One Day St. Maarten Cruise Itinerary “Front Street Jewelry Shopping”
Port of Call Philipsburg is regionally and internationally known as shopping paradise. Take that literally – as scenic Great Bay Beach runs along its full length.
Part and parcel of port of call St. Maarten’s reputation as shoppers delight is because of its many high end jewelry houses on Front Street, helped by competitive price levels because of the fact that St. Maarten is a duty free port. Frequent cruise visitors as well as hotel guests await their visit to the towns main street to buy that precious engagement, wedding or anniversary ring. Also watches, bracelets, earrings, jewels and necklaces can be bargain-hunted in this regionally renowned shopping street.
Should you have a special occasion coming up, combine a lazy Caribbean beach day with selecting a unique piece of jewelry. A one day shopping day plan below comes in three steps – explore all recommended stores, go over the best offers over a sumptuous Philipsburg beachside lunch and head back to make the precious purchase of choice before you head back for the ship.
1 Mile of Stores of Repute
Your closest by jeweler seen from the cruise port is AMA Jewellers. It specializes in luxury loose diamonds, precious‑gem jewelry, and quality timepieces. They have GIA-grade gemologists on staff to help you. Should this serve your needs, note that AMA also has a wide assortment of luxury bags.
Next stop Majesty Jewelers is known for its Kabana line—hand‑crafted gems, Hearts On Fire diamonds and color‑changing Mark Henry alexandrite. The “tripadvisor darling” store carries Swiss watches like Raymond Weil, Philip Stein, Shinola, Citizen, Fendi and Fendi. Next to Majesty Jewelers you will find Dazzling Gems, a family-owned business founded in 2005 with a strong commitment to customer satisfaction. The store offers an impressive selection of loose diamonds in various shapes and sizes, including natural fancy yellow and pink diamonds, as well as a wide selection of fine jewelry.
Now, you approach the historic epicenter of town – the Philipsburg Courthouse. Right next to it, you find Ballerina Jewelers. Their 3800 square foot location in a historic building offers luxury Swiss watches (Roger Dubuis, Longines, Franck Muller, Corum, Michele) and high‑end jewelry brands like Le Vian, Tacori, Vahan, Jacob & Co., Barakà and Tzuri.
Across the street, you find Diamonds International. It is a go to store for large-cut diamonds (“Crown of Light” signature), Swiss timepieces, and elegant jewelry.
On the other side of the square is Joe’s Jewelry International. This store has operated since 1980 with multiple Philipsburg locations. Their specialty is designer jewelry (Ippolita, Le Vian, Swarovski), certified GIA & lab-grown diamonds, rare gems, and Swiss watches (Tissot, Rado, Hamilton, Baume & Mercier).
Oro Diamanté next to it has the island’s largest GIA‑certified loose diamond collection. It also sells rare gemstones like Padparadscha sapphires, Paraiba tourmalines and Alexandrites and shipwreck coins from the Spanish galleon Atocha.
Lunch in Style for a Purchase in Paradise
The most befitting location to ponder about the offers received at the various stores is Ocean Lounge. This seaside and upscale restaurant was selected amongst the 20 best restaurants of the Caribbean by USA Today and often caters to diplomats. It is a perfectly styled spot to enjoy lunch amidst your possible jeweler spots of choice.
After a sumptuous lunch head back to the store that had the best offer for your unique shopping goals of the day. A certified appraisal of your jewel of choice can always come in handy – ensure you obtain one.
If you still have time left on your St. Maarten cruise visit, you can celebrate with a small Philipsburg pub crawl all the way to the ship!
See our shore excursion and activities catalogue for other ways to spend your St. Maarten cruise visit, or be inspired by our other cruise visit itineraries.
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