What would make you buy from Gemporia again?

[AndyW]

Oh my word, thats SHOCKING but to be honest I'm not surprised anymore by their underhanded ways or their dishonest presenters..

It is shocking. That Tanzanite deception, as I would see it, was a good call by TMWNN.

Poppy is on now blasting the ear drums on the repeats as Primal. Makes me quite cross, the slick use of words and elisions creating a sense of validated science behind what she's saying. Vaguely referencing "recent studies" she's found (studies are published by the hundreds, not all end up as conclusions and too many of them are for results in mice!!). It's disgraceful. Why on earth do they still get away with claiming, for example, on the one hand that "Bee Propolis" is anti-microbial and then in the same breath refer to it helping with colds and feeling better during COVID.

Luckily, time is up for this sort of bullshit. Real doctors are now jumping on social media, talking about specifically this sort of garbled disinformation by companies looking to frighten or "educate" people out of their money.

 

[FreyjaMidnight]

As it says on the tin......

Gemporia have lost a lot of our trust and / or custom it seems. What would make you switch back to Gemporia?

These are the crucial things that would win me back:

1. Make viewing enjoyable again. I don't want to be waffled to for half an hour. I don't want to look at numerous dubious price comparisons. I don't want to be patronised. I don't want singing to. I don't want to be told I should trust a presenter via a 'Game of Trust' auction after that very same presenter had an ASA adjudication against them that showed they're not trustworthy. I don't want to be told to multi-buy everything. I don't want "educating" - especially from Lindsey Carr! I don't want to be shown how to use the app every 5 minutes. I don't want to be told "how to play" - spending £3000 on a Lorique ring is not a "game". Go back to the enjoyable, informative, but more 'relaxed' ways of selling.

2. Sell things for what they are. Don't tell me a wishy-washy Jadeite carving of an undistinguishable thingymabob in gold tone is a 'heirloom' piece. Don't price compare a dyed £20 Opal to a natural £120,000 rare natural black opal. If you're flogging a £150 1ct Tourmaline and heavily included accent diamonds 9ct gold ring, then price match it against another £150 1ct Tourmaline and heavily included accent diamonds 9ct gold ring at H Samuel - not against an 8ct Tourmaline with VSI grade Diamonds set in platinum from a designer brand.

3. Price accordingly. A dyed Agate pendant in gold tone is cheap costume jewellery. It is worth about £20 - not £99.99p. Sell it as costume jewellery. Don't patronise us by telling us its an heirloom piece. A filled Emerald in Gold is NOT worth the same as a natural or oiled Emerald in gold. A dyed Lapis pendant is not worth the same as an untreated Lapis pendant. Stop taking us for mugs!

4. Win back our trust. If your products really are as high a quality as you try to make us believe using, quotes like "it's an heirloom piece", "It can be passed down from generation to generation", "get it valued" or "I can't give you investment advice but...........", then why do you only offer the statutory minimum of 6 months warranty? If you stood by your products, you'd offer a 2 or 3 year warranty at least - particularly on more expensive items such as Lorique or Tomas Rae items. If you're going to claim something is going to last for years, then BACK IT UP WITH A REASONABLE WARRANTY!

5. Be honest and transparent. Stop the ludicrous claims. Stop 'pushing' treatments off on-screen descriptions so that they can't be seen. Stop selling GREEN Tourmaline as Indicolite! Stop selling PINK sapphires as Padparadscha Sapphires.

I haven't bought from them in a while, but for me it's the quality that went right down hill. I had a pair of fish hook silver earrings and the fish hook bent when I was trying to get them in my ear! They were under £10 if I remember right, but they shouldn't have bent like that. I wasn't rough with them either. I also bought some pearl studs which one of the pearls come out of the pin it was glued on place on after about 3 wears! The quality is just so lacking & not what it used to be at all

 

[VapidStoat]

I found out because it was me that reported it - so the ASA kept me updated on their investigation. The final ruling also gets posted on the ASA website too:

Gemporia Ltd

www.asa.org.uk

But, basically, Ellis flogged a Tanzanite ring in a so-called auction for £79.99p. She claimed that "We’re going to take it under a hundred pounds its brand new, something’s gone wrong there, no wonder everybody’s gone for this" - implying to viewers that the price of £79.99p was a mistake, it should have sold for more, and people should rush to 'pick up the phone and buy'.

But at THE EXACT SAME TIME she was doing that pitch, the ring was for sale on their website AT FULL PRICE, for just £57.99p

Makes our El's vaunted "Game of Trust" even more grimly amusing and ironic.

