Shopping for engagement ring in Medellin.

RobSan61 says on May 19, 2005, 16:10:

Best spot to pop the question... I'll be in Cartegena for about 5 days. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a very romantic location to ask the question of marriage to my girlfriend. I'm hoping to locate the most romantic spot in Cartegena. Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

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poco says on May 19, 2005, 16:20:

Location, Location, Location The most romantic location is with one partner knelling.

"When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Quote - General Tommy Franks

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daver says on May 25, 2005, 22:41:

You will pay about 1/2 what you will in the US if you buy the ring in Medellin, but you should have a Colombian to help you out.

I paid close to what you want to (but not quite!) in Canada, only to realize that if I had of bought it in Medellin, it would have been much cheaper.

I got the engagement ring in Canada, and my wife and I (fiance and I) bought our wedding bands in a jewelry shop in Laurales (older upscale neighbourhood of Medellin). The wedding bands were very cheap considering what I paid for the engagement ring. I got a very nice gold band (with my wifes name and date of wedding inscribed on the inside), and my wife a gold band with shoulder diamonds custom made to match the engagment ring... I think it cost us 800,000 pesos put together for both bands (I compared, and in Canada it would have been $800 CAD, or 1,600,000 pesos). The people who owned the jewelry store told us that a lot of narco-trafficing money gets cleaned with the purchase of gold and diamonds, therefore high supply and naturally low demand as people in Medellin typically do not have much money. Hence, prices go a way down.

My wife has been wearing her diamond engagement ring in Medellin for 10 months and has not had a problem. She takes it off when she goes downtown. We live in El Poblado, and she works in Envigado. Her grandmother lives in Laureles. We spend about 95% of our time in these three places, they are all safe, and she wears her ring in all three places.

My wife wears her ring on those crazy 900 peso buses that plumit down Ave El Poblado, with shaddy characters trying to sell you candy... no problems.

She does not wear it alone, at night, by herself, because she never travels this way anyway. After dark, my wife takes a cab. I walk alone at night, but thats a different story, and my ring isnt worth as much, and I'm a tall 200lbs guy who couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag (but the bad guys don't know that!!!).

If you give your girlfriend a diamond ring, and she is from Medellin, she will know when to wear it, and when not to, and she will most likely hide it somewhere safe when she is not wearing it (even from her own extended family).

If she is from a poor neighbourhood, she'll probably never wear it ($1500 is a lot of money), and will probably keep it hidden somewhere very safe.

Private Message me and I will give you the name and address of the jewelry store we went to in Laureles.

Dave

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utopiacowboy says on May 26, 2005, 17:02:

Great post, Daver! Your wife reminds me of mine in her behavior. They must be working from the same "paisa" playbook.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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daver says on May 27, 2005, 10:33:

UC,

Yes, there are Paisas, and then there are Poblado Paisas. There is quite a differnce between the two!

Dave

Ps. Us Canucks seem to get the best ones (snicker snicker)

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