One of the biggest stories of the month, which can be read on page 6 of the November magazine, is centered on a case from the Agency for Advertising Standards (ASA), which saw a Cornish jeweler failing to market its gem products correctly And was ruled.
Ethica Diamonds sells laboratory-grown diamonds (the same chemical properties as natural diamonds) and man-made diamond products (made of cubic zirconia or other analog materials).
According to NAJ's "Diamond Terminology Guide" document, the ASA ruled that the company failed to clearly identify any product, which confuses laboratory-grown diamonds with natural diamonds, as well as laboratory-grown diamonds and other man-made diamonds.
I cannot judge whether the decision is correct or whether the NAJ document’s position on laboratory-grown diamonds is fair and therefore applicable to such cases. However, this story does raise two important questions for the industry.
More directly, companies that retail synthetic diamonds need to ask: Do I comply with current advertising requirements?
Whether you agree with the current state of affairs or not, looking at the ASA's ruling on this case and NAJ's "Diamond Terminology Guide" will allow companies to learn from Ethica's mistakes and avoid similar fate.
The bigger question, and of course the more difficult question, is whether the ASA made the right decision and whether the NAJ document is appropriate and fair.
It focuses more on limiting the vocabulary of man-made gemstones than on mined diamonds.
Although many suggestions make sense—for example, don’t use the word “natural” when describing products grown in a laboratory—but some suggestions seem unnecessary.
One of the more dubious suggestions is not to use "Laboratory Culture", but only "Laboratory Culture". As far as I know, this doesn't make any sense. A quick Google of these two phrases actually shows that the former is much more widely used than the latter, and therefore the prohibition of "lab planting" would be harmful to any commercial transaction of the product.
A list of institutions that have traditionally focused on natural diamonds involved in the development of guidelines, such as the Natural Diamond Commission, and a relatively lack of organizations focused on laboratory cultivation. If it is to be used in the following situations, there are also problems as this.
Since the ASA is responsible for all industries covered by the retail banner, the jewelry and gem industry has a responsibility to propose an agreed and fair standard to promote natural, laboratory-grown and other artificial gems.
Read the original ASA story below:
Exclusive: The jeweler in the diamond advertising dispute said that he had never received any customer complaints
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