The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two California women. Attorneys representing the case want the court to open the lawsuit to all “who suffered injury from Cash4Gold’s unlawful practices from October 6, 2003 and October 6 2009.”

There are three specific frauds named in the “unlawful behavior” of Cash4Gold’s business practices.

The first is the claim of providing the “highest care” for items mailed to their facility. Plaintiffs claim this is a lie as many items are commonly “lost”. A high degree of care is not exercised and at worse items are intentionally stolen.

The second allegation involves Cash4Gold’s 12 day return policy, in which customers are promised to have their jewelry returned if they are not satisfied with the cash offered.

The lawsuit alleges that return policy is also a lie. It is claimed that Cash4Gold issues the payment checks but mails the checks days later making it impossible for the customer to receive it within the 12-day return policy allotment. It also stated that a lot of the jewelry was already melted down, knowing that the customer had no recourse of having the items returned based on the check mailing schedule.

The third is the creation by Cash4Gold a “customer service” staff that deliberately lies and frustrates customers to support the other two frauds of stealing jewelry and fabricating a bogus return policy.

The plaintiffs are also asking for permanent injunctions against Cash4Gold preventing the company from “utilizing any monies acquired by its unfair business practice, and for compensatory, actual and punitive damages.

Cash4Gold has denied the allegations in a written a response to mailed to the National Jeweler. The company said the suit has no merit and will vigorously defend its case.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii

Sparkle in a diamond is a function of its cut, which is a matter of proportions and not shape. A well cut diamond will return light to the viewers eyes much like mirror would.

An ideal cut diamond will have the most sparkle in any lighting condition. It will also have the most sparkle in a low lighting situation. That is provided that the diamond is clean.

The following diagram shows how a well cut diamond returns light and how a deep, or shallow poorly cut diamond leaks light and does not return it to the viewers eyes.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii

What most consumers may not understand is that carat weight is a weight designation not one that describes the physical size. A one carat diamond if it is cut deep will appear smaller because the weight is more vertical than a one carat diamond that is cut shallower and more horizontal.

This brings up an important associated subject, the importance of cut. An ideal cut diamond having the right proportions will return the most light and have the most brilliance and sparkle. A diamond that is cut too deep or too shallow will appear smaller or larger than the ideal cut diamond of the same weight and will not have as much sparkle or brilliance. Diamonds that are cut too deep or shallow will also have a lower value than an ideal cut.

The following diagram will illustrate light return in the different cut proportions  of a diamond.

More than just size the cut is the most important aspect in defining brilliance and sparkle. What would you rather have?

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude

The Diamond Specialists Inc.

Diamonds Hawaii

Moissanite is a lab created gemstone. It is made in the laboratory from carbon and silicon using heat and pressure.

It is commonly used as a diamond simulant, meaning that it is a diamond substitute but is not a diamond. It may be the  simulant that looks the closest to a diamond.

It is carbon based like a diamond and its thermal conductivity is similar to a diamond. It will fool conventional thermal diamond testers and will register as a diamond. You would need a moissanite tester to confirm that it is not a diamond.

It has a refractive index  is also similar to a diamonds and will appear as brilliant. Unlike a diamond it is double refractive whereas a diamond is single refractive. A moissanite  has more “fire” (dispersion) than a diamond. It also appears a little darker in the J-L color range with a tinge of yellow to green.

It has a hardness of 9.5 on the Mohs scale so it it very durable. Diamonds are a 10 on the Mohs scale.

As a lab created gemstone it is not a diamond and is therefore not as valuable as a diamond. It is approximately one-twentieth the value of diamonds.

Moissanites because its properties are similar to a diamond it can be considered a “fabulous fake” and it may be just the right fit for some people.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii

Actually sapphires come in blue, pink, purple, orange, yellow, green, gray, black and even clear colors. There are even  some sapphires that appear to have one color in natural outdoor lighting and a different color in artificial lighting.

Rubies and sapphires are made of the same mineral, called corundum. When a piece of corundum is red then it is called a ruby.  All the other colors of corundum are called sapphires.

Sapphires that are pink-orange are known as padparadscha.

The range of colors of sapphires make for an interesting choice especially for those born in September for which sapphire is the birthstone of that month.

Rusell Oshita, the diamonddude

The Diamond Specialists Inc.

Diamonds Hawaii

Carat is a weight designation. A one carat weight is 0.20 of a gram. Carat weight is the usual measurement of weight for gemstones.

Karat is usually a percentage designation for gold. Pure gold is 24 karats. If you divide 14 karats by 24 karats you get .583 which is the percentage of gold in 14 karats. 18 karats would be 75% and so on.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii

Her reaction could be due to a couple of causes. One is that she is allergic to the nickel alloy that is used primarily as the metal to make white gold. It has been said that there may be about 15% – 20% of the world’s population that has some degree of allergic reaction to nickel, some a lot worse than others.

One possible solution to this problem is to use a white gold that does not use nickel. There are white gold jewelry that uses other metals other than nickel to produce the white color although it is not as abundantly available.

Other alternatives are to plate the white gold with Rhodium that will help to insulate a person from the white gold. It is a relatively inexpensive fix.  Re-plating with rhodium just has to be done periodically as necessary. Another option is that you can change your setting to platinum or palladium, both of which are hypo-allergenic.

The second possible cause of the rash could be a fungus infection because of the dampness under the ring that creates a condtion that is condusive to fungal growth. Anti- fungal creme will usually alleviate this problem.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude

The Diamond Specialists  Inc.

Diamonds Hawaii

Sterling silver is silver that by composition is 92.5% silver and the rest are other metals alloys. Commonly copper is used as the alloy. Pure or fine silver 99.9% is much to soft to be  used practically for jewelry purposes. Alloys are added to increase hardness and still allow malleability.

Other alloys used is the metal geranium, platinum and zinc which are primarily used to reduce tarnishing but also to improve silver’s workability.

Sterling silver can be identified by 925 stamped on the jewelry piece or the words Sterling Silver.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii

Some may think that charm bracelets are passe. For others it is a collection of important memories.

Some people have a charm bracelet that is a travelogue of their all the places that they have been to a wonderful reminder of the how big the world is.

Others have charm bracelets that are more personal in nature. They may have hearts with names of their children or grandchildren, charms of their pets, anything that has that personal connection to their memories.

Charm bracelets are any chain bracelet that has links that are large enough to attach a charm. It can be made in gold, silver or even in metal that is not precious.

Charm bracelets are endearing for the things that it represents to the owner. It is an accumulation of all the things we should be grateful for.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude
The Diamond Specialists Inc.
Diamonds Hawaii

Now there are a greater number of choices in materials that are not the traditional choices of gold, silver and platinum.

Men now have other metal choices such as tungsten, titanium, palladium, stainless steel, and ceramic.  There are even combination of these different materials to create even more ring designs like mokume. Diamonds and gemstones can even be added for more bling.

It may actually be difficult now to choose a ring because there are simply too many choices, but having choice is much better than having none. Enjoy the quest.

Russell Oshita, the diamonddude

The Diamond Specialists Inc.

Diamonds Hawaii