Enhancement Brochure Now Available

By Gary Roskin, G.G., FGA, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 5/1/2005 2:00:00 AM

Retailers must be hungry for a new enhancement brochure, because they're snapping up the American Gem Trade Association's new one quickly, according to AGTA executive director Doug Hucker.

The new consumer brochure, "Gemstone Enhancements: What You Should Know," is a redesign of AGTA's six-year-old original. Retail jewelers provide it to customers to inform them about the common enhancements and treatments applied to the gemstone they're purchasing.

Research indicates that customers are seeking more information, and they prefer printed materials, says Hucker. Surveys also suggest that consumers want to get that printed information from their local jeweler.

In the brochure, words such as enhancements, heat, permanent color, bleach, irradiation, and dye are discussed professionally and reassuringly. A subtle negative attitude toward diamond's high pressure–high temperature and corundum's beryllium diffusion is implied—both are noted as treatments, not enhancements.

All the birthstones are discussed, as is coral, which is enjoying renewed popularity.

While the main purpose of the 20-page brochure is to inform and educate consumers, jewelers also can use it to introduce the subject of enhancements to their staffs.

The new brochure also helps dealers, retailers, and manufacturers meet Federal Trade Commission requirements for disclosure. "When offering the buying public a gemstone that has been enhanced by any means, the seller must inform the buyer in plain language of the specific enhancements used," notes AGTA. "Currently, the FTC requires the disclosure of nonpermanent enhancements, those that require special care, and those that have a significant effect on the value of the gemstone."

For more information, call AGTA at (800) 972-1162 or visit www.agta.org/consumer/products/mktorderform.htm.