It was definitely Tulelei without the Garnet suffix for as long as I can remember. Tulelei featured heavily in the TV documentary too, and there's clips of Steve and the directors almost encouraging Adina to mislead, and again, Tulelei only appears on the on-screen graphics.If I remember correctly, Tulelei was called Tulelei Garnet in Steve's time. They didn't always call it Garnet, but neither did they go to great lengths to conceal it. Not like today's 'Nilimani.' They rarely, if ever, mention Kyanite when showing it, and all they talk about is Kashmir sapphire! Most viewers now believe it's a new-found Sapphire. There's definitely no accountability and they know they'll get away with it!
100%. It always was just 'Tulelei' in the branding and presentation. That TV segment had SB fretting over whether people would buy an orange garnet. Bonkers really. He had a bee in his bonnet about branding/naming even then. Probably a gemstone industry thing though, when you look at Aquaprase, Aquaiba beryl and Aquadite...It was definitely Tulelei without the Garnet suffix for as long as I can remember. Tulelei featured heavily in the TV documentary too, and there's clips of Steve and the directors almost encouraging Adina to mislead, and again, Tulelei only appears on the on-screen graphics.
And wasn't it on the front cover of his Lure of Gems tome? That was the days of interestingness. Actual books with knowledge, albeit changed slightly over time, but still, a good learning base.It was definitely Tulelei without the Garnet suffix for as long as I can remember. Tulelei featured heavily in the TV documentary too, and there's clips of Steve and the directors almost encouraging Adina to mislead, and again, Tulelei only appears on the on-screen graphics.
Contaminated, Is the right word.I think there are two periods really:
1. The 'on-air' output started to go downhill around 10 years ago - when the likes of Scott Worsfold, Matt MacNamara, Rae Carpenter, etc all started leaving. Those knowledgeable and calm presenters were gradually replaced with the shouty, screeching 'stock phrase' and 'faux shock face' presenters that have contaminated the channel since. The days of being told how stones were mined, how stones form, their crystal structure, etc have been replaced with useless information such as "a huge amount of gold", "Fred from Ayrshire has bought 73", "Get as many as you can, absolutely" and repetitive prompts of "Christiano, show everyone how to buy" 53 times an hour.
Some genius within Gemporia even thought it would be a good idea to take a gamble with TV's village idiot, Peter Simon, at one point. Thankfully that was short lived.........
He'd fit right in now alongside Jess Foley and Lindsey Carr - but back in the days when their output was far superior and professional, adding Peter Simon to the line-up was ALWAYS going to end in disaster.
2. The final nail in the coffin was when Steve Bennett 'handed over' the company - and gormless Wagstaffe was brought in to run the channel. A guy that seems to have failed in the same role at JM and TJC previously. Add to that, Jake and Dave seemed to have far too much influence. The constant patronising and insulting viewers intelligence started, being told constantly that there's 'breaking news' in the industry for every gemstone known to mankind (a note to Gemporia - if you tell us that Dave Troth is on tomorrow with 'breaking news', then it's not 'breaking news' - it's simply 'news').
The jewellery production seemed to have been transferred to China rather than India, and the gold tone and gold plating crap started to flood the channel. The quality of the stones seems to have reduced significantly too - with poor and wonky cutting, windowed and/or fish-eyed stones, heavily included stones, and constant batches of treated stones that can still easily be obtained in untreated form - stones such as dyed Lapis Lazuli, reconstituted Jaspers, irradiated Morganite, etc. Even stones such as Smokey Quartz (irradiated) and Lemon Quartz (heat treated) have flooded the channel - despite being readily available naturally, and relatively cheaply.
No variety on the channel. Just endless amounts of filled Rubies, 'Nilamani', bleached Pearls, dyed or smoked Opals - and don't even get me started on the Jadeite! Years and years of endless Jadeite!
The amount of BS, deception and misleading went into overdrive too - with stones being sold under made up names (Serenite, Nilamani, Lehrite, etc), deceptive names ('Ruby Quartz'), stones being sold as something they're not ('Maw-Sit-Sit', 'Quartzite' and 'Serpentine' being sold as 'Jade'), telling us that coated Amber is a 'Wonder of Nature', a dyed Opal is a 'natural phenomenon', and dodgy price comparisons of fissure-filled 'purplish-red' Rubies set into gold tone silver being price compared against untreated pure red Rubies set into platinum elsewhere, etc. The list is endless.
