My advice is to buy with your eyes open. There is no doubt that since the shocking failure of the second attempt to sell directly to the US, the general quality of jewellery has gone down. A few pointers:
1. Diamonds: don't buy - even when used as accents. They used to certify their diamond pieces through the London-based lab SGL. They stopped. 99% of what they sell are very included white/grey diamonds. I bought a pair of gold earrings about 4 years ago and was so shocked that I vowed never again - and I've stuck to that.
2. Metals: The general metal weight has dropped considerably. Their gold pieces were always touch & go but it's now questionable in their silver too. A ring really shouldn't be less than 2g of metal in total: it won't last. They've started sourcing from China too and it shows. Steve stopped producing their Tookalon range (too expensive) and replaced it with the Aryonna range which is ok but you can get this type all over the internet - sometimes cheaper.
3. Gemstones: there's less variety now and hardly any new quality ranges. Gone are the days of Anahi Ametrine or Zambian Amethyst. It's all jaspers, re-constituted turquoise or assembled/film coated. Ignore 'rare'. If there's a new range coming, search the web first to give you an idea of how 'rare' and a common price point.
4. Read the feefo 'Bad' and 'Poor' reviews. Yes, they are proportionately few in number and some are just grumpy but they give you an idea of what could go wrong. You'll find the most common complaints are about metal weight, diamond quality, chipped/cracked stones or poor finishing.
5. TV auctions: there is no doubt (in my mind) that they have altered their camera work. Ok, they may not use sparkle or colour filters but the camera angles are now heavily choreographed and they use the lightbox instead of showing the item in the studio far too often now. Watch with a PC, tablet or smartphone with you and check the details online, particularly the metal weight, gem size and dimensions of things like pendants - even if you have a ruler by you too so you know what, for example, a pendant drop of 9mm looks like! One of the growing complaints recently has been about the item received not being representative of the studio sample.
So just be more savvy than perhaps you might have needed to be a few years ago. And always buy for pleasure - never because of the TV presentation hype. I still stand by jewellery from Gems from about 3-5 years ago and - rarely now - I still buy but it's usually 'old stock', never from a live auction and when there's an appropriate discount code.
Hope that helps!
