Bogota Gringo has left 6 comments

Bogota Gringo comments on Rejoice Men - Hooters has Arrived

I visited Hooters last night despite a rather bad review in El Tiempo. I went with someone who's been to quite a few of them. I've only been to 2 or 3. I have to give it a .....5 out of 10. There's still a wait at the door to get in, the girls are OK. A few decent ones. The wings were nothing to go nuts over. You can probably get better wings at the Hard Rock or TGIF or anywhere else that has wings. The blue cheese was like water sauce. My buddy said it was the worst Hooters he's been to. That seems to be the consensus, but they're still packing it in. BTW, they have valet parking.

Bogota Gringo comments on Emeralds (Gringo looking for Green)

I may not be a neutral party on this subject....I sell emeralds online via www.embassyemeralds.com. But I agree there are some benefits of buying in person. Obviously. But if not online.... most people really have limited access to good emeralds. If you can't come down to Colombia.... what are your options? As a dealer, I feel its safe to buy online as long as you're dealing with a reputable person on the other end. How do you know?..... well if the website you're looking at takes the time to make a nice site with all the security features you expect from a reputable business and they take the time to educate the customer (which is necessary when you're talking about emeralds).... send them an email. Often the quality of their response (and perhaps their grammar) might tip you off if the person on the other end is some hack selling junk. If you have trouble looking at a .jpeg and deciding.... just write and ask more about it. Also, I wouldn't discourage you from looking at emeralds from other mines in Colombia.... Muzo has the name, but the others produce some pretty spectacular stones as well. I've seen great emeralds from from all of the emerald mines you're likely to ever hear of. There are occasionally some deals to be found on ebay, but beware. There is a lot of junk there too. We've had people steal images and content from our site to lend their really bad emeralds and other stones credibility. Its illegal, but it happens. Also if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.... how else can someone sell you gems for $0.99. Good Luck!

Bogota Gringo comments on Emeralds in Bogota

I'm in Bogota and I'm very familiar with the Emerald Trade Center and many jewelers nearby. If you need help, please feel free to write and I'll put you in contact with a reputable dealer. I'm also familiar with the exportation process, buying emeralds and gold (sometimes diamonds too), and working with jewelers and gemologists... so I can explain those things in person if you like. If you're seriously interested, drop me a line at info at embassyemeralds.com . I'd also like to reiterate what the others say about buying on the street.... DON'T.

Bogota Gringo comments on Emeralds

I've seen many natural heart shaped emeralds in Colombia. There's a lot of misinformation out there about them. Natural emeralds in heart shapes do exist. They are not as common, but are easy enough to find. I'd also say that emeralds are indeed hard. Hard enough. Not as hard as diamonds or sapphires, but they are harder than Tanzanites, Amethysts, Citrines, Garnets, and Quartz for example. If you look up the Moh's Scale of Hardness, emeralds fall in at about 7.5 to 8. The trick is just to get a person who knows how to set them in jewelry. Most jewelers are not good at it and break stones.... what you want is to find an 'engastador'. That's someone who specializes in setting stones. The 'thingy' that Dan mentions is a Chelsea filter. It helps, but its not 100% foolproof. However, if you combine that with a Synthetic Emerald Filter and a little bit of knowledge about what you're looking at, you should be ok. If you need emerald help... Try emailing me via the website listed in my profile. I won't sell you them personally, as I don't keep my inventory in Colombia, but I can direct you to reputable people in Bogota. I speak pretty good spanish, so I can translate if you need help.

Bogota Gringo comments on Colombian Emeralds?

B Bruce It definitely behooves you to know something about emeralds if you're ever going to buy them. I've seen synthetics, doublets, epoxy filled stones, etc... It shouldn't scare you away from buying emeralds, you just have to find a trustworthy dealer. Here are two pages that have a great deal of both useful and useless information on emeralds... the second one is a wiki style encyclopedia on emeralds. http://www.embassyemeralds.com/index.php?main_page=about_emerald http://www.embassyemeralds.com/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Index Good Luck!

Bogota Gringo comments on Emeralds, Where's the Best Place in Bogota to Buy?

I'm in Bogota and I have an online emerald business (see my profile) and I can tell you that even in the Emerald Trade Center there are synthetics and doctored stones sold. You need to know what you're looking at. Out on the street is much worse. I'd be glad to help anyone who needs a little help. I don't keep an inventory in Colombia, so I can't sell you stones here personally, but I'd gladly point you to a respected and trustworthy dealer at the Emerald Trade Center. I've seen his entire operation, from the purchasing of rough material to the actual gemcutting. Its all legit, all genuine, and he'll stand behind his stones. If you buy a stone worth certifying ($2000 or more), I can help arrange for a GIA gemologist to certify it. Usually the same day. If you're looking for gold or silver, I can direct you to a metals lab where you can buy these metals with a high degree of confidence that you're getting what you pay for. If you're not traveling to Colombia but want someone to hunt down an emerald for you, let me know and I'll see if I can help. Just send me an email at: info at embassyemeralds.com, I'll get back to you the same day usually.