In addition to all of that, their days of being a jewellery channel seemed to become less and less - instead flogging anything from illuminous yellow scarves, lipstick, slippers, candles, CBD products, perfume, glass monstrosities that were supposed to resemble birds, carvings that look cheap and tacky (but are anything but cheap), plant seeds, bird boxes, pills and potions, slimming products, bamboo Y-fronts, etc. Soon we've got menopause products on the way. Seriously? They're now coming across as a 'jack of all trades, master of none' version of eBay on TV - but with over-inflated prices and slower delivery. Up until 18 months ago, god forbid you needed to send anything back for a refund - you could have been waiting up to a month to get your money back, before Steve Bennett intervened again last year to resolve that problem.
I simply do not trust the channel, or its presenters, any more - and the prices of some items are EXTORTIONATE too.
Gemporia were never perfect under Steve Bennett. Lets not forget that 'Tulelei' (Mandarine Garnet) was sold under Steve Bennett. Steve Bennett himself also sailed a bit close to the wind at times with some of his spiel during sales pitches when he was presenting.
However, things were a lot more trustworthy and transparent. It was clear that some of the exaggerations were exactly that - whereas these days, some viewers could be easily misled by some of the BS far more easily because the likes of Troth waffling for an hour make it seem more convincing.
Everything just seems a bit 'desperate' and 'we want your money' these days. They come across as though they're simply 'treading water' and aiming for short term survival rather than looking like they want to restructure the channel to resolve the current issues and aim for long term survival.
So true and like you I also don't buy.Jojo1, I've watched Gemporia (aka Gems or the Genuine Gemstone Company, as it's been previously known) since about 2009 and it was vastly superior to the channel you see today. In fact, no comparison - like comparing jewellery from Van Cleef & Arpels or Harry Winston with today's market stall offering.
Back then, in the main the presenters were smartly-dressed, clean and neat fingernails, no long talons with caked-on foundation showing under and around the female presenters' false nails and the presenters were genuinely knowledgeable about what they were selling and the different stones. Lots of film clips of presenters and Steve Bennett on location, loads of educational clips about the mining of the stones, and Gems Experience Days, where viewers could visit the studio, learn much more, visit the company's in-house museum and meet the presenters. The metals were gold, silver and platinum - one or two gold-plated pieces did appear, but rarely. Metal weights were good, and one of the silver jewellery ranges - Tookalon - has never been bettered by any channel, in my opinion. Really weighty silver, innovative designs and set with one or more large carat weight semi-precious stones, such as rose quartz, peridot, amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, onyx and so on. I still have Tookalon pieces that I treasure, and believe me the silver and gemstone weights were amazing. Bargains to be had when you checked the website for last ones or twos of an item - they would reduce the prices very low to sell the last couple, especially if you wore a smaller size ring (which luckily I did!) - for example platinum and solitaire diamond rings, with GIA certification, good clarity and colour gradings (rings set in 4 grams of metal not uncommon).
Sales were real sales and the birthday shows every October were well worth watching for Christmas gifts. No clothes, bric-a-brac, ugly carvings, cosmetics or other snake oil items. £10 shows, under £20 shows and under £30 shows were regularly on, so that new collectors could begin collecting the lower-priced pieces with good quality stones set in silver (occasionally gold as well).
The rot set in some years back, certainly by 2017, when the experienced presenters had begun to leave and it became about more high-pressure selling and extravagant and often nonsensical claims for the jewellery. Non jewellery items were introduced, and in spite of Steve Bennett previously boasting 'genuine gemstone jewellery, no brass and glass', the metal weights got thinner and thinner even in the more expensive pieces - and 'gold tone' rapidly appeared. Prices took a hike upwards, the quality of what you bought went down, and the cheaper gemstones on Gem Collector that new collectors could buy in some interesting different cuts largely disappeared. The current channel is worlds away from what it was when I first started viewing and buying. Hence I no longer buy!
So, where's the name Tulelie now? Gone.It was definitely Tulelei without the Garnet suffix for as long as I can remember. Tulelei featured heavily in the TV documentary too, and there's clips of Steve and the directors almost encouraging Adina to mislead, and again, Tulelei only appears on the on-screen graphics.
It didn't really matter that much about the Tulelei name change, after all it was Garnet, a cheap stone.So, where's the name Tulelie now? Gone.
