Gemstones for sale at Siem Reap Cambodia!

Siem Reap is not only famous for Angkor Wat and beautiful temples. It is also a shopping paradise. Yes, you heard it right! They may not have the largest malls in Asia or have a huge array of bazaars but what they have is quite unique and special. GEMSTONES!!!

Shining, shimmering, splendid gemstones!

My colleagues were in Siem Reap last 2013 and were very fond of gemstones. Once they knew that I'd travel to Cambodia, they did not hesitate and asked me a favor to buy some precious gems. They were trying to complete their collections of birthstones I guess. haha

They gave me a picture of the lady where they bought their gemstones and was told her shop was in Pub Street.

The Pub Market. One of the famous night bazaar in Siem Reap.

After a tiring day tour in Angkor Wat complex, we returned to our hotel and had a rest for awhile.

Around 6 pm, we prepared ourselves and started to go out. The sky was dark not because it was night already but because a storm was approaching. Fortunately, we were already inside in the Pub Market and was saved from the heavy downpour at that time. 

We roam around the gemstone shops corner and looked for that lady seller. Together with my older sister and brother, we searched for her and asked each merchants if they knew the lady in the picture. It was raining hard and my company were very tired already.  We searched and searched everywhere but we can't still see her. We were soaked in wet at that time since we did not bring umbrella.  We had thought to buy instead to other sellers but I insisted that we still looked for her. We went to other stores who sell different kind of  souvenirs like t-shirts and key chains and fortunately, one seller recognized the lady we were looking for. She said that the lady was indeed a merchant for gemstones but her store is located in "Old Market" and not here in "Pub Market". I was overjoyed to hear that and out of gratitude, we bought several items from her shop and continued to the Old Market.

Ruby pendants, anyone?

It was almost 8 pm at that time and Old Market closes as early as 9 PM. About a 10-minute ride with tuk-tuk (similar to tricycle) from the Pub Market, we arrived at a more peaceful Old Market. A lot of stores were already closed so we asked someone and presented the same picture if they knew her. The lady said she already left and her store closes early as 7 pm. We were dismayed at that time since all of our efforts were not reciprocated yet. Luckily the lady was her friend and was very kind enough to contact her for us even though she is a seller of gemstones herself. She gave me the phone and I started to had a conversation. I introduced myself to the lady whom my colleagues bought their gemstones before. She was so nice that she was willing to go back for us despite I told her that we won't buy the gemstones yet but we just like to take pictures so that we can show it to our friends from the Philippines. Around 15 minutes, she arrived with her husband and opened her store. Indeed, she was the person we'd been looking for.

We wasted no time and started digging in on what we came for. We were literally at awe when super bright colorful gemstones were presented to our eyes. 

Amethyst and sapphires.

I took lots of pictures and asked for their prices. They have several set of gemstones like rubies, sapphires, zirconium, opal, emerald, amethyst, to name a few. Prices ranges from 15 to 20 for earrings and 20 to 30 for necklaces; 10 to 20 for rings depending on its sizes and stones (in USD) which is both offered just for us since normally prices go as high as $100!

Gemstones for sale. LOL

I made a selection in 3 or more as pictured above so that my colleagues will be able to pick whats' their liking.

Lord of the rings

We thanked her and promised to come back tomorrow morning since I'll show the pictures first to my sister and colleagues for their selection.

More gemstones!

One thing that is very important to us is that they accept credit cards which is very convenient. The next day, early as 8 am, we had our breakfast and returned to the old market. Just in tine, they arrived and open their store just for us. I already had a list on what to buy so it just took us just 30 minutes to finish the sale transaction. We bought several precious items that is worth more than $500. 

And the mystery lady we'd been looking for..haha

The lady was very generous and she gave us free necklaces to pair for all the pendants we bought. Lucky us!

We went to our hotel and packed up  everything and continued  to our next stop- Pnom Penh!