Gemporia 'Downfall'

[Ant7t]

Not the most original title, and I have given my thoughts on it elsewhere here, but.

I am not a 'from the beginning' watcher of the channel, but I think Gems started going downhill when SB 'sold / gave' his employees joint ownership of the company. Not talking about how fast it's gone down currently. Did any of the 'older' watchers (not age ) notice if it started earlier, or later. Just curious

 

[Battiola73]

When I first started watching it was very professional, had lots of different stones but mainly the presenters knew their stuff. Used to sell many different items in an hour. Apart from the odd occasion SB might be one with one of the main presenters, it was a solo presenter. None of this lecturing for 55 minutes, then a clock and then the price of the singular piece of jewellery actually being revealed, along with shouty presenters spouting Wow, absolutely, etc.

I honestly can’t remember when they changed to the more Bid TV style of presentation though. And another thing the presenters were all smartly dressed and looked neat and tidy. Pretty certain they women didn’t have the false talons they seem to have these days.

 

[Anna]

I can't remember when I started to watch, but when I discovered Gems I was delighted. I love jewellery and here was a channel that had wall to wall jewellery. All different prices. I loved an under £30 wheel, well used to, no longer see them. I don't remember being bored watching, and certainly don't recall being lectured for hour upon hour by boring Jade Troth. I used to enjoy watching Steve present a show. You could be right about it going downhill when Steve 'sold'. It no longer is in any way shape or form interesting now to watch, and is more like torture if I happen upon the channel whilst looking for something to watch. I cannot understand how anyone in authority at Gems can think Gemporia is watchable, or enjoyable at all for a customer these days.

 

[Ant7t]

When I first started watching it was very professional, had lots of different stones but mainly the presenters knew their stuff. Used to sell many different items in an hour. Apart from the odd occasion SB might be one with one of the main presenters, it was a solo presenter. None of this lecturing for 55 minutes, then a clock and then the price of the singular piece of jewellery actually being revealed, along with shouty presenters spouting Wow, absolutely, etc.

I honestly can’t remember when they changed to the more Bid TV style of presentation though. And another thing the presenters were all smartly dressed and looked neat and tidy. Pretty certain they women didn’t have the false talons they seem to have these days.

The first time I remember watching it casually was when they used to sell Russian Alexandrite and not really watching because at that time I couldn't afford the prices for the stones I was interested in. And yes, what kept my attention was the information and the video 'inserts' of the stone's 'story', not the video inserts of how to buy. That was the time they used to sell their video inserts complete as a DVD, as well as giving away little alphabet books of the stones. AKA as very informative and interesting. Hence the watching to the point of buying. Long gone are those days, it seems. And even if they assume the customers 'know' it all, that's not the point, as long as they don't over do it. And now the only video inserts are the old ones where SB is 'dark' and 'larger' aka younger. So, there's also the case of 'what this again?'

And if I recall, they had a "law" in the company that said no 'flashy' or too long a nail. Now look at them. Kati and Milly to name but the two. And on JM, Elena. I find myself wondering about the nails and looking 'under' them if they in close up.

 

[Ant7t]

I can't remember when I started to watch, but when I discovered Gems I was delighted. I love jewellery and here was a channel that had wall to wall jewellery. All different prices. I loved an under £30 wheel, well used to, no longer see them. I don't remember being bored watching, and certainly don't recall being lectured for hour upon hour by boring Jade Troth. I used to enjoy watching Steve present a show. You could be right about it going downhill when Steve 'sold'. It no longer is in any way shape or form interesting now to watch, and is more like torture if I happen upon the channel whilst looking for something to watch. I cannot understand how anyone in authority at Gems can think Gemporia is watchable, or enjoyable at all for a customer these days.

And they used to have 'first timer' jewellery: Usually £10 as an intro. And whenever SB was on, he usually went OTT on his price drops, on purpose or otherwise, it worked. Which, as an aside, today they had the second in command doing a tanzanite show with Hattie. He 'thought' one item was white gold and 'sold' it for £499, I think. It was platinum: and he 'didn't know'? Those sorts of thing are daft. They set the show, they see the goods and profess ignorance? I know I am off track a bit, but I don't think back in the day they'd have been so lax or unprofessional.

 

[Battiola73]

No they certainly wouldn’t. To my mind it’s sloppy, lazy presenting by sloppy presenters. I could understand it if they were selling 20+ dfferent pieces in an hour that they might’ve made a genuine error, as prepping for that quantity of items know I’d forget. They have no excuse these days. How long does it take to prep for one item or the same repetitive lectures (all the same just change the stone!).

 

[Jojo1]

I have no idea when it all started because I only watched from May this year. I was interested in some of the live shows because of the low prices, particularly the wheel when Angeline occasionally brought it out at noon uk time. Since then I check online for discounts and new stock and use the app to catch Jeff’s shows or request load from code. They have some good buys but the auctions are rarely where you get the best deals. I am buying less and less as my wishlist is now done. I do find it odd that when Steve or Jake are on for jewelry shows, they don’t stuff around as much. Still it’s all very messy.

 

[Deasmum]

I only started watching in January 2022, but I can say Gemporia has declined massively since then. Today I was looking at my jewellery collection and thinking that nowadays we simply don't see beautiful 9k gold jewellery from Gemporia and variety of stones even less

 

[Battiola73]

Think I started watching around 2010 when think it was called Gems TV. Never bought anything as mainly in yellow gold, but it was informative and interesting. We used to play “guess the price” to see which one of us guessed correctly. Used to have a massive variety of gemstones.

