Just spent a week in Nassau.
I saw the interior of every jewelry store and met every supplier in town!
Learned a lot about precious and semi precious stones,
especially emeralds from Columbia.
The stores cater to the large numbers of tourists,
many of whom arrive on the cruise ships.
View from the hotel.
....."And they're off......"
Started with the hotel jewelry.
Lots of Swarovski and very bright and bold colours.
Hit the streets of downtown. A LOT of jewelry stores.
Spent hours with the beautiful Sharon and Avery.
They told me all about Columbia and the emeralds.
Emerald is the birthstone for May.
Marahlago is a brand of Larimer (see background) which is a beautiful blue
stone sold in Nassau and stores in the Caribean.
The ladies in the store were so helpful.
Wasn't Solomon's Mines in Africa?
It was "Junkanoo" so we saw extra extra bling,
topped with extreme amounts of feathers.
Junkanoo is a cultural celebration that includes a street parade
and has lots of food, music, dance and costumes.
The roots go back to slavery, when slaves only had a few days off a year.
They would make costumes out of whatever was available,
such as feathers and shells.
Junkanoo parade. More bling. More feathers.
They had Junkanoo festivities at the resort too.
The moms were just out of the camera range.
They told me it took them a year to complete a costume,
working in the their spare time.
Straw Markets.
Guccini Jewellers sells Chamilia jewelry and has over 600 beads to choose from.
They also sell Fossil, Kors, Diesel, African, Opal, Rose Gold and Estate jewelry.
The lady who runs the store is named Cally Papageorge.
I came dangerously close to blurting out "His name is not Pappagiorgio! His name is Rusty Griswold and he's a C+ student!"
But I managed not to.
Ms. Papegeorge knows a lot about opals.
It was hot.
When in doubt, proudly exclaim "Turtles lay eggs!"
Stellar bathrooms at Atlantis.
Park your boat at Atlantis too.
Another Columbian Emerald store.
Also spent a lot of time there learning yet more about emeralds.
Would not tell me where he buried the jewelry.
Forgot where he buried the jewelry.
I also met some fellow sea glass and handmade jewelry artists. Check out Fine Ocean Jewelry on Facebook. Astrid Pinder sells her very artistic and beautiful sea glass and shell jewelry in Nassau at markets and resorts. Her husband and son are treasure seekers and often find fantastic pieces of sea glass on the ocean floor. Astrid told me that most of the white Bahamian folks who have lived there going back many generations are descended from pirates! Sort of like having convict roots in Australia!
