Traditional Jade Hokitika — Local services in South Island

May related to racial discrimination at such a precious Jade store.

It was such a disappointing experience. I wanted to take home a art piece from a local store, especially since it have special memorible and meaning for a souvenir. I chose this shop because of its relatively high rating. 😅

When I saw some rings in the display case, I politely asked at the counter if I could open the case to try them on. Another lady nearby told me I could open it myself. While I was trying on rings to find the right size, a staff member came over and abruptly closed the case. I could understand that, as a group of tourists had just entered, and maybe they were concerned about security risks. So I continued to browse other display cases, looking at necklaces. I found a pendant I liked and opened the case to check the back for any flaws. At that moment, the staff member came over again, took the necklace out of my hand, put it back, and closed the case, saying, “If you want, we can pick for you.” Even not talked to me in face, There was no apology or sorry and excuse, for this rude service, and I felt extremely frustrated. Even there's a sorry to start the Sentence, I won't waste my time to write this review.

I don’t understand why other customers have praised this shop for being patient while they took their time choosing jade pieces. I had only been there for about 10-20 minutes, and yet I completely lost interest and left the store immediately. I don’t know if this treatment was because of my Asian appearance (I hope not). This was the first pendant piece I actually touched, while other non-Asian customers were browsing freely and touching different products, I didn't see they are stopped by that staff. The one I take is 85 dollars. I genuinely don’t understand the attitude.

By the way, I have really good experience in Hokitika, meet lovely people and try other activities for fun. I am writing this review because I'm so disappointed. I've been living in new Zealand for 1.7 year, never met service like this, the low star review is for the store attitude and that staff only, none relative to pounamu and...

As the name suggests, traditional jade feels more natural to buy pieces of Jade at. The family run business gets all it’s Jade locally and mills and shapes it in its own workspace which is visible along with raw samples of jade. Most pieces and jewelry are easily viewable in glass display units with prices clearly marked. If you ask the staff quickly grant you permission to look at various places from within the display cases. The staff is knowledgeable courteous and professional. We looked at a couple of other shades stores in town. There are only about six that we could see. And we came to the conclusion that this store offered the most genuine experience and...

Great little shop with local greenstone carved in Hokitika by local artists - much better than the big tourists stores around. They have beautiful pieces of jewellery and all sorts of prices to suit each budget. My partner bought a pair of earrings for me there and the greenstones fell off from the earrings after a month. Fortunately we brought them back and the lady kindly apologised and replaced them. I just wished they had warned us that I couldn't wear the earrings during my sleep when we bought the pair, but it was nice of them...