Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
Diamond & Jewelry News, Advice and Prices for Consumers
August 29, 2010
I got the diamond engagement ring about five years ago and always wore it proudly, until last month when I noticed that it was looking dim and a bit scratched up. I brought it to a jeweler to have it professionally cleaned, and after examining it, the jeweler told me that the diamond was a fake! Now, I know that my husband paid a good three-months salary for the diamond ring, and he was completely ripped off! Do we have a case against the jewelry store?
September 4, 2010
There are a few additional factors relevant here, besides the issues that the other guy raised. One really important factor is do you still have the receipt for the diamond engagement ring, or can you prove where and at what price your husband purchased the diamond? If you can't prove that - I think you're out of luck because the jewelry store can easily deny having sold you the ring in the first place. You should also look into whether the jewelry store where the diamond engagement ring was bought is still under the same ownership as it was five years ago, because if it has new owners then they are not liable for the fraudulent sale of the fake diamond. The circumstances under which your husband bought the ring are important too. The jewelry store might admit to selling your husband a fake diamond - but argue that they never mislead him into believing that the diamond was real. In any case, you should really consult a lawyer. It might be a better investment to just buy a new diamond ring rather than tossing away all your money on a lawyer. If you truly believe that the jewelry store conned you into buying a fake diamond, you should at least warn other people in your neighborhood so that they won't be ripped off as well. You might want to contact your local newspaper with the story - who knows, they might discover some other buyers in the same boat and a grand expose might be more effective than a lawsuit. Either way, best of luck! And in the future, before buying any diamond or diamond jewelry, you should always have the diamond appraised by a third party before laying down your money.
September 2, 2010
Hmmm that's a tough one. Lawsuits are never cut and dry, so I can't tell you certainly whether you will win the case against the jewelry store for selling you a fake diamond. It really depends on the specific circumstances of the incident. The main issue is whether the jewelry store can prove that someone else might have switched your diamond on you in the meantime in order to shift blame from themselves to a third party. Since you have had the diamond ring for five years already, it might be hard for you to prove that the diamond currently set in the engagement ring is the same diamond that was originally in the ring when it was purchased. That might be quite hard for you to prove. If I were you, I would consult a lawyer and tell him all the information about the diamond ring, and have him advise you as to whether you have a case or not. It would be a shame to waste all the money on a lawyer and end up losing - when you could have used the money to buy a real diamond engagement ring instead.
September 1, 2010
If you can prove that the documentation given to your by the jewelry store, claiming that the diamond is real, is faked, then you might have a case against the jewelry shop. There was a huge case in Sydney, Australia, where a diamond importer got busted for importing fake diamonds and counterfitting their diamond authenticity GIA certificates.