 

[Always complaining]

Not the most original title, and I have given my thoughts on it elsewhere here, but.

I am not a 'from the beginning' watcher of the channel, but I think Gems started going downhill when SB 'sold / gave' his employees joint ownership of the company. Not talking about how fast it's gone down currently. Did any of the 'older' watchers (not age ) notice if it started earlier, or later. Just curious

That’s when I remember it started to go downhill. The first thing was the presenters started presenting their own ranges most of which were dreary copies of things already on sale all over. . Next I remember the cutting back on quality and gold weights. The severe cutting back of the use of diamonds with main stones. Then the better presenters leaving or being made redundant. Then the cutting back of the concessions eg price promises. And now presenters screeching and waving their arms about and lying in desperation. What other delights have they in mind for us I wonder.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

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 *****, 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.

 

[historymystery]

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!

 

[Ant7t]

I have no idea when it all started because I only watched from May this year. I was interested in some of the live shows because of the low prices, particularly the wheel when Angeline occasionally brought it out at noon uk time. Since then I check online for discounts and new stock and use the app to catch Jeff’s shows or request load from code. They have some good buys but the auctions are rarely where you get the best deals. I am buying less and less as my wishlist is now done. I do find it odd that when Steve or Jake are on for jewelry shows, they don’t stuff around as much. Still it’s all very messy.

That's another reason I kept watching it. I more or less worked my way through the top 5 and others, but in general, ignoring the fact that I'm between jobs as I write, I haven't bought anything from them in over two months because nothing has really grabbed my attention. Plus, to repeat 'everyone' here, there's only so much you can watch now. Back in the day, you could watch, and I did, even without buying, for hours (in the background, I wasn't that addicted ) because you learnt as you watched. Now all you learn from them is where the channel changer (or off button) is: which is sad.

 

[Ant7t]

I only started watching in January 2022, but I can say Gemporia has declined massively since then. Today I was looking at my jewellery collection and thinking that nowadays we simply don't see beautiful 9k gold jewellery from Gemporia and variety of stones even less

That's actually a testament as to how fast it has happened: that you've noticed in such a short period.

 

[Ant7t]

That’s when I remember it started to go downhill. The first thing was the presenters started presenting their own ranges most of which were dreary copies of things already on sale all over. . Next I remember the cutting back on quality and gold weights. The severe cutting back of the use of diamonds with main stones. Then the better presenters leaving or being made redundant. Then the cutting back of the concessions eg price promises. And now presenters screeching and waving their arms about and lying in desperation. What other delights have they in mind for us I wonder.

You saying that, if you 'ignore' the way the business is being run, the quality has definitely dropped too. Diamond accents have magically turned into zircon / white topaz. Yet, the prices don't 'drop' do they. Don't say they do, coz it's a reverse auction site (Saying that to me )

 

[Ant7t]

1. The 'on-air' output started to go downhill around 10 years ago - when the likes of Scott Worsfold, Matt MacNamara, Rae Carpenter,

I can't really comment on your '1' section, as that was before my proper watching time. I do remember Rae though, if that helps

In addition to all of that, their days of being a jewellery channel seemed to become less and less

That didn't help them either. Glorified department store. Too many fingers in too many pies, and as you say, Jack of all trades. So thinly spread: no 'now' speciality. Someone 'high up' made me smile yesterday: it may have been in a birthday ad? (Related to your short term comment). He said, and I paraphrase, here's to the next 20.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

He said, and I paraphrase, here's to the next 20.

Perhaps he meant minutes - or the amount of 30 second clocks to be shown in Troths next 30 minute ramble.

 

[Marietta]

I can't remember when I started to watch, but when I discovered Gems I was delighted. I love jewellery and here was a channel that had wall to wall jewellery. All different prices. I loved an under £30 wheel, well used to, no longer see them. I don't remember being bored watching, and certainly don't recall being lectured for hour upon hour by boring Jade Troth. I used to enjoy watching Steve present a show. You could be right about it going downhill when Steve 'sold'. It no longer is in any way shape or form interesting now to watch, and is more like torture if I happen upon the channel whilst looking for something to watch. I cannot understand how anyone in authority at Gems can think Gemporia is watchable, or enjoyable at all for a customer these days.

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 *****, 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.

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!

 

[Marietta]

I can't remember when I started to watch, but when I discovered Gems I was delighted. I love jewellery and here was a channel that had wall to wall jewellery. All different prices. I loved an under £30 wheel, well used to, no longer see them. I don't remember being bored watching, and certainly don't recall being lectured for hour upon hour by boring Jade Troth. I used to enjoy watching Steve present a show. You could be right about it going downhill when Steve 'sold'. It no longer is in any way shape or form interesting now to watch, and is more like torture if I happen upon the channel whilst looking for something to watch. I cannot understand how anyone in authority at Gems can think Gemporia is watchable, or enjoyable at all for a customer these days.

Well said Anna, I agree with you 100%.
It's now a complete farce and bears no resemblance to the original format. And, you're right about the nails. There was a strict code where presenters had to adhere to neutral, pale colours and short lengths. For the information of the current management team, 'That' is called attention to detail!!

 

[Marietta]

Well said Anna, I agree with you 100%.
It's now a complete farce and bears no resemblance to the original format. And, you're right about the nails. There was a strict code where presenters had to adhere to neutral, pale colours and short lengths. For the information of the current management team, 'That' is called attention to detail!!

Sorry Anna - it was 'historymystery' who mentioned the talon-like nails! I think its past my bedtime!