Colored Stones
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Consumer sues Jewelry Television over treated gems
By Michelle Graff
June 04, 2008
San Diego--A California woman has filed a $5 million class-action lawsuit accusing Knoxville, Tenn.-based Jewelry Television of false advertising and alleging that the company sold treated gemstones without full disclosure.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego, stated that it wishes to recover the money that she and an estimated thousands of other consumers spent on "gemstones fraudulently advertised and misrepresented by [Jewelry Television] as being a highly-coveted, extremely rare, all natural expensive gem that looks like Oregon sunstone, a rare feldspar with a vivid reddish-orange hue."
The lawsuit states that instead of the rare, red labradorite that Jewelry Television described on its program, the retailer actually sold its customers "low-cost yellow or colorless labradorite that has been given a chemical 'facelift' to make it appear like the rare Oregon sunstone."
The suit was filed on behalf of plaintiff Marliese Weed, of San Diego County, and other persons who purchased green or red andesine-labradorite from Jewelry Television between Jan. 1, 2003 and the present. Weed purchased andesine-labradorite at a cost of over $4,000 during the time period in question, court papers said.
The lawsuit alleges that Jewelry Television, which reported more than $400 million in revenues last year, was able to obtain "its sham product" for pennies per carat and sold it for "extraordinary profits."
This, the suit alleges, is a violation of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations, which states that it is "deceptive and unfair" to fail to disclose treatment of a gemstone when it has a significant effect on the stone's value, the suit alleges.
The suit also cites FTC guidelines, which state that it is deceptive to call a gemstone genuine, natural, precious or real when it is not.
In the lawsuit, the television network's on-air talent is quoted twice as referencing the gemstones in question as natural.
According to a transcript cited in the lawsuit, one presenter describing a 2.3-carat red labradorite ring said: "A collector could pay $7,000 for this. This could be a $7,000 baby...The stone is 100 percent natural and untreated."
According to the lawsuit, in reaction to a "slew of consumer complaints," Jewelry Television has admitted that the gemstones are "heated," with Jewelry Television co-founder Jerry Sisk stating in a February 2008 on-air interview that the network didn't initially realize that the stones were heated.
"We all sent samples to the major labs," he said according to the transcript included in the lawsuit. "And they didn't know the mechanism. They couldn't determine the mechanism. So basically they couldn't say this was treated. So it was assumed the material was natural."
Amid the uproar, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based television station dropped the price of the gemstones. The lawsuit says the advertised price was lowered from $149 for a one-carat stone in December 2007 to $49 for a one-carat stone in January 2008.
According to the lawsuit, however, Sisk maintained in that same February 2008 interview that the fact that the stones were treated doesn't affect their value.
"What you're buying is the color. And color rules when it comes to gemstones," he said.
The suit says that the retailer offered a "brief return period," but that it was not publicized or advertised.
In a statement e-mailed to National Jeweler, Jewelry Television said the company is disappointed that one customer in California has filed litigation against the company, and that the customer chose not to take advantage of its liberal return policies.
The statement went on to say that andesine-labradorite has been sold in the gem trade since 2002 as "natural, untreated material," and that lab reports from major laboratories have consistently confirmed these gemstones as natural and untreated.
"Jewelry Television, like other major retailers, relied upon the lab reports and general industry information," the statement said.
Further, in January 2008, Jewelry Television discovered that one of the gemstone's sources had reported heat-treating its material, which the company promptly reported to its customers, and that as additional information developed, "Jewelry Television continued to keep customers informed."
"Much of the information in the lawsuit is totally incorrect and we are satisfied that Jewelry Television acted completely responsibly and the true facts will vindicate us," the statement said.
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Richard W. Hughes, known for his adventure-laden travelogues, his writings on undisclosed gemstone treatments and as the author of Ruby and Sapphire, has won the 2010 Antonio C. Bonanno Award For Excellence in Gemology, the Accredited Gemologists Association has announced. Read More
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