreciate hearing all the details - descriptions and costs for items purchased. It helps in putting thoughts together for those of us who really do want to buy and feel like we have at least a clue as to what is ahead. Keep 'em coming! Thanks!

Stan, if you mean by a tension setting one in which the stone is suspended between straight sides of gold (no prongs, no bezel), I don't have a way to estimate price for that setting in Bangkok. I can't remember seeing any such settings, but it doesn't mean that they don't do it. I do know it takes some special know-how. Ask your jeweler how much it will cost, and take a picture with you to Bangkok and you can ask SJ if they do that kind of work and ask them for a price.

Kathie; From what you and others have said it is wiser to purchase the stone and set it in USA. That way there is no duty and the savings on a $2000 stone of 10% will be off-set approximately by the savings of the 18k gold setting in Bangkok.

there would be no duty for the gold or stone if both were thai....check the special program by us customs called GPS or GSP....

the setting in the usa would be as much as the stone possibly....

no idea about the size you are talking about...

in any case kathie's suggestion of a picture of the setting is very good....that way not simple words will be misunderstood...

i don't know where this thought about unset stones being non-taxable comes from....i think it is an urban myth...

Bob, I mentioned on another thread that apparently Thailand has been eliminated from the list of countries where jewelry can be imported duty free. It is now on the exceptions list (this is accurate as of Dec. 2). I've had all-Thai jewelry exempted from duty before, but not this time. I looked at the book with the customs agent. One agent who has been doing this for a long time thought Thailand was still exempt. Unfortunately, it is not. (However, as we all know, what you get charged for does vary from agent to agent as there is room for interpretation.)

On the other hand, unset stones have been consistently duty free for many years. In the more distant past, I always bought unset stones as jewelry was dutiable. However, I should always say that can change at any time (as I was reminded by my most recent jewelry experience).

kathie---you continue to teach me things....as of june, 2005 jewelry was still on the list....i will look into it again....it is on the web so easy to look at if it is updated...

why would an uncut stone not be subject to duty?? its no different from any other purchase??

Not an uncut stone, Bob, but an unset stone. It has to do with what the US produces and does not produce (that's how it was explained to me).

Do read the wording about Thai jewelry. It's one of those very wierd double negatives that are confusing. This was a listing of what was NOT dutiable from GSP counttries, and under Jewelry it said EXCEPT Thailand. So, jewelry from GSP countries is generally non-dutiable, except (right now) for Thailand. weird.

this is confusing..Im trying to understand...so I assume from this post that all jewelry ie the setting and the stones are taxable even if they are not set in?

Now this applies only to import duties to the US. If you buy unset stones (and don't buy a setting there) the stones will enter the US duty-free. If you buy jewelry, the rule is that it is dutiable (but this does change from time to time; since the is a recent change, the customs agent may not charge you duty). If you were to buy an unset stone and a setting for it separately, they would charge you duty on all of it (as it's considered jewelry, and the stone being out of the setting is not considered a factor). If this seems confusing to you, it's because it is.

I'm not a fan of tension settings. My first engagement ring was a white sapphire tension set in titanium. Titanium is supposed to be exceptionally strong. I caught the edge of the setting, it opened up further and I lost the stone. If it had been a diamond I would have been distraught. Now I have a diamond in a traditional platinum setting and I feel a lot more secure.

I don't know if you noticed, bvfrenchknitter, but you've pulled up a very old thread to respond to... December, 2005 - January 2006. Stan long ago bought the jewelry he was asking about, though I don't remember if he purchased a tension setting or not.

Well, thats good to know bvfrenchknitting - I'm glad you're feeling more secure. I feel more secure now, too.

And I'm sure StanKase, who began this post on the last day of 2005 has been hovering, fingers poised over the keyboard for the last two years and ten months, waiting for your reply.

Bless you bvfrench.

lol Kathie - we crossed in cyberspace. Shouldn't you be packing?

Hi, Dogster, the task for this morning is to make sure I have everything I want to bring along. Our flight is still two weeks away so no doubt I'll start tossing things into a suitcase two weeks from tonight. I wouldn't want to pack too early, eh?

kathie---next week you go into that suitcase and start taking things out

if you wait until the last minute then packing only takes a minute

MrW, I'm with you. I do the thinking ahead of time, the packing in a few minutes.

Kathie...So, it's only two weeks away? I didn't realize it was so soon. I just e-mailed you a few minutes ago. Happy Travels!

Guen, yes, we're going earlier than usual this year (scheduling problems). But it will put is in Kathmandu at the best time, so that's nice.

Bob, Cheryl's the one who needs to take things out once she's packed! I'm always floored by all the stuff she brings!

Stan- Perhaps we'll cross paths because I'll be there too. Going to be steaming hot! Get to the floating market when it opens otherwise you'll sweat your "gone" off. I can't advise you about gems but spend more for a reputable dealer.

Ooops... Must look at the dates on the mgs.....

Mrwunrfl-LOL! I've done that more than once! Hopefully I will spend more than one minute on future packing episodes, nothing more annoying than pulling out damp clothes on the other end- that last minute dosen't include dryer time!