guen---ambassador hotel is at soi 11-13 sukhumvit

Guen, I missed your earlier question about Burmese jade. I have not seen much of it at SJ. They had a ring with a nice piece last time I was there, but none of the larger carved pieces. I'll try to remember to ask Lily in November. I'm going to Chaing Mai this trip, and will look for jade there as well. I'll let you know what I find.

Haliburton...The sapphires were 6.39 cts with diamonds of 0.34ct in an 18K gold setting. Hope that has helped.Happy Travels!

Kathie...Thanks.I'd be looking for a necklace in Burmese jade. If you see any please jot down the price.
Bob...Thanks. That must be at Nana. Happy Travels!

Guenmai, describe exactly what you want - beads? a carved pendant?

Thank you,rhkkmk, for the soi number. I really can't say whether Karat would set the garnets. I believe that they usually deal in rubies because that is what I bought there. They have given me pieces with other stones, such as opals and diamonds.

Kathie...either...first choice... beads with a big pendant hanging from it or a big pendant...that I could hang from my gold, Omega choker-style necklace that I got at SJ. Something that I could throw on with something simple...like a jean skirt and T-shirt and bam...there's the necklace. Thanks. Smiles. Happy Travels!

Ok, Guenmai, I'll look.

Thanks a bunch, Kathie. Happy Travels!

Guenmai, sorry I took so long to thank you for your info on your necklace...I haven't been in the talk room lately. Great deal by the way!

My wife makes jewelry - not using precious stones. She buys silver beads handcrafted in Bali, silver charms from India, Swarovski crystals from Switzerland and freshwater pearls from China. Does anyone know of beads or silver items unique to Thailand she can buy during our visit to Bangkok?

There is lots of silver work in Thailand, no doubt she'll find lots of beads.

one place to look is along new road near to the river...there are tons of silver shops there...between the area of the sheraton orchid hotel and the shangri-la and oriental hotels...another area not far is at the base of silom road...

one home/shop you might check out and might also be a source of product information is the tiny shop in her house called gifted hands....it is on a soi parrell to soi 23, sukhumvit rd...she is very pleasant and helpful...

Be Careful When Walking into those shops on the New Road as alot of the shops on the new road that bob is talking about only sell to retail companies so take a business card with you and be prepared to order by the dozens. Most shops that sell wholesale only will say so on the door.
Lee's silver is a great place for what you are looking for. Don't have the address handy but if you turn down the lane to the Oriental Hotel from the New Road you will see a Lee's Silver shop a little ways down on your right. This isn't the one but they also have nice selections. Walk past Lee's till you hit a small lane on the right hand side(I think it's the same lane as Tounge Thai Restaurant). You will see Lee's Silver shop down the lane on the right hand side. They are not related to the Lee's around the corner but tend to give you a better deal.

Aloha!

Thank you and my wife thanks you for the tips on finding silver items for her business.

the street off of new road to that shop is oriental lane....and yes off of that to the right is where tongue thai is and also another lim silver shop....its lim not lees....mostly they have fancy silver objects in their oriental lane shop...sterling items...great buys....i have not seen individual beads in there...but they could refer you i am sure...

lol, we both got it wrong...I just got the b/c and it's

Lin's Silvercraft
14 Soi Oriental Charoen Krung
Bangkok, Thailand

Anyway, Lin's is around the corner from Lin's, confused yet?

Aloha!

HiKathie,
My son is in Thailand and will be going thru Bangkok to do some jewelry shopping for me. I am interested in Blue Sapphire earrings. I am going to send him to SJ International. I need to know if the prices are negotiable or not? Also, any other pointers I can give him?

If you have him use my name "Kathie from Seattle" is sufficient, they will give him the best price. BUT - you always need to know about the stones you are looking for (not thay they would give hime fakes), to know what color you prefer, and to be able to look at things such as clarity and occlusions, etc. Does your son know about sapphires? Do you know what color you prefer? Do you like the classic (and most expensive) "cornflower blue" of Ceylon sapphires? Do you prefer a slightly darker blue like the Thai sapphires? Unless you know what you want and what is a price you'd like to pay and unless you son knows a bit about jewelry and sapphires in particular you may end up disappointed.

sapphires come in many colors: blue, green, redish, yellows....

the most usual is blue, but as kathie points out there are all variations of blue, from very lite to very deep in color....the lighter the more expensive....my wife prefers dark blue thank god...

they are very reasonable....you can pay as little as $40 up to hundreds of $$ for a pair of studs....the gold usually used is 18K but 14 is available....we have not found any platinum, but white gold is available...

tell him specifically what you want for a setting as well and the shape of the stone.....if you have a picture send that along as it will help the jeweler understand exactly what you want...