Buying jewellery from TV shopping channels

[Bagatha Christie]

Hello wise TPFers,
I’m starting to get into jewellery and I was just wondering what more knowledgeable people’s opinions are of the quality of fine jewellery on QVC/ gemporia etc?

I’m particularly interested in coloured stones; especially rubies, amethysts and Sapphires.

I don’t want to resell them or have them as heirlooms. I just want to make sure they don’t fall apart after a few years and they are what they say on the label.

 

[Joelene]

Some things are nice from QVC, but most of the jewelry is not good quality IMO. Particularly the diamond jewelry clarity is usually (I1-I3) clarity. That’s the lowest clarity grade, so you’ll most likely see inclusions and the diamonds will lack sparkle. As for the gemstones like the rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, a lot of them are lab created or heavily treated. But, I know people that purchased gemstone jewelry from QVC years ago and it has held up.

 

[Bagatha Christie]

Some things are nice from QVC, but most of the jewelry is not good quality IMO. Particularly the diamond jewelry clarity is usually (I1-I3) clarity. That’s the lowest clarity grade, so you’ll most likely see inclusions and the diamonds will lack sparkle. As for the gemstones like the rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, a lot of them are lab created or heavily treated. But, I know people that purchased gemstone jewelry from QVC years ago and it has held up.

I guess it’s just a case of making sure you don’t spend too much on it for what it’s worth as there does seem a big spread in price points.

If the build quality is there through the collection and it’ll last a fair few years then that’s a relief.

I don’t know a lot about her treatments or created stones - does it shorten the stones ‘lifespan’?
I do understand that high quality pure and natural rubies might be out of my price range so I’m ok with them being ‘smartened up’ a bit if it just means they used a cheaper stone but it’ll still last.

 

[Joelene]

I guess it’s just a case of making sure you don’t spend too much on it for what it’s worth as there does seem a big spread in price points.

If the build quality is there through the collection and it’ll last a fair few years then that’s a relief.

I don’t know a lot about her treatments or created stones - does it shorten the stones ‘lifespan’?
I do understand that high quality pure and natural rubies might be out of my price range so I’m ok with them being ‘smartened up’ a bit if it just means they used a cheaper stone but it’ll still last.

Most sapphires and rubies are heat treated, it doesn’t affect the durability or lifespan. It’s just that untreated stones are more valuable, and much more expensive because they’re rare. Also, lab emeralds are more durable than earth-mined emeralds. This is because they don’t have the same fractures that natural stones have. If it’s worth it to you, then buy it as long as you’re not overpaying.

 

[Bagatha Christie]

Most sapphires and rubies are heat treated, it doesn’t affect the durability or lifespan. It’s just that untreated stones are more valuable, and much more expensive because they’re rare. Also, lab emeralds are more durable than earth-mined emeralds. This is because they don’t have the same fractures that natural stones have. If it’s worth it to you, then buy it as long as you’re not overpaying.

Thank you for your advice! I learn so much from this forum
I will keep my eyes open for a bargain but I shouldn’t overpay when I just have to wait for the shops to reopen and have more choice!

 

[limom]

I bought one eternity ring. It was oK.
The good thing about those channels is their return policies, imho.
They also have costume jewelry by more expensive brands ie Judith Ripka.
I also heard that they have an outlet somewhere where u can get awsome deals.
My two cents....

 

[Joelene]

Thank you for your advice! I learn so much from this forum
I will keep my eyes open for a bargain but I shouldn’t overpay when I just have to wait for the shops to reopen and have more choice!

In the QVC price range, Effy jewelry is a good option too for gemstone jewelry. I wouldn’t pay full price for Effy, but they sometimes have great sales at Macy’s. Some of their jewelry is really nice and I love the designs. Plus, alot of the jewelry is set in 14k solid gold. Some people snub 14k gold, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. They usually have an annual Summer sale, and the jewelry is marked at least 75% off. Last summer I got a beautiful Ruby ring for around $600, marked down from over 4K. The diamonds are eye clean, gold is solid, and the ring is well-made for the price. With that price, the ring is worth it to me, so I don’t mind that the gemstones are not rare or top quality. Have worn it frequently and haven’t had any issues with it.

