Gem Collector - ignorance

[Rose de France]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

snowflake obsidian (natural volcanic glass) is now a variety of jasper!

Stromatolite (type of fossil) became jasper too.

At least none of them is jade.

For now.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

They used to sell 'Shiva Eye Shell' as 'Jasper' too.

Disgraceful - especially considering they issue 'certificates of authenticity' with this nonsense on too.

 

[Ant7t]

Absolutely random: and no, I'm not 'doing a Jess'. Hopping channels and there's a character on called Jasper. Do you think Gems would actually call him Jasper in the description?

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Absolutely random: and no, I'm not 'doing a Jess'. Hopping channels and there's a character on called Jasper. Do you think Gems would actually call him Jasper in the description?

Was it a jewellery channel? Perhaps his name was Jasper Carat?

 

[Ant7t]

Was it a jewellery channel? Perhaps his name was Jasper Carat?

Na, the only channel that seems to have a Jasper working for them is GC. He must be on commission though.

 

[Rose de France]

Disgraceful - especially considering they issue 'certificates of authenticity' with this nonsense on too.

They can't be trusted anymore.

 

[AndyW]

I don't know what's going on with Gem Collector these days.

Tuned in on YouTube (because their web feed is so bad, the page refuses to load any content on my main device - but that might just be me). Emily was on and she had scheduled an hour of anything with the word "quartz" - she said that, herself (when someone demo-requested a prasiolite).

I was surprised to see a Quartz hour. A little unusual, I thought. Perhaps it's whoppers or very fancy cuts. Not a bit of it. A couple of standard cut clear, otherwise mostly irradiated, really boring smokey, "Montezuma" or some dyed Lehrer.

Apart from bigging up the dyed Lehrer seahorse ("have you ever seen a blue quartz?" and the usual master carver spiel), which really really does look as if it was cut on a jigsaw, we were treated to a lecture about how SI clarity quartz was amazing and that she'd never seen a Type I quartz, speaking as if the GIA said that they didn't exist. Apart from the repeated shows on Gemporia with Optic Quartz jewellery, that has to be rubbish? I have plenty of cheap, flawless clear quartz (to show off a variety of fancy cuts). I felt a bit as if there was some gaslighting going on.

One Star Buy was a large-ish clear oval quartz - brilliant cut (oval brilliant is the worst so-called "cut", in my opinion - a guaranteed windowing cut) but somehow a Brilliant Cut is now "bespoke lapidary"? The smokey quartz was very, very average and even a price of £6.99 (not including P&P) was twice the market range for similar.

Hours don't start now until ten past - if you're lucky. Sometimes only 20 pieces. She managed to show 3 stones by 8.40 and one of those was a demo request. Not too long ago, the hour would have 40 - 50 stones and Emily would be powering through the requests and still run out of time, trying to keep up. Now we have overblown stories that fill the time. Previously regular customers who'd take the time to message in seem to have disappeared.

Sad. Maybe, with this month being the Gemporia Birthday marketing angle, we'll see some surprises. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[historymystery]

I don't know what's going on with Gem Collector these days.

Tuned in on YouTube (because their web feed is so bad, the page refuses to load any content on my main device - but that might just be me). Emily was on and she had scheduled an hour of anything with the word "quartz" - she said that, herself (when someone demo-requested a prasiolite).

I was surprised to see a Quartz hour. A little unusual, I thought. Perhaps it's whoppers or very fancy cuts. Not a bit of it. A couple of standard cut clear, otherwise mostly irradiated, really boring smokey, "Montezuma" or some dyed Lehrer.

Apart from bigging up the dyed Lehrer seahorse ("have you ever seen a blue quartz?" and the usual master carver spiel), which really really does look as if it was cut on a jigsaw, we were treated to a lecture about how SI clarity quartz was amazing and that she'd never seen a Type I quartz, speaking as if the GIA said that they didn't exist. Apart from the repeated shows on Gemporia with Optic Quartz jewellery, that has to be rubbish? I have plenty of cheap, flawless clear quartz (to show off a variety of fancy cuts). I felt a bit as if there was some gaslighting going on.

One Star Buy was a large-ish clear oval quartz - brilliant cut (oval brilliant is the worst so-called "cut", in my opinion - a guaranteed windowing cut) but somehow a Brilliant Cut is now "bespoke lapidary"? The smokey quartz was very, very average and even a price of £6.99 (not including P&P) was twice the market range for similar.

