FTC Resources for Reporters
Jewelry Guides: Helping Consumers Understand What They’re Buying
The FTC’s Jewelry Guides are designed to help consumers get accurate information when they are shopping for gemstones and their laboratory-created and imitation substitutes; natural and cultured pearls and their imitations; products made from precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum, precious metal alloys, and their imitations; and other types of jewelry products. The guides state that marketers must truthfully represent the type, kind, grade, quality, quantity, metallic content, size, weight, cut, color, character, treatment, substance, durability, serviceability, origin, price, value, preparation, production, manufacture, and distribution of their merchandise. In 2010, the FTC revised its Jewelry Guides in response to changes in the way the industry manufactures platinum. In recent years, some manufacturers have added base metals such as metals such as copper and cobalt to platinum jewelry sold to consumers. The revisions spell out how these new platinum/metal alloy products should be described and advertised.
News Releases:
- FTC Action Results in $24 Million Settlement with Precious Metals Dealers – 12/11/2012
- FTC Action Stops Marketer in Precious Metals Investment Case – 1/18/2012
- FTC Adds Defendant in Case Against Allegedly Bogus Precious Metals Dealers – 11/22/2011
- FTC Stops Bogus Precious Metals Dealers – 05/17/2011
- FTC Revises Jewelry Guides to Reflect the Use of Base Metal Alloys in Platinum Jewelry – 12/16/2010
- FTC Testifies on Measures to Protect Consumers Who Sell Their Jewelry and Consumers Who Want to Avoid Buying Fur – 05/13/2010
Documents:
- Jewelry Guides
- Federal Register Notice: Amendments to the Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries Providing Guidance on Platinum and Non-precious Metals
Business Education:
- How to Comply with the Jewelry Guides
- Advertising Platinum Jewelry
- In The Loupe: Advertising Diamonds, Gemstones and Pearls
Consumer Education: