Jeff Hayden tonight, after Hattie's show!

[recoveringgemaholic]

“Gemporia will always look after you” as said by Hattie tonight as I just flicked on. It’s made me irrationally angry. I know they don’t force people to buy but they market themselves on this. Being trustworthy and your friend. I’ve spent so much money on worthless tat and I honestly feel duped. Stones that fall out. Gems that become cloudy or lose colour. Items that cannot be sold on especially at the higher price points. Perhaps I’m angry at myself for falling for it!!

 

[user 17461]

Nah, each to their own, but i think Jim is totally different to Jess and Co. He doesn't scream and shout, or use the same phrases on repeat, or keep talking to the gallery calling people "Claire Bear" and "Haylz" every 30 seconds.

He's capable of actually stopping for breath, breaking up presentations up by talking about things he's done or life in general, and he is actually knowledgeable and tells us about stones, how and where they're mined, etc rather than using meaningless descriptions like "the light is dancing out of this piece" or "it's big, it's bold".

Unlike the other presenters that think they're auditioning for Hollyoaks with their poor acting and shocked faces when prices drop, Jim makes no secret of the fact that presenters have sheets with the prices already written on them in advance - whereas the others do their crap shocked faces even though they know what the prices are going to be before they go on air.

It's nice to have a calmer presenter that can talk normally instead of the usual suspects that shriek at us constantly.

Jim doesn't give us any more information than other presenters. Stones are heated, coated, filled or dyed? He doesn't say. He may not equate a gold flash cluster ring to some legendary piece of jewellery, or suffer the "pricing mishaps" other presenters always seem to have. Instead he starts bouncing up and down on his feet like he's just been force fed 16 boxes of Frosties and he's on a massive sugar rush. Then he's shouting almost as incomprehensibly fast at the camera as the glorious Miss Houston.

That's not what I call conducive to making a considered purchase of possibly a few hundred pounds. But it will potentially make viewers feel just as excited that they are getting something fantastic at a huge saving. Which isn't what I would call an honest way of selling your wares.

But as you say: each to their own.

“Gemporia will always look after you” as said by Hattie tonight as I just flicked on. It’s made me irrationally angry. I know they don’t force people to buy but they market themselves on this. Being trustworthy and your friend. I’ve spent so much money on worthless tat and I honestly feel duped. Stones that fall out. Gems that become cloudy or lose colour. Items that cannot be sold on especially at the higher price points. Perhaps I’m angry at myself for falling for it!!

Yeah, Hattie was flogging an orange agate pendant tonight, waxing VERY lyrical about its amazing rare colour, and how much of a "legacy piece" it was.

What she never found the time to say in all her waffle was that this heirloom item's amazing colour came from it being dyed.

The sooner this company folds, the better.

 

[recoveringgemaholic]

Yeah, Hattie was flogging an orange agate pendant tonight, waxing VERY lyrical about its amazing rare colour, and how much of a "legacy piece" it was.

What she never found the time to say in all her waffle was that this heirloom item's amazing colour came from it being dyed.

The sooner this company folds, the better.

There are plenty of people who are still falling for this and they’ll do anything for a sale. Shocking unethical tactics for such a so called ethical
Company

 

[user 17461]

There are plenty of people who are still falling for this and they’ll do anything for a sale. Shocking unethical tactics for such a so called ethical
Company

In the past I suspect that it was easy to be ethical, since natural gems were still fairly plentiful as were precious metals.

But many mines are closing. And jewellery houses are now looking at gems beyond the big 5. Or are even looking at moving into man-made gemstones. So Gemporia looks at either being priced out of natural gems or perhaps having to redefine what they mean by "natural".

Or turn a blind eye to the human rights issues in countries such as Mozambique or Myanmar in order to access gemstones. I guess it will depend on what their customers will stomach.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

There are plenty of mines still out there - but Gemporia don't seem very open minded when it comes to sourcing stones. They seem to stick to their 'contacts' (presumably because they get better prices for loyalty perhaps?).

Take Morganite for example. Gemporia made a big thing of the Galileia mine material being unobtainable - and they say Morganite is difficult to get hold of now.

The 'Morganite' they sell now is mostly irradiated Goshenite from Mozambique. The irradiation has given it a very slight pink hue (barely any colour at all) and sell it as Morganite.

That's despite some beautiful, untreated, proper Morganite that is actually pink coming out of Afghanistan. Why don't Gemporia source that material?

There was also the untreated Cherry Blossom Morganite that Yianni Melas sourced for their jewellery. Why did it take Yianni to source it? The material was obviously available from a mine.

They've only just started selling Strawberry Quartz over the past six months or so and Troth is waffling about how rare it is - yet its been easy to get hold of for years - from a number of mines.

Variscite - I remember people on Gem Collector requesting it when they were setting it into Jewellery - but allocated none to Gem Collector. Alex said that they only had a small parcel, so it was set into Jewellery and they couldn't get any more. Well, they might not have been able to get the Australian Variscite - but there's plenty coming out of America. Why don't they source that?

