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Jeane dealt with Lily at SJ as many others have, mentioning Kathie on this forum as we have been instructed for several years.

She received her appraisal today. The independent appraiser was skeptical - how could anything purchased in Bangkok be authentic and worth what she paid? However, when the results came back Jeane's earrings, necklace and pendant were appraised at twice what she paid.

Thanks, Kathie.

I'm so glad she had a good experience, Craig!

I remember years ago, I purchased a sapphire for my sister in Bangkok. Her jeweler told her all the gems people bought in Bangkok were fake or low quality. The appraisal came back at 4x what I paid for it. The jeweler was stunned.

and we can attest that the jewelry is very nice looking....

I was interested to see this. I am going to Bangkok in November and was thinking of going to SJ International after reading this forums. Can we still mention Kathie from Seattle and see Lily?

People on this forum have been doing it for years - should be no problem. Call them and they will come pick you up at your hotel.

Maybe Jeane can use hock her jewelry so the Yankees can purchase a competitive team. What position does Brian Cashman play? Do you think Joe Torre is laughing?

Just wait til next year...

I think the LAA's are going to walk all over RS and take the series in 4 games.

Yes, feel free to use my name. I visit Lily every year and can always find something wonderful to buy!

Kathie...Please say hi to Lily for me when you get to SJ and let her know that I had to cancel my August trip which is why she didn't see me there then. Happy Travels!

Thanks Kathie, I will mention your name and ask for Lily. Your post about padparadscha sapphires reminded me how much I liked them. Maybe a padparadscha sapphire ring is in my future.

Wonderful! I had Lily make me a great pair of earring a few years ago out of padparadscha sapphires. People comment on them every time I wear them - they are stunning.

My wife still raves over the yellow spphire ring I bought her following Kathies advice to visit SJ. The ring was later appraised in Lond at three times what we had paid. We had a problem with SJ picking us up from our hotel (they forgot) so we got a taxi to the shop. When the owner found out about this he said to the saleswoman "give them wholesale price". I took this with a pinch of salt but it turns out it was a genuine offer.

Thanks once again Kathie!

Sounds to me like SJ owes Kathie a bit of "tea money"

Kathie - Good to know that you live in the same area as I am. I will go to BKK for my birthday in Nov 20-31! Where can I buy the Nancy Chandler map? It is my first trip to BKK, hope you can give me some suggestions or tips to do. If we can't get a tour guide in BKK, any suggestions? Where is SJ Int'l? Thank you in advance.

Nancy Chandler's maps are pretty popular in Thailand. You could find them easily at the airport, bookstores, and even at hotel bookstores all over Thailand, especially in Bangkok. The following link offers good free maps on line to start.
http://www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/bang...tanakosin.html

Kathie,
Hope you didn't mind me butting in. After reading, I still don't know what SJ stands for? ; )

Thanks

I don't know what the letters in SJ stand for if that's what you're asking. It's a huge jewelry company in an estate-style structure, in a Bangkok suburb. The jewelry is great and Lilly is absolutely wonderful to deal with. I've gotten all of my jewelry in BK there and when I've gotten home (L.A. County), I've taken it in to various jewelers for informal appraisals and it (sapphire or ruby jewelry) has been informally appraised at 3-5 times the price I paid in BK.

I was in Tiffany's , in my area, and the salespeople were breaking their necks, looking at my yellow sapphire bracelet and earrings. They kept commenting that they were absolutely beautiful. They said the same of the ruby bracelet which salespeople, at various stores, went totally crazy over. I absolutely love that ruby bracelet. It's amazing...a work of high craftmanship.

I was in the jewelry section of a Nordstrom store checking out sapphire earrings. The sapphire (blue) was a little bigger than the size of the point of a pencil and the price was outrageous. I said to the salesperson that I was on my way back to Bangkok . She excitedly said, "Yellow sapphires!". I laughed because that's exactly what I was planning to buy , but I hadn't even mentioned it to her. She just stood there and said how she wished she could get back to Bangkok to buy some yellow sapphire jewelry. She was Chinese and visits family in Taiwan, I think it was.

