On April 2, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had sent eight letters to jewelry marketers warning them that some of their online advertisements for jewelry made with lab-grown diamonds or diamond simulants may deceive consumers.
The FTC did not specify which marketers received the letter, but a sample can be seen here.
The letters caution the marketers not to use the name of any precious stone, including diamonds, to describe a lab-created stone or diamond simulant, unless the word is immediately proceeded by a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the product does not come from a mine.
The sample letter warns that: “Although you disclose on several of your webpages that [company] markets laboratory-created diamonds, consumers could easily overlook these webpages and other references to laboratory-created diamonds when reviewing individual advertising or product descriptions because the disclosures are not proximate to the individual advertising or product descriptions.”
They also warn companies selling diamond simulants to avoid describing their products in a way that may falsely imply that they have the same optical, physical, and chemical properties of mined diamonds.
Finally, the agency noted that lab-grown companies should not use unqualified eco-benefit claims such as eco-friendly, eco-conscious, or sustainable.
