Puttin’ Off the Consumer
The Federal Trade Commission just published a consumer alert on what to look for when purchasing jewelry. And it’s actually titled Puttin’ on the Glitz: What to Know When Shopping for Jewelry. Despite good intentions, the impact of these kinds of warnings are always somewhat negative in that they give the impression that jewelers are generally less than trustworthy. But this alert is even worse than most in that it doesn’t get the facts quite right.
Fortunately, an early gaffe about diamond weight being measured in “karats” has been corrected. But the pearl section is also a bit odd. It says that pearls can be “imitation, cultured or real.” Why they decided to use the word “real” instead of natural is a mystery but it might lead some consumers to conclude that cultured pearls aren’t real. The section on gold karatage is confusing too. In avoiding the use of percentages, they end up not explaining how karatage works or the difference between 18k and 14k.
And is it me or does the gemstone paragraph seem to be promoting lab-grown stones? Judge for yourself: “There’s a difference between laboratory-created gemstones and natural stones. Stones created in the lab are practically identical (visually, physically, and chemically) to stones mined from the earth. The big difference is in the cost: laboratory-created stones are less expensive than mined stones. Because they look just like natural stones, they must be identified as lab-created.” (Uh, yeah, the big difference couldn’t be that one is manufactured in any quantity and the other is occasionally found in the ground.)
One might ask where is the section on fake discounting? Where is the section on getting a laboratory report if you are buying diamonds online? Where is the section that warns consumers about all the counterfeits on eBay?
All in all, I think ethical jewelers can say, thanks but no thanks.