 

[Bagatha Christie]

In the QVC price range, Effy jewelry is a good option too for gemstone jewelry. I wouldn’t pay full price for Effy, but they sometimes have great sales at Macy’s. Some of their jewelry is really nice and I love the designs. Plus, alot of the jewelry is set in 14k solid gold. Some people snub 14k gold, but I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. They usually have an annual Summer sale, and the jewelry is marked at least 75% off. Last summer I got a beautiful Ruby ring for around $600, marked down from over 4K. The diamonds are eye clean, gold is solid, and the ring is well-made for the price. With that price, the ring is worth it to me, so I don’t mind that the gemstones are not rare or top quality. Have worn it frequently and haven’t had any issues with it.

It sounds gorgeous ! I love rubies! Great price too.
A lot of antique jewellery is 14 & 9k anyway so it clearly lasts the test of time. My wedding set is Victorian and 14k too.

 

[Mcandy]

It sounds gorgeous ! I love rubies! Great price too.
A lot of antique jewellery is 14 & 9k anyway so it clearly lasts the test of time. My wedding set is Victorian and 14k too.

Hong kong jewelries are mostly 14K gold and are very expensive. They use high quality diamonds. They are well made. But id rather buy from japan for the gold rather than value of the diamond

 

[BigPurseSue]

Hi, Jelliedfeels,
I think the quality of gemstone jewelry on the TV shopping channels has dramatically declined over the past 10-15 years as the prices of gold and silver have skyrocketed and their profit margin has declined.
I would look at Blue Nile or Brilliant Earth. They have good prices, good customer service, and good reputations. I've loved everything I've bought with gemstones on Blue Nile.
In the past some Macy's stores have had scandals in which their sapphire and ruby jewelry has proved to be man-made stones rather than natural stones as advertised. From what I read the problem was in just a few stores where the buyers screwed up. In general their jewelry counters are managed and inventory is provided by Fred Meyers which is a mall chain. They do offer the advantage that you can look at things before you buy.
Years ago a friend was buying unset stones from JewelryTV. She claimed the quality was good, although it cost a lot to have the stones set. At a certain point JTV charged her credit card for things they never shipped, and she was arguing with them and her CC company for months over a heap of bad charges. She swore off JTV after that.
Years ago I bought some nice jewelry on QVC, but I think their quality has deteriorated so much I wouldn't consider them. Certainly not for gemstones or diamonds. They do have a few good silver lines like American West and Or Paz, but that's the only thing I'd consider buying from them these days.
I've heard that HSN jewelry is a little better, but I've never bought from them, and they are owned by QVC so they're the same company nowadays.
Good luck!

 

[citykitty24]

Given the huge cost of airtime to be on TV, the jewelry shopping channels have to mark pieces up quite a bit. They also are often a bit optimistic, shall we say, when describing the color, clarity, etc. Great lighting, the appearance of a “deal,” and a good sales pitch are designed to make you want to purchase.

There are likely decent pieces on offer at times, but be careful with the pricing. Many of the “deals” are not really one!

 

[Mcandy]

My mom loves TSC… you can even pay in installment basis and have the item already

 

[Hyacinth]

Up until the Crash Of 2008 i bought quite a lot of jewelry, both gold and sterling silver, from QVC. A large part of their inventory back then was reasonably priced and decent quality in the low-to mid-price range. But since precious metal prices started going crazy their prices have skyrocketed and their quality has really gone to hell. Gemstones are very poor quality or fall out of their settings before you even wear them, shipping charges are ridiculous and there are almost no free shipping deals, shipping takes forever, and returns are the buyer's responsibility and even more expensive than the original shipping which for jewelry can run as high as $5.50 PER ITEM.

Most of my 15- to 30-year old pieces have held up well but I've learned to not waste my money on the new stuff. I retired at about the same time as "The Crash" so I really don't need to add bling to my wardrobe any more, in fact I sold almost all of my gold and many of my sterling pieces to my jeweler when precious metal prices were sky-high and made back a very good percentage of what I paid for them originally, and I still have 4 full jewelry boxes.

One of the worst parts of the QVC experience these days has to be the on-air "hosts". It's turned into a clown show compared to what it was 20 or 30 years ago when the presenters acted like professionals and actually gave useful information about the pieces they were selling. These days they can't even be bothered and jewelry shows are few and far between, and the less said about the "fashions" they sell, the better. Even finding decent descriptions or photos on their website is becoming impossible and watching many of the on-air presentations requires frequent doses of brain bleach. The company (which also owns HSN and Zulily) is in trouble and the management gets worse every year. NOT recommended.

More information about the on-air broadcasts and some of the hosts including lots of snarking along with infrequent comments about merchandise quality can be found at the Shopping Channels Forum at Primetimer.com, formerly PreviouslyTV.com. They also have a pretty good collection of TV, media and lifestyle forums. No handbags though!

