Colombia, Cartagena: So Emeralds are a Girl's Best Friend

Article by guest author Peter Brooker

The last stop on the Princess Cruise was to Cartagena in Columbia. The promenade is peppered with colourful flowers in concrete housing, before it angles left into an animal sanctuary where one meets the gold and blue Macaws, Red Macaws, Flamingos, turtles and even an Albino Peacock.

We haggled 60 bucks for a trip to the Caribe Jewelry Factory, then to the old town then back to the port. Again make sure you write down the figure of the total price on a piece of paper and show it to the driver. Ensure this is the total price, and not per person.

Caribe Jewelry was founded on March 27th, 1983, when the brothers Ricardo, Alfredo and Luis Eduardo Díaz Alfaro decided to open a small commercial establishment called Taller de Joyería Caribe, in Cartagena de Indias.

Columbia is the only country that can make Emeralds in 3 different types of greens; Light green, Middle green and Fire green. The Fire Green is easily recognizable as it's a deep green, compared to the other two which are much lighter. It's also the mark of a higher quality stone.

In terms of countries that produce the most amount of Emeralds it's as follows, Brazil, Zambia then Columbia.

You can learn more about Emerald's and the factory itself through their website. The tour is free, and we didn't have to book or wait for anyone to take us round the facilities.

We ended up buying one ring from the factory shop after much agonizing. Again the company is not averse to haggling, so ask for the best price. We received that price and then asked to see the manager who was kind enough to give us another price.

Emeralds are more brittle than Diamonds, they're not as sturdy so you have to take a bit more care with them. The walls in the factory are lined with photos of Angelina Jolie at the 2009 Oscars wearing a pair of gargantuan 115-carat pear-shape emerald drop earrings by Lorraine Schwartz.

After our purchase we were driven to the old quarter and left to roam for an hour whilst the driver waited. Cartagena is a colourful town, in better shape than its Mexican counterparts. You can do a tour of the old fort, though we didn't have time.

We bought some Colombian coffee, (cheaper in town than back at the port so stock up) and then stopped by the Buena Vida Marisquería restaurant. It's the best in town according to multiple reviews and remarkably we got a walk in booking on the rooftop.

After a ceviche platter and a couple of Corona's our drive took us back to the port where we did some more shopping. The port at Cartagena has a one stop shop, that is very busy and quite pricey. But the souvenirs are interesting and artisan, they also have Emeralds there, but quite expensive in comparison. However, my partner saw one she liked and got a second ring, although not in Fire Green.

Again, it's always an idea to offer a price you think is the right price. The good news is that the sales assistants are also the decision makers and don't need to wander off for half an hour for approval. We got a second ring, some earrings, a pendant (cheap as a gift), and then it was off to the boat. Cartagena was probably one of my favourite ports due to the wildlife and the cleanliness.

Photo by Leandro Loureiro on Unsplash