Jewel shopping in Sao Paulo – from market to mall
SAO PAULO, November 29, 2011 – Jewellery shoppers in Brazil’s commercial capital have a huge array of choice catering to all tastes – they can trawl the local markets for artisanal accessories or visit the smart malls or elegant shopping streets for more expensive treasures.
A visit to the Municipal Market in the centre of Sao Paulo’s mega-city reveals artisanal jewellery. If your taste is for environmentally friendly pieces at accessible prices, pop into Biojoias Atelie Especiarias, inside the 1930s market building, not far from the tropical fruits, nuts and fresh fish stands.
For more costly, precious items, your best bet is to visit one of Sao Paulo’s flourishing, heavily protected shopping malls, like Iguatemi, Morumbi or Vila Olimpia, where shoppers browse in air-conditioned comfort.
Shoppers visiting Vila Olimpia mall have a good choice of precious items – shops such as Preludio, which sells gemstones and pearls; Sergio Giglioli, which has a range of gold and silver jewellery and stocks Michael Kors and Lancaster watches, and H. Stern, the famous Brazilian upmarket jeweller.
Foreign visitors to jewellers such as H. Stern can benefit from tax-free prices, sometimes representing big discounts from the fully taxed price that Brazilians pay.
The availability of Brazilian gemstones is an attractive feature of jewellery shopping in the South American country.
On a recent visit to H. Stern, a spectacular pendant with a large Brazilian quartz stone and 18-carat gold chain was for sale for U.S. $4,290 to tax-free foreign buyers, compared with a fully taxed price for Brazilian shoppers in the region of $6,000.
Retail jewellers in Sao Paulo’s malls often encourage shoppers to pay monthly payments over an extended period of, say, 10 months.
Many of the top jewellery and fashion brands can be found on or near Rua Oscar Freire, one of Sao Paulo’s most elegant shopping areas.
Jewellers such as Cartier, H. Stern, Vivara, Guerreiro, and smaller houses such as LaSpiniella, which sells gold, silver and pearl jewels, and Edna D’Bezerra Bijoux, which has chunky, colourful statement pieces, featuring dragon flies and lizards, can be found in the area.
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