I wonder if she'll be angrily squawking about this on air like she did about viewers complaining about Dave Sloth and his endless snotty jade

 

[Rose de France]

but for me it's the quality that went right down hill

I agree with you. Their metal weights become thinner as time goes by. They offer more and more heavily treated (filled, dyed) stones. And they increasingly use glue instead of traditional goldsmithing techniques.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

I can't take the credit for the Tanzanite ring spotting.

Someone else on here spotted it - but it angered me so much, I decided to report it.

 

[historymystery]

Oh my word, thats SHOCKING but to be honest I'm not surprised anymore by their underhanded ways or their dishonest presenters..

It's appalling! And they shouldn't get off with just a warning if the ASA had any clout - for something like this they should be taken off air for a period as a warning shot. The trouble is they get away with a slap on the knuckles so they just don't care.

 

[GrahamBristol]

Stop stating throughout the 'show' that everything has sold out when anyone looking at the website on the Just Missed part of the Watch Live page can see that there are unsold items available!
Improve the catches, bolt ring and lobster clasp styles as they are way to flimsy. I might have only paid £199 for the bracelet but to replace it I would have to pay the thickest part of £50,000 so at least spend a few extra quid finishing the item with a reliable closure!

 

[Schmoo]

Good God, I wish someone had not pointed out that revolting coughing by Adina.

It is now all I hear, no attempt at basic manners such as covering her mouth or saying excuse me.

Just full on open-mouthed coughing, mid sentence, right down the mic. Gross.

 

[LV73]

Good God, I wish someone had not pointed out that revolting coughing by Adina.

It is now all I hear, no attempt at basic manners such as covering her mouth or saying excuse me.

Just full on open-mouthed coughing, mid sentence, right down the mic. Gross.

Adina is gross, full stop. She always looks a bit grubby, wears the same clothes constantly, and her hair (which she fiddles with constantly) looks like a birds nest. Plus she can never quite finish a....sentence.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Adina is gross, full stop. She always looks a bit grubby, wears the same clothes constantly, and her hair (which she fiddles with constantly) looks like a birds nest. Plus she can never quite finish a....sentence.

She can be quite witty though - unlike Angeline, who looks like she'd smash your face in if you said the wrong thing to her.

 

[historymystery]

For me to start buying from Gemporia again I'd like the quality silver pieces back - some more unusual pendant and bracelet designs, like the old Tookalon range (I know, it's never, ever, going to happen). I bought Tookalon pieces and similar in the past and they have really lasted the course. Still as good today as when I bought them and in heavy weights of silver (I tended to buy pendants with just one large solitaire stone, like agate, white topaz, lapis lazuli, citrine or amethyst). I realise that prices would be higher, everything's increased in price over the years, but you would be buying items that will last: surely some of the flimsy, featherweight silver bits today will bend and break before they've been worn twice? So you might as well save your cash.

I think better quality gold pieces are out of the question in future - as Gems seem to have their own unique ideas on the price per gram of gold! And again, I wonder what is the point of buying these flimsy pieces, especially at top dollar prices that are just eye-watering for gold-set bog standard gemstones. And gem collector need to come into the real world with their prices, they are just off the wall.

 

[historymystery]

Adina is gross, full stop. She always looks a bit grubby, wears the same clothes constantly, and her hair (which she fiddles with constantly) looks like a birds nest. Plus she can never quite finish a....sentence.

Whenever I'm channel flicking and I see she's on, the remote is pressed straight away. It's the constant nose-rubbing (picking?) and coughing without a hand over her mouth or a hanky that frankly makes me feel a bit nauseous and the flicking of the unbrushed hair that gets me, also the clothes that look as though she's slept in them. And when she's handling the piece of jewellery during all the nose-rubbing and coughing then it's quite sick-making - urghhhh! Someone once said to me that she looks as though she spends her days in a hedge, and as nasty as this sounds I can see exactly what they mean - she just doesn't look as though she's even put a brush to her hair, and if it's getting in her way then style it in an updo, she has lovely thick hair and it would look good.

Adina is an attractive lady, and unless she did her training at the El Crappo School of Dramatic Art, she should know that this is not a professional look for anyone 'on the box'. She's been on telly long enough to know the ropes - if she needs to wipe her nose, for heaven's sake do it when the camera pans to the jewellery or goes to a break, not when the viewers can see - and if she's got a permanent cold/cough then be sensible and professional and get it sorted. I know none of us know the hands our jewellery has passed through, but I couldn't buy a piece of jewellery from an auction she'd presented.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

I think better quality gold pieces are out of the question in future - as Gems seem to have their own unique ideas on the price per gram of gold!