Hours don't start now until ten past - if you're lucky. Sometimes only 20 pieces. She managed to show 3 stones by 8.40 and one of those was a demo request. Not too long ago, the hour would have 40 - 50 stones and Emily would be powering through the requests and still run out of time, trying to keep up. Now we have overblown stories that fill the time. Previously regular customers who'd take the time to message in seem to have disappeared.

Sad. Maybe, with this month being the Gemporia Birthday marketing angle, we'll see some surprises. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think Gem Collector is struggling. Emily's giggling and silly stories are irritating, and IMO some of the information she gives is inaccurate, and Jim isn't a good 'fit' with that channel at all. I think they've lost a lot of the customers that used to buy regularly when Alex presented, you don't hear the old names being mentioned or messaging in as they used to. It wouldn't surprise me if they cut the hours down even more, or the channel disappeared completely and any loose stones appeared on Gemporia.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Emily is out of her depth. She's not a natural TV presenter. She also has little knowledge of the stones. If she does have knowledge of the stones (which I presume she must have, in order to pass her GIA AJP exam), then she shows little of it. As Andy says, she waffles and comes out with blanket statements that are not only nonsense, but also quite insulting to viewers that, with no disrespect to Gems TV viewers, are far more knowledgeable about gemstones. After all, it's a channel for collectors, not spontaneous buyers that like the look of what they see on TV.

She tries too hard to be like Alex - funny and likeable. The problem is, Alex was funny and likeable - but he could also snap away from that and go into serious mode to share his knowledge about what he was selling. Alex was good at balancing things out. Emily seems incapable of balancing things out - she's just constantly in full on, giggle mode.

In my opinion, Emily wants the show to be all about her.

I've said it before, but Jim is a good presenter and he's always been popular - but his enthusiastic 'bouncing on the spot', bubble style of presenting just doesn't fit Gem Collector.

I'm repeating myself, but Nick's style of presenting is PERFECT for Gem Collector. Calm, professional, knowledgeable - but still shows his personality and likeable side too. This was the same when Lara De Leuw and Katie Ho presented. It was gemstones first, presenters second. These days, it feels like its all about the presenters, with the gemstones becoming secondary.

I also feel that Gem Collector is struggling - and I'm not surprised the 'old names' are no longer mentioned. There are only so many Tanzanites, Rubies and Quartz's you can buy. It's the same old things on Gem Collector. There's no variety. When they do occasionally bring something new, it's just Agates and Jaspers. Gone are the days when we'd have Zincite, Cavansite, Dioptase, Azurite (gem quality Azurite - not the opaque stuff), etc.

I don't know who their customer base is these days. There's nothing 'rare' or unusual for the more serious collectors - but there's also no 'entry level' stones for beginners, such as Tigers Eye, Angelite, untreated Quartz, etc. I cannot think of one gemstone retailer that does not have Tigers Eye in stock - except for Gem Collector. They've not had it since it sold out about 4 years ago.

Gem Collector sell what THEY want to sell - they no longer sell what WE want to buy.

The final nail in the coffin is that their prices are extortionate, yet the quality of stones and/or cuts has rapidly gone downhill.

In my opinion, it'll go back to the days when it was shoehorned into The Lounge for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. They'll likely stick it on Gems TV in the quieter hours, such as for an hour with Angeline at lunchtime or Steph in the morning.

RIP Gem Collector.

 

[Ant7t]

Just a quick interjection. Why are GC doing 20th birthday shows when 'they' are not 20. They have their own birthday, as does JM etc. I'd be inclined to agree with Historymystery regarding GC being integrated into the main channel. After all, we've all seen 'loose' stones sold on Gemporia through the recent years, as well as those 'crossover' shows where JM GD do their JM-ing on Gemporia.

Actually for the amount of hours the overall channels have between them, they could consolidate them onto the one channel. Ignoring the hobby / craft / sewing or whatever they also do. Say 12 hours a day between 3 channels. That's 4 hours each. Probably sell a lot more that way. Less time to spiel and 'fill' because they have a limited time on each show. Don't mind me. Once I start.....

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Just a quick interjection. Why are GC doing 20th birthday shows when 'they' are not 20. They have their own birthday, as does JM etc. I'd be inclined to agree with Historymystery regarding GC being integrated into the main channel. After all, we've all seen 'loose' stones sold on Gemporia through the recent years, as well as those 'crossover' shows where JM GD do their JM-ing on Gemporia.

Actually for the amount of hours the overall channels have between them, they could consolidate them onto the one channel. Ignoring the hobby / craft / sewing or whatever they also do. Say 12 hours a day between 3 channels. That's 4 hours each. Probably sell a lot more that way. Less time to spiel and 'fill' because they have a limited time on each show. Don't mind me. Once I start.....

