Since 2012, Costco and Tiffany have been fighting in court over the question of whether “Tiffany” describes a jewelry company and a prestigious brand, or a just a style of diamond solitaire ring. The case finally reached a jury this month, and the jury’s verdict is that Costco owes Tiffany $5.5 million in compensation, and an amount yet to be decided in punitive damages. [More]
shiny objects
How Can De Beers Market Diamonds When Beautiful Lab-Made Stones Exist?
By 8.17.16
De Beers, the company that had a near-monopoly on jewelry-quality diamonds for much of the 20th century, has a problem. Synthetic diamonds (or “lab-created,” as their marketers would prefer that you call them) have made amazing progress in the last few years, and now can be grown faster, better, and colorless. You need special equipment to tell the difference between a diamond made in a lab and a diamond made deep underground. Why should consumers pay more for a difference they can’t see? [More]
9 Things We Learned About Lab-Grown Diamonds
By 6.14.16
Sellers of synthetic diamonds don’t like when you use that word, but that is what they are: the stones are 100% real diamonds, but are created from carbon, heat, and pressure in a lab instead of deep underground. Now labs all over the world are growing their own diamonds, which could be excellent for lovers of shiny objects, and a potential disaster for the diamond industry. [More]
Non-Diamond Engagement Rings Becoming More Popular
By 11.6.14
Diamond solitaires as engagement rings are what seems like an ancient tradition, but they’re more of a 20th-century invention. While consumers are largely sticking with the whole “ring” idea, jewelry stores have noticed that people are exploring ideas other than diamond solitaires. [More]
Apparently, Someone Wants A Sterling Silver Starbucks Card Keychain
By 11.4.14
Are you a Starbucks super-fan, or is someone you know? If so, consider this year’s Starbucks super-fan gift, which goes on sale next Wednesday. Depending on how you look at it, it’s either a Starbucks gift card with a 400% markup, or a $150 silver keychain that also requires a $50 Starbucks gift card purchase. [More]
Perhaps You Need Some Underpants Made Of Real Gold
By 8.6.13
Have you always dreamed of lounging in bed in soft, silky clothes made of precious metal? No, you probably haven’t. Most people wouldn’t. Very rich women, however, have apparently been missing sparkly lingerie in their lives, and now there’s a company prepared to give it to them. [More]
Finally, A Use For Pennies: Glued To A Billboard
By 11.7.12
Finally, a use for those copper-colored zinc discs of filth: decoration! For a promotional campaign they’re calling “penny-a-print,” printer/copier leasing company Zeno Office Solutions put up a billboard in Winter Park, Florida decorated with 120,000 hand-polished actual pennies. [More]
Guaranteed Christmas Delivery At Zales Leads To Panicked Boyfriend
By 12.23.11
Maybe Derek shouldn’t have waited until last week to order a bracelet for his girlfriend as a Christmas gift, or maybe he should have gone to a brick-and-mortar Zales store to buy it. But he didn’t, and their site guaranteed delivery by Christmas if he ordered at that point. It turns out that “guaranteed Christmas delivery” actually means “we might get around to shipping it by the 22nd.” [More]
There Is No Good Reason To Buy These 9/11 Commemorative Coins
By 2.4.11
If you enjoy commemorative coinage, and want something tangible and shiny to mark the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, wait for the official coin coming from the U.S. Mint later this year. Skip the neat-looking coin currently being hawked on cable TV. That coin comes from a company with an untrustworthy past when it comes to 9/11 coinage, headed by the same man who brought us the Bedazzler. [More]
This Is A $300,000 Barbie Doll
By 10.21.10
A Barbie doll dressed in a black cocktail dress, pink heels, and a sparkly pink necklace sold at auction at Christie’s yesterday for $302,500. Well, perhaps it’s not a Barbie doll so much as some plastic and fabric that happens to be attached to a custom-designed Cubist pink and white diamond necklace made by Australian jewelry designer Stefano Canturi. [More]
Faberge.com Sells $7 Mil Baubles To Special People Only
By 9.16.09
The reborn Faberge has decided that the rich don’t shop online like the rest of us.
$220,000 Diamond Ring Gets Rave Reviews On Amazon, Sort Of
By 5.7.09
We’re no fans of fake customer reviews here at Consumerist, it’s true, but obviously goofy reviews are one of my very favorite things. (The reviews for this gallon of milk are an Internet classic.)