Amazonite - why are they flogging filled Amazonite that looks inferior? There's plenty of good quality, untreated, Amazonite coming out of Peru, Madagascar, India - and before everyone cut ties with Russia, there was some beautiful material coming out of there too.

Ametrine - Gemporia have always told us that there's only one mine - the Anahi mine in Bolivia. They even made a song and dance about not being able to get rough material any more around 6 years ago due to the Bolivian government insisting that all material had to be cut and faceted in Bolivia too. BUT there isn't just one mine - there's also some equally as good Ametrine coming out of Brazil.

Then there are stones that I've never seen Gemporia sell in the 10/11 years I've been buying from them .

Cats Eye Opal
Cats Eye Rose Quartz
Star Rose Quartz
Cats Eye Kunzite
Cats Eye Aquamarine
Cats Eye Apatite
Yellow Apatite (proper yellow - not the yellowish-green stuff they sell as yellow Apatite on Gem Collector)
Black Opal from Ethiopia (the natural stuff - not the smoked or dyed stuff Gemporia flog)
Tiger Iron
Kornerupine (a gorgeous bottle green stone)
Untreated Green Zircon
Star Moonstone
Actinolite
Rainbow Obsidian
Spider Web Obsidian
Crazy Lace Agate
Sonora Sunrise (Cuprite in Chrysocolla)
Enstatite


Then there's stuff they haven't done for years that is still readily available:

Black Star Diopside
Untreated Yellow Beryl
Peanut Wood Jasper
Petrified Wood
Charoite
Untreated Yellow Labradorite
Untreated Red Labradorite
Untreated Turquoise
Nuummite
Seraphinite
Hematite
Carnelian
Hypersthene
Pietersite
Cocoxenite
Chrysoberyl
Colour Change Petalite

Plus loads more that I've not even scratched the surface of.

 

[user 17461]

There are plenty of mines still out there - but Gemporia don't seem very open minded when it comes to sourcing stones. They seem to stick to their 'contacts' (presumably because they get better prices for loyalty perhaps?).

Take Morganite for example. Gemporia made a big thing of the Galileia mine material being unobtainable - and they say Morganite is difficult to get hold of now.

The 'Morganite' they sell now is mostly irradiated Goshenite from Mozambique. The irradiation has given it a very slight pink hue (barely any colour at all) and sell it as Morganite.

That's despite some beautiful, untreated, proper Morganite that is actually pink coming out of Afghanistan. Why don't Gemporia source that material?

There was also the untreated Cherry Blossom Morganite that Yianni Melas sourced for their jewellery. Why did it take Yianni to source it? The material was obviously available from a mine.

They've only just started selling Strawberry Quartz over the past six months or so and Troth is waffling about how rare it is - yet its been easy to get hold of for years - from a number of mines.

Variscite - I remember people on Gem Collector requesting it when they were setting it into Jewellery - but allocated none to Gem Collector. Alex said that they only had a small parcel, so it was set into Jewellery and they couldn't get any more. Well, they might not have been able to get the Australian Variscite - but there's plenty coming out of America. Why don't they source that?

Amazonite - why are they flogging filled Amazonite that looks inferior? There's plenty of good quality, untreated, Amazonite coming out of Peru, Madagascar, India - and before everyone cut ties with Russia, there was some beautiful material coming out of there too.

Ametrine - Gemporia have always told us that there's only one mine - the Anahi mine in Bolivia. They even made a song and dance about not being able to get rough material any more around 6 years ago due to the Bolivian government insisting that all material had to be cut and faceted in Bolivia too. BUT there isn't just one mine - there's also some equally as good Ametrine coming out of Brazil.

Then there are stones that I've never seen Gemporia sell in the 10/11 years I've been buying from them .

Cats Eye Opal
Cats Eye Rose Quartz
Star Rose Quartz
Cats Eye Kunzite
Cats Eye Aquamarine
Cats Eye Apatite
Yellow Apatite (proper yellow - not the yellowish-green stuff they sell as yellow Apatite on Gem Collector)
Black Opal from Ethiopia (the natural stuff - not the smoked or dyed stuff Gemporia flog)
Tiger Iron
Kornerupine (a gorgeous bottle green stone)
Untreated Green Zircon
Star Moonstone
Actinolite
Rainbow Obsidian
Spider Web Obsidian
Crazy Lace Agate
Sonora Sunrise (Cuprite in Chrysocolla)
Enstatite


Then there's stuff they haven't done for years that is still readily available:

Black Star Diopside
Untreated Yellow Beryl
Peanut Wood Jasper
Petrified Wood
Charoite
Untreated Yellow Labradorite
Untreated Red Labradorite
Untreated Turquoise
Nuummite
Seraphinite
Hematite
Carnelian
Hypersthene
Pietersite
Cocoxenite
Chrysoberyl
Colour Change Petalite

Plus loads more that I've not even scratched the surface of.

The only answer to your points that springs to mind is: cost.

