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Court Denies Macy’s Motion to Strike Fake Jewelry Case

| Apr 5, 2013 | Macy's Fake Gem Lawsuit

In March 2013, Macy’s Demurrer and Motion to Strike the Plaintiff’s complaint in the fake jewelry case was heard before the Hon. John Munter of the San Francisco Superior Court (San Francisco Superior Court No. 10 495868).  Plaintiff filed eight causes of action against Macy’s alleging Unfair Completion under Business and Professions code 17200, False Advertising under Business and Professions code 17500, Violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Intentional Misrepresentation by Macy’s, Negligent Misrepresentation by Macy’s, breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty, and concealment.  Macy’s sought a finding that Plaintiff had not stated sufficient facts to go forward with the case and the case should be thrown out.

After hearing extensive arguments, the Court denied Macy’s motions stating: “The Court holds that each cause of action set forth in the Second Amended Complaint does state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against Macy’s, including facts sufficient to satisfy the applicable standing and notice requirements.”  The Court also proceeded to deny Macy’s motion to strike portions of the complaint in their entirety.  The case will now proceed with discovery regarding Macy’s conduct and allegations of false advertising pertaining to fake rubies and other precious gems that were sold as “real” or “natural” and were not.  Unfortunately, consumers generally do not possess the knowledge or the expertise to know when they are buying a “ruby” that is not a real ruby.

Real rubies are from the mineral corundum and are magnificent in color, hard, durable, brilliant in color, and command high prices.

How do fake rubies become real?

You take a stone that is of poor quality and you add lead glass or treat it with heat to enhance its color and presentation. When pressed some will concede it is not real but insist on calling them rubies.  Others will say when pressed the stone is a “treated ruby”, “enhanced ruby”, “composite ruby” or even “hybrid gemstone”.  In a “composite ruby”, much of the surface is fractured and the fractures are filled with glass.

To the naked eye, there is no difference to the ordinary consumer.

But under magnification, the difference is significant.

On two separate occasions on each coast of our country, television crews have gone into Macy’s and found significant instances where Macy’s was not quite telling the whole truth about their jewelry.  The first was Good Morning America.

Click here to read the full article: Are Your Rubies the Real Deal?

As the Good Morning America piece points out, “To the naked eye, there’s no difference, but examined under a microscope, gas bubbles that form as the glass cools can be seen in the composite rubies.  Experts say composite rubies are fragile, and that they’re only worth a fraction of the value of natural rubies.”  The crew from Good Morning America bought four ruby rings and brought them to gemologist Christopher Smith for testing.  All were supposed to be real rubies.  The result, however, was significantly different;

“We identified the presence of lead within the glass, which is conclusive proof of this material,” Smith said.  The three rings in question were from three different Macy’s stores in the New York area.

The second neutral inspection was from Channel 5 KPIX in San Francisco who aired a program showing the same thing in Macy’s Stores in the Bay Area on Super Bowl Sunday 2011.

We are representing a group of people who bought what they were told were the real things, natural rubies, diamonds, etc., paid real prices, only to later learn their jewelry was not real and worth only a fraction of their purchase price. If you purchased fine jewelry, rubies, diamonds, sapphires or other gemstones from Macy’s anywhere in the US since 2006, you may have a claim. Contact the Brandi Law Firm Consumer Fraud Attorneys to find out more about these issues, whether you are in New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Seattle, Miami, or parts between.  Please contact the Brandi Law Firm at 800-481-1615 or email us.

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