Headlines

FTC Changes Jewelry Marketing Guidelines

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

INSTORE Staff

Latest recommendations are intended to protect quality.

High-end jewelers stand to benefit from the Federal Trade Commission’s new jewelry marketing guidelines, which are aimed at “low-market competitors who may skew marketing efforts to make jewelry appear of a higher quality,” according to Luxury Daily.

Specifically, the new guidelines are designed to help brand marketers avoid deceptive claims through the use of certain terminology. If you’re pitching lab-created diamonds, for example, then the FTC says it’s OK to refer to them as “cultured” only if the term is followed by “laboratory-created,” “laboratory-grown” or synthetic, the report says.

The guidelines, however, may be seen as toothless since the FTC’s recommendations are not laws. That perception could tempt low-market jewelry vendors with a distaste for the guidelines to intentionally ignore them and hope they don’t get caught.

The FTC is seeking public comment on their new recommendations from now until April 4, so if you have two cents to share, this is your chance.

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”