I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

I get the impression that Gemporia, back in the glory days, used to design pieces of jewellery - and the weight of the metals was an afterthought. The weight were what they were - and then they were priced accordingly.

These days, it very much comes across that the metal weights are the primary concern - and designs are made working around weight restrictions.

A few days ago, they did a lovely gold ring with a huge stone. The stone was held in with doubled-up prongs, such was the size of it. BUT the band was ridiculously thin. It was way out of proportion with the rest of the ring. There is no way that the band would have adequately supported the body of the ring for any length of time if someone wanted to wear it regularly.

In my opinion, this is why they only offer the bare minimum legal requirement of a 6 month warranty. I suspect they know full well that their products are not designed to last. Once that six month period has passed, a faulty ring becomes YOUR problem rather than THEIR problem. You're on your own.

 

[historymystery]

I think you've hit the nail on the head there.

I get the impression that Gemporia, back in the glory days, used to design pieces of jewellery - and the weight of the metals was an afterthought. The weight were what they were - and then they were priced accordingly.

These days, it very much comes across that the metal weights are the primary concern - and designs are made working around weight restrictions.

A few days ago, they did a lovely gold ring with a huge stone. The stone was held in with doubled-up prongs, such was the size of it. BUT the band was ridiculously thin. It was way out of proportion with the rest of the ring. There is no way that the band would have adequately supported the body of the ring for any length of time if someone wanted to wear it regularly.

In my opinion, this is why they only offer the bare minimum legal requirement of a 6 month warranty. I suspect they know full well that their products are not designed to last. Once that six month period has passed, a faulty ring becomes YOUR problem rather than THEIR problem. You're on your own.

Absolutely right, they won't take the risk of giving a longer guarantee because they know it 'ain't going to last that long before the band on a ring snaps! At one time, I think they must have been getting some comments about the flimsy gold weights, because if you recall they use to spout a mantra something along the lines of 'you'd pay more for the stone alone, without the gold' - this is not verbatim by any means, but it was something along those lines. But if you want to actually wear the piece you've bought what's the point of paying good money for a stone set in a tiny amount of gold that you'd need to take to a jeweller and get re-set into a stronger, thicker shank? While you're doing that, it would surely make more sense to buy something set in a decent quantity of gold in the first place.

 

[AndyW]

Absolutely right, they won't take the risk of giving a longer guarantee because they know it 'ain't going to last that long before the band on a ring snaps! At one time, I think they must have been getting some comments about the flimsy gold weights, because if you recall they use to spout a mantra something along the lines of 'you'd pay more for the stone alone, without the gold' - this is not verbatim by any means, but it was something along those lines. But if you want to actually wear the piece you've bought what's the point of paying good money for a stone set in a tiny amount of gold that you'd need to take to a jeweller and get re-set into a stronger, thicker shank? While you're doing that, it would surely make more sense to buy something set in a decent quantity of gold in the first place.

Exactly. And maintain your well-earned reputation for producing affordable, wearable jewellery that threatened the dominance of the near-monopoly of the high street brands at the time.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

At one time, I think they must have been getting some comments about the flimsy gold weights, because if you recall they use to spout a mantra something along the lines of 'you'd pay more for the stone alone, without the gold'

Based on their logic there, they may as well just close Gems TV then and put Gem Collector on 24/7.

Then people can just buy the loose gemstones.

But that business model would fail too because people can just buy better quality stones at lower prices from GemSelect instead.

 

[Rose de France]

Nowadays even silver bands are shockingly thin.

They produce more and more rings containing less than 2 grams of silver.

It's obvious that they have financial problems.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Nowadays even silver bands are shockingly thin.

They produce more and more rings containing less than 2 grams of silver.

It's obvious that they have financial problems.

I've noticed that silver weights are also coming down too.

They're not passing those savings on to customers though. Quite the opposite in my opinion.

The frustrating thing is, considering silver is supposedly a 'precious metal', it's not expensive anyway.

 

[Rose de France]

I've noticed that silver weights are also coming down too.

They're not passing those savings on to customers though. Quite the opposite in my opinion.

The frustrating thing is, considering silver is supposedly a 'precious metal', it's not expensive anyway.

Maybe they should start using thick stainless steel instead of flimsy silver?

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Maybe they should start using thick stainless steel instead of flimsy silver?

A few people have suggested that over the years, and Gemporia dismissed it, on the grounds that they felt that precious gems should be set into precious metals too.

Personally, I think that if you're prepared to stuff Rubies full of fillings. or Opals full of dye, then you may as well just stick those in stainless steel. They have no worth as supposed 'precious gems'.

Stainless Steel doesn't tarnish anyway - unlike Silver.