Drove through Maho last night at 9:30 pm and there were 3 police cars in the road across from the Sonesta. There is the Radison Jewelry store in the shops below La Terrasse Royal Islander. Could not see much while driving but will see what today brings in the news.

The J.N. robbery was Saturday according to the article, hopefully there was not another one last night. Not what the Maho area or the island in general needs.

Agree.

According to my friend at the Rialto it was Sunday. And the police showed up waaaay after it happened.

This is very disturbing.
Over the years I've spent many a late night hour choosing jewelry at JN sipping on their version of champagne.
One of my best memories, that beautiful type of tired that comes after a day spent swimming, sunning and boozing..jewelry shopping while high.

My paradise is slowly changing every year.

Now the Chinese groceries are robbed frequently, used to stop on way from one beach to another for snacks..now that too won't ever feel quite the same.

The St Martin I fell in love with
You could have had an early morning swim before the sun came up on Cupecoy.. bliss..all alone..nothing like being first person to walk the sand touch the water in the morning.
You could swim at Baie Rogue till darkness fell.
You could walk the streets of Philipsburgh after winning at Jump Up Casino any hour of the night.

It's sad when a thing you love changes.
What you fell in love with is not quite there still.
People and places change.
😭
Life

Daily Herald article indicated a video of the robbery may be circulating - is it available anywhere???
Not what the Maho area needs.

If i remember correctly...this store was also hit by a robbery around three or four years back. Wondering if the robberies can be connected.

I doubt it. Probably different robbers. Plenty on island.

More likely it is an easy target, or they have lax security measures somehow.

It has been a few years since I have been in that store but from what I recall, they had to unlock the door for customers to enter.

Huh. OK. There goes my theory, I guess!!

I know the one across the street next to the pharmacy is locked at all times. Forget the name.

The one near the pharmacy is J&N. There you have to be buzzed in twice to get into the store. 3 or 4 years ago their other store which was next to Hole in the Wall was robbed. They rebuilt as the robbers made a huge mess with bullet proof windows. They now moved that store to what was once Gold Creations. They are such wonderful people and its so sad that this happened again to them

J.N. Jewelers is still closed. They had this sign on their shutters

From that note it sounds as if there are two that are directly across the street from each other? The one next to the pharmacy is the one I have frequented when around the Maho area. They (well, their store in P-burg) designed some diamond starfish earrings to match a necklace that I had purchased from them in Maho.

I wouldn't declare the Maho area unsafe, but not sure any Jewelry store needs to be open after dark. As everybody said with the last issue in the area which was very late.

Perhaps all the jewels need to be well in a very impenetrable vault and the store locked down by dark.

For comparison, Monaco has top of the line jewelry stores and they buzz you in and each item is in its own locked conpartment.

I wouldnt declare Monaco unsafe either.

If Marigot has jewelry stores I bet they arent open after dark or 5pm for that matter.

The Goldfinger watch store in the Marina area in Marigot closes by 7:00 PM. They have a double door locking system. Buzz into first door then when it is closed and locked they buzz you through the second set of doors. Works well for them they said. It is such a shame they have to do this, but such is life.

The Maho area used to be quite the bustling area, and after dark was the most fun. Couples would stroll around after a leisurely dinner on their way to a club like Soprano's, Cheri's, Tantra, or now Hole in the Wall.

Personally the items I have purchased have been between 7-9pm....because I knew they were open and had spent the day at the beach or sailing.

If they practice keeping the doors locked and buzzing people in they will be safer. We purchased my wedding band at a store in an exclusive upscale area in DC, and it had an armed guard and the double door buzz system. I felt claustrophobic in the middle area waiting for the second door to open! Trapped! lol

BeachKitten....The 2 stores are across from each other. JN has moved from it original location due to damage from the hurricane to their new location across the street, formally Caribbean Gems. Jewels and Linen is next to the pharmacy. The store [GN] down in Phillipsburg is now closed permanently. Our friend Rajesh who worked at JN then transferd to the Phillipsburg store messaged me of their closing. He now is up in the Maho store. I spoke with him the other day.....no one was injured during the robbery. We've done business with them for over 25 years.....and like you it was in the evening strolling around after dinner....before hitting a club...:-) I hope they install the two locking safety doors which they had in the original store for their peace of mind.

I do not recall Caribbean Gems ever having a store in Maho. They have two in town and that is it as far as SXM as far as I know.

They took over Gold Creations across from their other store next to pharmacy.

Caribbean Gems or J.N. (or GN) jewelers?

Ruralcarrier....Oops, my bad.....I was thinking Gold Creations but my fingers typed Caribbean Gems...LOL And it is J.N. that is in the Gold Creations spot. G.N. was in town and is now closed.

Thank you.

Oh wow, why did they close the P-burg store GN? Seems that location would have done much more business?

I really have no idea who GN is. Caribbean Gems still has two stores in town and they are their only ones on the island. This has gotten very confusing with the mix up of what store was being discussed.

Beachkitten.....the closing of GN was basically because there are so many jewelry stores in P-burg.

Ruralcarrier.......it's not surprising that you don't know who GN is/was.....there are countless jewelry stores on the island. Beachkitten had mentioned JN's sister store in P-burg [GN] a few posts back. I was just letting her know that the store was now closed, I didn't want her to expect to go there and not find the store open any more. All or most of the employees are now up in Maho.

Talked to the owner yesterday. They are closing the store now at 9:30pm, no more open till 11 or even later. Double doors only, he even walked us out at the closing time, we were there around 10, he recognized us as he was finishing with another customer and let us in. He said the robbers were waiting outside for the last customer to leave and when they opened the doors- robbers pushed them in and entered the store.

OK. I am trying to understand. The robbers were outside waiting for the last customer to leave , didn't rob them of their new purchase, but opted to use their leaving to access to enter the store.
Boy that must have been scary.

Wendell

Yes he said it was. But Thank God nobody got hurt. These are his words also. Not a pleasant situation for sure...

OMG! That must have been crazy scary.

Another one of our favorite jewelers in P-burg walks with us (even during the day) to his car in the parking lot and drives us to where our car is parked. He has even met us at a restaurant or somewhere else if I had ordered something special.