A golden opportunity

Square cut or pear shape,
These rocks don’t lose their shape.

That’s what Lorelei Lee observed in “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend.”  But when it comes to baubles and bangles, some things are subject to change — and that includes the FTC’s Jewelry Guides.  The Guides offer businesses advice on how to avoid deception when making claims about precious metal, pewter, diamond, gemstone, and pearl products.  As part of its ongoing regulatory review, the FTC has donned its loupe and is giving the Guides a careful look. Now’s the time for your input.

Any issue related to the Guides is fair game for comment, but the FTC has pointed out four particular areas of inquiry:

• the advertising and marketing of lead-glass-filled composite stones. These are a mixture of ruby/corundum and lead-glass — sometimes called “composite rubies,” “hybrid rubies,” or “glass-filled rubies”;

• the use of the term “cultured” to describe lab- or factory-created products that have essentially the same optical, physical, and chemical properties as natural gemstones;

• whether there’s a need for disclosures involving freshwater pearls or treatments to pearl products; and

• whether the Guides should include particular information about how to describe the content of alloys that contain precious metals in amounts that fall below the current minimum thresholds.

Polish up your comments and file them online by August 27, 2012.