The GC birthday date seems to vary anyway. Alex was always adamant that he launched Gem Collector on the very first day it aired as a solo channel - but he didn't. Matt Bennett launched it. Matt Bennett was the one and only presenter for about a week or so. Then they brought over Alex from Gems TV and Matt Macnamara from Rocks TV as the main presenters.

Gem Collector's birthday is March - but I'm fairly sure that either this year or last year, they had it down a month or two later.

If I could be bothered, I could look back through my records and find the exact date it launched because I remember buying an untreated green 'Kunzite' (Hiddenite) on the launch day.

 

[AndyW]

Gem Collector sell what THEY want to sell - they no longer sell what WE want to buy.

This 👆.

I forgot to mention that I remember when, unless you were focussed and pretty damn sure, hours regularly used to be complete sell-outs before the (much shorter) break at the top of the hour was over!

Absolutely 😁 everything changed at the same time as the move to the new studio. Whatever strategic decisions were made at that time, which probably precipitated Alex's decision to leave, have resulted in a GC that I don't recognise any longer. Video shorts of Jake Thompson talking up the "community" are as misplaced and sadly as outdated as the repeats of Rae Carpenter on "Jewellery has a legacy...".

 

[historymystery]

Emily is out of her depth. She's not a natural TV presenter. She also has little knowledge of the stones. If she does have knowledge of the stones (which I presume she must have, in order to pass her GIA AJP exam), then she shows little of it. As Andy says, she waffles and comes out with blanket statements that are not only nonsense, but also quite insulting to viewers that, with no disrespect to Gems TV viewers, are far more knowledgeable about gemstones. After all, it's a channel for collectors, not spontaneous buyers that like the look of what they see on TV.

She tries too hard to be like Alex - funny and likeable. The problem is, Alex was funny and likeable - but he could also snap away from that and go into serious mode to share his knowledge about what he was selling. Alex was good at balancing things out. Emily seems incapable of balancing things out - she's just constantly in full on, giggle mode.

In my opinion, Emily wants the show to be all about her.

I've said it before, but Jim is a good presenter and he's always been popular - but his enthusiastic 'bouncing on the spot', bubble style of presenting just doesn't fit Gem Collector.

I'm repeating myself, but Nick's style of presenting is PERFECT for Gem Collector. Calm, professional, knowledgeable - but still shows his personality and likeable side too. This was the same when Lara De Leuw and Katie Ho presented. It was gemstones first, presenters second. These days, it feels like its all about the presenters, with the gemstones becoming secondary.

I also feel that Gem Collector is struggling - and I'm not surprised the 'old names' are no longer mentioned. There are only so many Tanzanites, Rubies and Quartz's you can buy. It's the same old things on Gem Collector. There's no variety. When they do occasionally bring something new, it's just Agates and Jaspers. Gone are the days when we'd have Zincite, Cavansite, Dioptase, Azurite (gem quality Azurite - not the opaque stuff), etc.

I don't know who their customer base is these days. There's nothing 'rare' or unusual for the more serious collectors - but there's also no 'entry level' stones for beginners, such as Tigers Eye, Angelite, untreated Quartz, etc. I cannot think of one gemstone retailer that does not have Tigers Eye in stock - except for Gem Collector. They've not had it since it sold out about 4 years ago.

Gem Collector sell what THEY want to sell - they no longer sell what WE want to buy.

The final nail in the coffin is that their prices are extortionate, yet the quality of stones and/or cuts has rapidly gone downhill.

In my opinion, it'll go back to the days when it was shoehorned into The Lounge for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. They'll likely stick it on Gems TV in the quieter hours, such as for an hour with Angeline at lunchtime or Steph in the morning.

RIP Gem Collector.

It's a pity, because like many others I suppose, I started with them years ago, buying common cheaper gemstones that you mention, such as white quartz, amethyst, rose quartz and smokey quartz, and collecting different cuts. Some of the cuts were really impressive and unusual, and I formed a nice collection of different and interesting cuts. The 'beginners' stones of the same kind on the GC turntable now are often cabuchons with little colour, badly-cut and certainly no unusual cuts and for the less common stones they are charging ridiculous prices, again for often poorly-cut stones with little colour. GC was a good start point for any loose gemstone collector, and the prices were very reasonable. When other companies can have the same or better stones for a lot less money, why would anyone bother with GC. So unless they change radically (which won't happen) I think their days are numbered.