If Gemporia has successfully sold these stones previously, and they're readily available, why were they buying jade by the tonne instead?

The other gems were out of Gemporia's price range. The neverending jade wasn't.

 

[recoveringgemaholic]

So apparently gem auras will no longer be selling through Gemporia after August. Is this a sign of going back to basics or going bust?

 

[MrMarple]

So apparently gem auras will no longer be selling through Gemporia after August. Is this a sign of going back to basics or going bust?

I just assumed Gem Auras was a Gemporia brand to be honest, I didn't realise it was a totally separate company.

 

[rubia]

I just assumed Gem Auras was a Gemporia brand to be honest, I didn't realise it was a totally separate company.

Doesn't sound good! I think it was his sisters business???

 

[Imogene9500]

So apparently gem auras will no longer be selling through Gemporia after August. Is this a sign of going back to basics or going bust?

I hadn't heard that, very odd as Jainey is Steve's sister. I like Gem Auras candles so that would be another reason for me not to watch Gemporia.

 

[SnowMoon]

Can I ask where they announced this please? I occasionally like Jainey's bits. They can be very giftable. I can't swear to it, but I was sure when Steve did that "comeback" show announcing he had returned he said some of the lines would disappear but he also gave a small list of ones that would stay and I think Gem Auras was on that list. Can't swear to it, but I think it was. If Jainey is going the cynical part of me is wondering if she has been tipped a wink to jump before the ship really starts to flounder.

 

[rubia]

I guess it's a wait and see situation! But I don't think it's good news..

 

[TheManWithNoName]

The only answer to your points that springs to mind is: cost.

If Gemporia has successfully sold these stones previously, and they're readily available, why were they buying jade by the tonne instead?

The other gems were out of Gemporia's price range. The neverending jade wasn't.

It's definitely not going to be all down to cost. If little one-man band traders and small businesses online can sell these stones to the public, then Gemporia would be able to buy them even cheaper still because of the volume they buy.

Charoite, Peanut Wood Jasper, Petrified Wood and especially Carnelian are inexpensive at the best of times. Carnelian is a VERY cheap stone to source.

So apparently gem auras will no longer be selling through Gemporia after August. Is this a sign of going back to basics or going bust?

I suspect it's because of one of the following reasons:

a) Although it's Jainey's brand and she lives in Australia, Gem Auras stuff is stocked in their main warehouse in Redditch. I would imagine that when the stones and materials are bought for these candles, the stock is bought out of Gemporia's budget - and due to their financial situation, they can no longer afford to have money tied up in materials. I would imagine they take up LOTS of space too.

b) Steve was always against mentioning supposed "healing properties" of gemstones on Gemporia because he said it was unproven and down to people's beliefs as to whether they felt it worked or not. Perhaps he's not happy with all this "healing" nonsense being pushed on the channel?

c) Bearing in mind that almost every time Gem Aura's products are on, there's a "mistake" with the price, perhaps Jainey is sick of their incompetence and fears that if these mistakes continue, she's going to lose a lot of money and end up homeless and begging on the streets.

 

[user 17461]

I occasionally like Jainey's bits.

I really wish you had phrased that differently.

 

[SnowMoon]

She's not really my type...

I suspect it's because of one of the following reasons:

a) Although it's Jainey's brand and she lives in Australia, Gem Auras stuff is stocked in their main warehouse in Redditch. I would imagine that when the stones and materials are bought for these candles, the stock is bought out of Gemporia's budget - and due to their financial situation, they can no longer afford to have money tied up in materials. I would imagine they take up LOTS of space too.

b) Steve was always against mentioning supposed "healing properties" of gemstones on Gemporia because he said it was unproven and down to people's beliefs as to whether they felt it worked or not. Perhaps he's not happy with all this "healing" nonsense being pushed on the channel?

c) Bearing in mind that almost every time Gem Aura's products are on, there's a "mistake" with the price, perhaps Jainey is sick of their incompetence and fears that if these mistakes continue, she's going to lose a lot of money and end up homeless and begging on the streets.

Somehow, I think we can disregard C...

 

[TheManWithNoName]

I occasionally like Jainey's bits.

I'm surprised they haven't tried selling those yet to get some money in!

Good luck to each and every one of you. Well done............

 

[user 17461]

I'm surprised they haven't tried selling those yet to get some money in!

Good luck to each and every one of you. Well done............

Gwyneth Paltrow's already cornered that market, with a candle that's supposed to smell like her undercarriage. Unfortunately it also has a tendency to slightly explode.

I would be worried that Jainey's version might be a bit more forceful, with the projectile gems taking out anyone within a square mile.

 

[TheManWithNoName]

Gwyneth Paltrow's already cornered that market, with a candle that's supposed to smell like her undercarriage. Unfortunately it also has a tendency to slightly explode.

I would be worried that Jainey's version might be a bit more forceful, with the projectile gems taking out anyone within a square mile.

The candle explodes or her undercarriage?

 

[user 17461]

The candle explodes or her undercarriage?

Both, probably