| The Jewellery Channel | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 4 April 2006 |
| Owned by | The Jewellery Channel UK Limited |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9) |
| Country | United Kingdom Ireland |
| Headquarters | London |
| Website | www.tjc.co.uk |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 60 |
| Satellite | |
| Sky | Channel 650 |
| Freesat | Channel 815 |
The Jewellery Channel is a British falling-price auction-style home shopping channel specialising in jewellery, the primary competitor to Gems TV. The channel launched on 4 April 2006, and currently broadcasts 24 hours a day.
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The Jewellery Channel is part of the VGL [Vaibhav Gems Limited (VGL) group], http://www.vaibhavgems.com/vaibhav2/m.htm. The company mines and handcrafts many of the products sold on its TV networks, hence its claim to cut out the "middleman" and to attempt to undercut high-street prices.
TJC sells the world's widest variety of gemstones and they are one of only 8 sightholders to the Tanzanite One mine. In addition to commonly available gemstones, the channel also sell their own exclusive brands of jewellery including Iliana (18K Gold) and Rhapsody (950 Platinum). The channel occasionally offer themed days such as 'Tanzanite Days'. The channel also has discount days where it reduces the final auction prices by 10% or 17.5% (the latter the equivalent to the UK 17.5% VAT charge).
On Monday 14 January 2008 The Jewellery Channel moved from Teddington Studios to brand-new purpose-built studios in West London, simultaneously switching to widescreen-format broadcasting. It plans to broadcast in HDTV in the future.
On Saturday 11 April 2008 The Jewellery Channel launched delivery to the Republic of Ireland for the first time.
The Jewellery Channel has been censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for misleading customers in connection with the quality of its products.[1]
On 16 January 2008, The Jewellery Channel was prosecuted by Trading Standards for making false claims about the treatment of a gemstone product sold through its TV channel. After complaints were made, the channel discovered that it had been selling jewellery described as natural 'pink topaz’, when in fact it was colourless topaz sprayed pink.
The channel pleaded guilty to 16 offences under the Trade Descriptions Act – eight for applying false trade descriptions and eight of supplying goods to which false trade descriptions had been applied.[2] They were fined £3,200.
In May 2008, The Jewellery Channel was censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for misleading customers in its broadcasts. Concerns over the inferences of the channel's auction start prices and the "pressure" of the channel's timed auctions were among the problems the ASA found with the channel's remit.[3] In response, The Jewellery Channel plan to remove the start price from broadcasts "for the sake of clarity" from 30 June 2008.
The Jewellery Channel is available on Sky 24 hours a day. On 22 November 2009, The Jewellery Channel was added to Freesat on channel 815.[4]
The channel was also carried on Freeview channel 44 between 7pm and 9pm between December 2007 and May 2008. The channel was replaced with a second Gems TV stream, which itself ceased in April 2009 as it was used for extended hours of CNN. On 21 September 2011, The Jewellery Channel returned to Freeview on channel 60.[5]
The Jewellery Channel also simulcasts on 5USA between 6am and 12pm, allowing the channel to be available to viewers Virgin Media and TalkTalk TV, in addition to Freesat, Freeview and Sky.