I went to a salesperson, in a major department store's jewelry section, to show her what I'd bought. I've known her for years as she used to be over the handbag department. She told me to drop by when I got back so she could see what I had purchased. So, I wore the yellow sapphires and the first thing she said was, "Your Citrine(sp?) pieces are beautiful. I commented that they were sapphires. She looked puzzled and then commented that sapphires don't come in yellow. I laughed and then gave her a little education on the many colors of sapphires and how Bangkok is the place to buy them. Sapphires exist in more colors than just blue and pink.

When my jeweler, here at home, looked at my jewelry he commented that I had done VERY well and the price that I paid would have been the wholesale price that he (jewelers) would have had to have paid had he bought the same pieces....before a 3-5 times mark up depending on what jewelry store they would end up in.
SJ has a website at sjjewelry.com. Call them and they will send a car/van for you. I've never had them forget to pick me up. If , after you call them, they aren't there within about 35 minutes, then just call them again to find out where the car/van is. I call and talk with Lily directly and ask her to send a car/van and then when I get there, she's there to greet me and has the jewelry trays all ready. Happy Travels!

Algona, you can order a Nancy Chandler map from nancychandler.net Amazon does carry them, but lately, they've been out of them. The maps such as the one linked to above are not of much help, frankly.

I'm not a fan of having a guide in Bangkok though there are others on this board who are great fans of having a guide.

SJ International will come and pick you up from your hotel - free - and return you to your hotel.

What a great birthday trip!

Kathie, Guenmai, does SJ have jewelers and loose stones?I don't really wear jewelry, but my wedding band got changed out to an anniversary (eternity type) band when I was married about 10 years. Out of the 24 slots for diamonds, only thirteen are filled because we moved away from the guy that made the ring and that added the stones for us.

Do you think SJ could add the remaining 11 stones in a few days?

They can fix your ring.

A friend of mine sent me to Bangkok with some gorgeous semi-precious stones that she'd picked up in Brazil, as she travels there a lot for vacation. She asked for a pair of drop earrings to be made from them. She basically told me to be creative and that she trusted my decision.

So in I went to Lily with a purse full of different sized semi-precious stones. She called over the jewelry designer and I sketched an idea and we fine tuned it and changed it a few times and off he went with the final approved sketching.

Less than a week later, they were delivered to my serviced apartment building, free of charge, and those earrings were beyond gorgeous. They were a light blue stone (I've drawn a blank on the name of the stone), and I had them set in white gold. They turned out a true work of art. When my friend opened the box, her mouth flew open. She couldn't have been happier.

They are quite good at design. The problem my friend has in Brazil is that the stones are great, but the designs are often not. I buy ready-made costume jewelry for her every trip that I take to Bangkok because the designs are so good.

As for costume jewelry, in semi-precious stones, if you're interested, my #1 boutique is called, "January".

There are three locations but the BEST one is the tiny one in the Oriental Place Shopping Arcade which is one street directly in back of the Oriental Hotel. You can't miss it. It's a white colonial-style building. The store is upstairs on the second floor. There are only two floors.

They have fabulous stuff. I was just wearing one of their necklaces the other night. I know the owners, as they've seen me so many times in their shops. They are two sisters, who work extremely hard at studying jewelry designs and popping out something new quite regularly. They get many of their stones from Brazil...interesting.

Carol..Simpson510... and I were in a mall in Boston...during the Boston GTG...a few years back...and we went into an expensive department store. As we walked in, their was a counter that had loads of necklaces for an exhibit. The necklaces had obviously come out of Thailand. They looked like the ones at January. So, I walked over and priced one and nearly fainted. I had JUST bought my friend one, in Bangkok, which was very similiar and with the same kind of stones as the department store necklace.

I had just paid..2 months prior...less than $150. for my friend's necklace. The department store necklaces were mostly in the $300-$400 range before the tax. Happy Travels!

So, if SJ was able to take my friend's stones and turn them into a work of art, then setting stones is probably nothing to them. Happy Travels!