Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Traveller]

I just received this email and thought others may be interested.

Ok Ladies......(SEE MESSAGE BELOW). We NEED TO SPREAD THE WORD.
Mrs. Lee should NOT be doing business with any others. After Amy sent me
this information....I had my jewelry checked that she sold / made me
at a respected Jeweler in Michigan. White gold? Nope, plated sterling
silver on the earrings. My sapphires rings (green & blue) REALLY bad
quality sapphires. The gold WAS real. The biggest disappointment of
all.....the diamond stud earring I had left from losing the other (a
gift from Fischer & Dennis for the birth of Jorden) cannot be
confirmed as the REAL diamond. It has alot of occlusions in it.
So, pretty sure she swiped the diamond also.

I am sick for Amy.....but I'm also very UPSET for all of us. How many
others has Mrs. Lee done this too? I know I've personally sent her
ALOT of business. Yesterday, the first day BACK to Seoul....we walked
through Itaewon....who do I see? Mrs. Lee....she had the audacity to
smile, say HI and even said....."Oh, you must be sad...your best
friend (Amy) has left Korea for Denmark. You should stop in and see
the new jewelry." I was in complete shock. One: That she had the NERVE
to even talk to me Two: That she could EVEN think of saying Amy's name
to me after what she has done!

So it just goes to show me that she has NO remorse or shame.
Zilch....she really does need to be held accountable for her actions.
Once I'm over my jet lag....I'll be visiting her with my "jewels" and
demanding some type of retribution. But I really wanted the rest of
you to know. DO NOT SEND KAB JA WON anymore business.....or Mrs. Lee.
Her actions are truly a federal offense and should be prosecuted.



We had a nine carat
sapphire ring that Alan's mom gave to me when I "married into the
family". Lovely ring, but it really didn't flatter my short stubby
little fingers. So, we took it to Mrs. Lee and had her make it into a
pendant: This is the finished product. Done in white gold??? (as the
stamp claims on the back of the pendant).

While we were home we had all of my new jewelry appraised (Alan has
always been a fan of gifting me with sparkly things, so we carry a
separate jewelry rider on our homeowner's insurance---and so we try to
keep the appraisals up to date). Anyway, imagine our surprise when an
allegedly white gold pendant, with 9 one carat sapphires and 16 little
diamonds appraised for SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!! SEVEN HUNDRED
AMERICAN DOLLARS!

Not white gold, but crappy ass metal coated in silver!!! Fuax
sapphires as well! Fortunately, Alan had one more trip left to Korea
the last week of July/first week of August. He went into Mrs. Lee's
store and let her have it. And she told him, while looking him
STRAIGHT IN THE EYE, THAT SHE STOLE OUR SAPPHIRES!!!!! Just flat out
admitted it!!! Can you believe that shit???? So after much hemming and
hawing, she produced the original stones and returned them to Alan.
Well, we can only assume they are the originals---we haven't had time
to get them checked yet. CROOK!

SO, DEFINITELY DON'T USE MRS LEE! ! ! ! ! ! Petra and Alta have had
good luck with Bo Ok jewelers in Itaewon---across from Mrs. Lee's but
further away from Yongsan army base.

[spliff]

So...why don't you have her arrested? If someone stole something that was mine I'd have them arrested. What are you waiting for? Need to grow some nutters?

[mikekim]

I think if you are jewelery shopping in Korea you deserve to be ripped off. Wake up. Everything here is crooked. I wouldn't be surprised if they are selling blood diamonds.

[pkang0202]

Right when I read Itaewon a red flag went off in my head.

Just stand on the street in Itaewon and look at what people are selling. Fake bags, sunglasses, shirts, pants, etc.... Who the hell would think "Hey, this looks like a GREAT place to buy jewelry!"

Anyone that knows anything about jewelry and diamonds will know where to buy them. Personally, I would buy off the internet from sites like Blue Nile.

[SeoulShakin]

Itaewon is shit for jewelery. I used to work in the jewelery business, so I usually have a pretty good eye as to what to look for. I needed new gold hoops, so I just looked in one or two shops there to check prices. Their gold looked brassy, and they wanted $135 for mid-sized hoops. Frig no!

Went to Myeongdong, higher quality gold, same sized hoop for $55. Big difference there.

I wouldn't buy jewelry there, unless I wanted to show people at home what "crap" you can get in Korea.

There are reputable places here, but Itaewon isn't it. As another poster said, why would you want to buy something legit in a tourist trap that is notorious for fakes?

[Optimus Prime]

Ha Ha! Jewelry is tacky. Are you Italian?

[pkang0202]

Go to Itaewon and buy jewelry. Thats funny.

Maybe after I buy jewelry in Itaewon, I'll go to China to buy a real Louis Vuitton bag.

[brento1138]

[atomic42]

[FistFace]

Just bought a diamond ring with my lady last weekend. Actually, I had purchased the diamond back home, and brought it here. We put it in a new setting. The jewelry shops here make me cringe. I knew we were getting crap compared to back home. We're kind of worried about them switching the diamond out or something, as well. I had it appraised in the USA, and have the papers, so we'll check when it comes back.

I had to raise a stink when we bought it, because they wanted to offer us a "cash price" to have it done. I wanted to use a credit card (paper trail), and they then upped the price by something like 70,000 won, claiming they would have to charge VAT! I went ballistic, and told them it was illegal to NOT charge VAT for the cash price, but then tack it on for a credit card purchase. They didn't want to report it, and if I paid for it by credit card, they would have to. I told them we were going to go elsewhere, and they magically came down in price.

Hope the right diamond is in there. I'll know it, and get it checked-out to be sure.

[spliff]

[Otherside]

Generally, Travellers/foriegners buying jewellry in ANY country are asking to be screwed.
There are generally 2 options:
1. The fancy jeweller on the High street which is geared towards tourists. You will get legit stones but you will pay through the nose.
2. The shady places which are being mentioned here.

Where I'm from Jewellry is big business, and the stuff i've seen being offered to tourists is heavily overpriced. That being said if you know the market you can find some great deals.

On the other hand, why would anyone buy jewellry in Korea (it's not like they have a tradition of great 'craftmanship' in the industry' nor are any of the 'raw materials' produced here so it wouldnt be much cheaper)? Its generally a big enough of an investment to warrant purchasing back home where you are less likely to be taken for a ride.

[atomic42]

[sistersarah]

you just have to be smart and REALLY shop around. i like jongno. i know, i know, there are a lot of shady vendors there, too, but if you take your time and talk with the salespeople, you'll find trustworthy vendors. i have a couple vendors i've been to a few times and i have beautiful jewelry from them.

[shaggy]

Sorry to hear about your ordeal. I bought a cheap "white gold" ring once here in Korea, never again!

Could you post the name of the store? There are many Mrs. Lee's running around.