We recently spent 2 days in Manaus. One day was to an eco tour to several remote Indian villages and on the second day we spent 4.5 hours doing a quick tour of Manaus City. Our guide Daniel from Anavilhanas Eco Tourismo was invaluable,.He actually owns the service and has one guide Marco whose English is first rate. On the tour of the city while everyone was rushing to H.Stern for bargains on topaz, tourmaline, amythest and emeralds we having visited H.Stern briefly realized their priced were out-of-line. Daniel , our guide, had suggested a shop where the more prosperous residents of Manaus purchase their stones and it was a real find. It is a precious gem shop in the Taj Mahal Hotel. The two partners Chico and Adelson were very patient and not at all pushy. I know a little bit about semi-precious stones and I hoped I could find a stone for my wife and myself. In the end we found 2 stones and though their asking price was reasonable I offered 20% less and stood firm because I was going to buy 2 stones. They accepted my offer at 16% less . When I returned home I went to a jewlery exchange I know and from 2 jewlers I received apprasals approximately 3.5 times what I paid. The only problem is if you go without an English guide who also speaks Portugeese you will be in trouble because Adelson who was there has almost zero English speaking skills but our guide helped us. It was a very worthwhile stop for 2 tri-color tourmaline of excellent quality.
If in Manaus a Gem dealer Worth Visiting
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thanks for posting your positive experience.
So all you can tell about Manaus is a stone store? We get enough of those shopping commercials on ships and don't need them here.
Spurs - I will add something about Manaus - the opera house is beautiful- not to be missed.
I can tell you a lot of positives about Manaus especially our 7 hour excursion on the Rio Negro, our wonderful time not just at the opera house but the good fortune of attending an operetta that just happenend to be performing for 3 nights to our good fortune, several churches and a sephardic temple but those are all on most tours.This shop we learned about from a local attending the operetta when my wife commented to a women sitting next to her about her ring and she shared the information with us about the gem shop.
So, it was not a commercial just a "heads-up for others who might want to look at quality stones and save several hundred dollars as we did rather than giving it to H.Stern
After a visit to H Stern I realized I couldn't afford anythng, but on our way back to the ship stopped at the Opera House....and across the street is a tourist souvenier shop where I bought two beautiful locally made necklaces... My big steal..lol was at one of the ports and at the flea market at the end of the wharf A man was selling semi-precious stones wrapped in gold wire that had been simply rock tumbled...an elderly woman on our cruise more knowledgable than I told me they were good stones..and named them...I bought four different colored stone necklaces for SEVEN DOLLARS EACH. The comments I have received is hysterical and women want to know where I bought them.. On our travels I have found locally made jewelry for a fraction of the cost and much more interesting.
ParrotMom; You must be thrilled. If you like it cost is really irrelevant. If you think you got a bargain, all the better.