jshepherd
Pearl Paradise
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2004
- Messages
- 6,299
I'm on vacation with my son and have been trying to stay off the Internet and the PG, but I strayed into a tourist trap (jewelry store) on St. Thomas today and now I have to post.
We were walking along the port area mall where about 1000 duty-free jewelry companies are located when I saw a sign in front of Celebrity Jewelers that caught my eye. There were advertising a set of genuine freshwater pearls in white or chocolate for $49. Attached to the sign were two strands of fake pearls, one white and one brown with matching stud earrings.
No big deal, I thought. They would not attach the pearls to a sign in front of their shop! So I went inside to see what sort of quality these pearls were for only $49.
I asked to see the pearls on special and the lady behind the counter handed me a strand of FAKE PEARLS! They were not even good fakes. They were plastic beads. I told the lady they weren't pearls and asked to see the real freshwater pearls. She referred me to the gentleman working behind the counter who started assuring me that they were indeed freshwater pearls, and that I was confused because they were so round. He asked if I was looking for "potato pearls" because they carried them as well.
I told the gentleman that I thought it was very unethical to be selling fake pearls as genuine freshwater pearls. He once again insisted the pearls were real. I reached into my wallet and pulled out my business card, handed it to him and told him that either he was getting ripped off, or he was intentionally ripping off his customers. He didn't say a word while I left. The answer was clearly the latter.
I can't say the same for all the jewelry vendors on St. Thomas, but sharks live on the land as well as in the sea in the Virgin Islands. If any of you ever visit St. Thomas, be careful. And definitely steer clear of Celebrity Jewelers in the Havensight Mall.
Ok ... back to vacation and the Pearl Oyster book!
We were walking along the port area mall where about 1000 duty-free jewelry companies are located when I saw a sign in front of Celebrity Jewelers that caught my eye. There were advertising a set of genuine freshwater pearls in white or chocolate for $49. Attached to the sign were two strands of fake pearls, one white and one brown with matching stud earrings.
No big deal, I thought. They would not attach the pearls to a sign in front of their shop! So I went inside to see what sort of quality these pearls were for only $49.
I asked to see the pearls on special and the lady behind the counter handed me a strand of FAKE PEARLS! They were not even good fakes. They were plastic beads. I told the lady they weren't pearls and asked to see the real freshwater pearls. She referred me to the gentleman working behind the counter who started assuring me that they were indeed freshwater pearls, and that I was confused because they were so round. He asked if I was looking for "potato pearls" because they carried them as well.
I told the gentleman that I thought it was very unethical to be selling fake pearls as genuine freshwater pearls. He once again insisted the pearls were real. I reached into my wallet and pulled out my business card, handed it to him and told him that either he was getting ripped off, or he was intentionally ripping off his customers. He didn't say a word while I left. The answer was clearly the latter.
I can't say the same for all the jewelry vendors on St. Thomas, but sharks live on the land as well as in the sea in the Virgin Islands. If any of you ever visit St. Thomas, be careful. And definitely steer clear of Celebrity Jewelers in the Havensight Mall.
Ok ... back to vacation and the Pearl Oyster book!
