goettgen Journal

Wheter it is cosmetics by Uschi Glas, jewellery or cleaning agent: modern teleshopping programmes are becoming bigger and bigger. This is due to a perfectly elaborate system of "we blether until the customer’s knockedout..." Creams ironing the wrinkles of a 55-year-old lady until she looks as if she just had her first kiss. Cleaning agent making things whiter than ever before – how bad were those times when everything in the household was yellowed. Fine that we now have "Wash-me-till-I’m-dead-UltraOxi". Almost like the well-known saying: "computers solve problems which we wouldn’t have without them!"

But what would a teleshopping programme be without the jewellery hours?
Here, they break a fly on the wheel:

"Ladies, look at this gorgeous piece of jewellery. It is consistently (!) manufactured (!) in 925 sterling silver. Let me just put the ruler once more – the beautifully manufacured (!) bar of this exclusive (!) ring has a diameter of 3 mm. Ladies, may I draw your attention to these numerous, wonderfully glittering flawless BlueDiamonds XY. Here, no compromise was made. 26 stones – each single one grinded devotedly by means of brilliant grinding(!) – ennoble this high carat work of art. 17.4 carat are glittering, and they flatter the one who wears it in a way that has never existed before, my ladies...".

That’s more than you can bear. The counter on the upper edge of the screen tells, how many naive housewives or early-retired pensioners are just running to their phone to make the "bargain of their life".

As a jewellery specialist, I would like to refer to the "!" which I added in the above citations. I have to take care I don’t burst of anger

It is indeed overwhelming that the ring actually has been "consistently" manufactured in silver – this means cast. The bar, of course, has been "manufactured" individually by the master’s touch. The exclusive ring – probably industrially procuced goods in bulk from the Far East – for an estimated wholesale price of € 3.98 of course only comes with flawless stones. I wouldn’t understand anyway why the producer of the synthetic stones should make the work to create inclusions. These inclusions are reserved to natural jewels – and that’s exactly what makes them authentic. But to grind the false stones by means of "brilliant grinding" really upgrades the whole thing, doesn’t it? "Oh - look, Else, yesterday I bought some beautiful brilliant jewellery..." - cynical. However, the icing on the cake is that people acclaim this new wealth with the sentence "the stones have 17.4 carat". In my opinion, the measuring unit carat should only be used for authentic jewels. I think everything else is sham.

At this point, there’s a lot more I could tell, but I have to take care of my weak heart. As a specialist, this subject concerns me emotionally.

Of course, teleshopping programmes should not be generally condemned. Some products indeed are useful. Otherwise, you could find something to be criticized with any dealer. But what you always should have in my mind when shopping on TV: These stations have enormous costs. If you check the price of a transponder (broadcasting space) for example on the Astra satellite group, you will realize immediately that the price-performance ratio cannot always be O.K.

As far as I am concerned, I still buy from specialized dealers. If there the customer counselling does not take as long as on TV, in most cases this only means that I’m not burdened with so much "hot air".