Shopping Channel Shows

forums.primetimer.com

 

[BigPurseSue]

Up until the Crash Of 2008 i bought quite a lot of jewelry, both gold and sterling silver, from QVC. A large part of their inventory back then was reasonably priced and decent quality in the low-to mid-price range. But since precious metal prices started going crazy their prices have skyrocketed and their quality has really gone to hell. Gemstones are very poor quality or fall out of their settings before you even wear them, shipping charges are ridiculous and there are almost no free shipping deals, shipping takes forever, and returns are the buyer's responsibility and even more expensive than the original shipping which for jewelry can run as high as $5.50 PER ITEM.

Most of my 15- to 30-year old pieces have held up well but I've learned to not waste my money on the new stuff. I retired at about the same time as "The Crash" so I really don't need to add bling to my wardrobe any more, in fact I sold almost all of my gold and many of my sterling pieces to my jeweler when precious metal prices were sky-high and made back a very good percentage of what I paid for them originally, and I still have 4 full jewelry boxes.

One of the worst parts of the QVC experience these days has to be the on-air "hosts". It's turned into a clown show compared to what it was 20 or 30 years ago when the presenters acted like professionals and actually gave useful information about the pieces they were selling. These days they can't even be bothered and jewelry shows are few and far between, and the less said about the "fashions" they sell, the better. Even finding decent descriptions or photos on their website is becoming impossible and watching many of the on-air presentations requires frequent doses of brain bleach. The company (which also owns HSN and Zulily) is in trouble and the management gets worse every year. NOT recommended.

More information about the on-air broadcasts and some of the hosts including lots of snarking along with infrequent comments about merchandise quality can be found at the Shopping Channels Forum at Primetimer.com, formerly PreviouslyTV.com. They also have a pretty good collection of TV, media and lifestyle forums. No handbags though!

Shopping Channel Shows

forums.primetimer.com

I agree with you completely Hyacinth. I think the problems with QVC's jewelry mirrors that of the retail industry at large. Manufacturers and distributors are no longer making and selling jewelry in the low to mid price range that is very good. The price of metals is too high for a generous profit margin.

I noticed in the early 2000's that the quality of costume jewelry was really, really starting to deteriorate compared to what it had been in the 1990s. QVC had several mid-range costume brands like Joan Rivers that turned into junk starting around 2002. But this reflected the general decline in quality of then-popular store brands like 1928. Everything started to rapidly deteriorate with paste-like metals, poorly glued-in plastic stones, plastic beads instead of glass, etc. After the crash of 2008 there was nothing decent left. I recall reading at the time a business magazine article that said QVC intended to move away from jewelry and emphasize consumer electronics and cosmetics instead because those had a higher profit margin. I would not recommend QVC jewelry today.

I agree with you about the hosts. In the past the shows were a light, pleasant entertainment, sometimes even informative. These days they're unwatchable.

 

[papertiger]

I guess it’s just a case of making sure you don’t spend too much on it for what it’s worth as there does seem a big spread in price points.

If the build quality is there through the collection and it’ll last a fair few years then that’s a relief.

I don’t know a lot about her treatments or created stones - does it shorten the stones ‘lifespan’?
I do understand that high quality pure and natural rubies might be out of my price range so I’m ok with them being ‘smartened up’ a bit if it just means they used a cheaper stone but it’ll still last.

As someone else said, most coloured stones are heat-treated (even in very expensive places) also dyed, oiled, filled and even composite (stone-powder reconstructed). All of those will not change the wording in the main description and it's all about getting past the headlines and bylines. A good jeweller will tell you what the history of any stone is (or likelihood) if you ask since they have to by law (US and UK) but they're not going to point to out to you, and on TV or online forget transparency. Created stones are lab-grown, some have their own names like Lightbox (De Beers) these are basically faultless, but just carbon glass and are not eco-friendly as marketing keeps pushing, created is usually diamond-only, it's the 'composite' and dyed you need to watch out for with coloured stones. 'Simulated' stones are basically faux.

Even dept store and high-street so-called 'fine' or 'demi-fine' is quite frankly a rip-off (I know what isn't? ) unless you just like the designs. As I found out at Annoushka (bought at Liberty) aftercare is pretty much zero. Most stones are just for colour effect. Even if jewellery is just for show and to enjoy, it's not going to feel good with rough edges, claw-damage or stones falling out.