egyptian gold is a minimum of 18 carat and is sold by weight before you fly out check out the price of gold and haggle like hell if you're happy with the final price just walk out and the seller "might "come around to your way of thinking
plenty of jewellers in the shopping malls in naama bay
good hunting
phil

Hi everybody

When we go for our Nile Cruise then week in Luxor it is our 25th wedding anniversary and I want to buy my wife a gold eternity ring.

I was going to buy it in the UK before leaving but somebody suggested to me that it would be a lot cheaper in Egypt and of good quality.

so I was wondering if anybody could tell me if -

i) It would be to much hassle with all the haggling etc that would be involved.
ii) Is the quality of jewellery in Egypt as good as back here and how would I check the quality.
iii) The prices in Egypt as compared to here.

In the UK I would have been looking at rings in the region of £1000.

Thanks for ANY tips and advice
Graham

Jewellry in egypt, particularly gold is much better value than here in the UK.
On our first ever visit my partner bought a gold chain & cartouche from the jeweller on our cruiser. I think he paid around £120 at the time. I said he'd been ripped off, but when we got home we had it valued, and were told it was worth 3 times that!
Here in the UK a lot of gold is 9 carat. To egyptians that is inferior. They do not consider anything under 18 carat.
I have bought several gold rings without stones, at around £20- £25 each.
I do haggle but not too much, as I find the prices very reasonable.
Whatever you do, don't tell them you want to spend £1k, you will get a very nice ring for less than half that I would have thought.
All good jewellers will give you a certificate that the item you have bought is the 'real thing'. You should also of course look for the hallmark.
The price of gold is by weight, they then add on a bit for 'workmanship'. If you get hold of a copy of the 'Egyptian Gazette' it usually has the daily price for gold.

We went to Sharm

The same applied 99% of the gold is 18K

the jewels are all BIG

We went last year for my Wifes birthday I brought
a London Blue Topaz ring and Pendant ring of 6K and pendant of 12K and paid a good third of what it would have cost back in the UK

Thanks for your very helpful information Sandie R & madcaravanner

It sounds as though I would be better waiting until I arrive in Luxor before buying the eternity ring.

This is probably a stupid question but never having been to Egypt before can you tell me if jewellers shops are 'proper' shops similar to what you would find here or are they located in market / bazaars ?

Would items be priced or would I have to ask the price and then haggle ?

Thanks again
Graham

There are two type of shop a Joyeria type and a proper jewellery shop
the second a proper type they unlock the door to let you in and lock the door when you are in for security

Some have armed guards too

do they also have hallmark that you could look out for so you know your buying the real stuff

im sure my wife will have a great time spending my money

No Halmarks are UK usually say XKt on it =22Kt

thankyou

Graham, have been on another forum I use, for Luxor only, and have
managed to get the following info for you from some Expats out there.
Two recommended jewellers are:
Mr Mourad of 'Madonna's which is below Maxims restaurant down past the
Isis Hotel.Someone recently bought a nice pair of sapphire & gold earrings there for just LE48.
Also 'Pensee' in the main bazaar, which is the same owner as a restaurant called 'Jamboree'. Both are reputed to be very fair, and good
quality merchandise!
Whatever you do, do NOT take any type of rep/guide etc with you as this will immediately up the price by up to 50%.
Hope you find a bargain!

Whatever you do, do NOT take any type of rep/guide etc with you as this will immediately up the price by up to 50%.

that goes for ANYTHING in Egypt even taxi's

And good luck with the haggling, remember, they do this for a living and are better at it than you are. One tip, when they say they are at their lowest price, be start to walk out, they WILL drop the price further.

Thanks everybody for all your ecellent help, tips and advice

I have decided to wait until we get to Luxor before buying the ring, so I will have to brush up on my haggling skills

Thanks Sandie R for the names of some jewellers I will certainly try them as it is always good to go by recommendations, Mr Mourad isn't your brother is he

Thanks again
Graham

Hi Graham, not sure when you will be here in Luxor but will be happy to show you some reputable shops if yoy're interested. I'm from the UK, lived here a year now. Luxor is a fantastic place with lovely people but you need to be careful that you are not 'ripped off' by some. Contact me with a private message or via this forum. I'm sure you will have a very memorable holiday. What a great setting for your wedding anniversary!

Hi Iberis

Thanks for your help

We are not going until the start of September, but I would be very grateful of any information you can give me. I would also be delighted to take up your very kind offer of help in finding a reputable jeweller in Luxor.


Graham

We did a day trip to Cairo from Cyprus .......fantastic day!
With regard to jewellry I bought a silver cartouche bracelet with the hieroglyphs in gold and I love it as it brings back great memories of the day. However I'm not convinced about the quality of the silver. If I'm hot & a bit sticky I end up with a green line on my arm!
I asked about hallmarks, but was told they don't do them. This was a jewellers that the tour company from Cyprus use all the time so I can only imagine they are pretty reliable. I would still query the quality.
I don't mean to offend but the haggling/bartering systems in Middle East countries leaves the buyer in a vulnerable position and I don't think I'd be happy handing over large sums of money with no guarantee of quality. Very risky!

Any reputable jeweller will give you a certificate that will guarantee the quality. This will be accepted for insurance purposes back in the UK. Most good quality gold is hallmarked but in a different way to that in UK. I bought a white gold ring on my first visit here, had it valued back home. It was valued at a much higher price than I bought it for.
You do have to be careful with silver products, make sure it is 625 standard, anything else could be a mixture of silver & another base metal.

Hi, We're going to Cyprus for 2 weeks in August, and have also booked a 2 day cruise to Cairo, whilst we're there.

We're planning to do a spot of shopping when we're in Cairo, and I was wondering whether anybody knows if they sell gold jewellry (18ct, 21ct)
Im guessing they do but also what sort of prices are they??

Savannah x x

A friend who owns a shop here says that the current price for 18carat gold is 10 English pounds per gramme. So that should give you a starting point for prices. However, then you will have take into account the workmanship that has gone into the item & any stones etc.