Research Paper:Fake versus Real Jewellery

Posted on April 13, 2011

In the jewellery industry, the most essential things are the real gemstones. Also, the fact that they are real makes the jewellery piece(s) vulnerable, and expensive. The feeling of wearing authentic jewellery piece(s) differ from person to person. They tend to be incapable of describing the sensations which they get, such as pleasure, anger, happiness, sadness, etc. Real jewellery have a historical background to them, whether the gems are ancient cut and shaped or referred to an older style depending on the different periods or they were owned by important and influential people, etc. For real jewellery, people are expected to pay a certain amount to afford it. In this case, rich people mostly can afford them whereas the rest of society is supposed just to admire and dream about them. That is why fake jewellery was introduced to make ordinary people feel like millionaires, incredible pieces of jewellery made with fake gemstones for a small price. The problem was that most people could not really tell whether a piece of jewellery was real or fake, only the owner knew that. Therefore, this essay will discuss the different sides of jewellery. Jewellery can either be real or fake depending on its contents. In the world of jewellery, pieces can either be real or fake and there is a controversy whether or not fake diamonds may replace real diamonds. In recent years, fake jewellery has been on the process of overthrowing real jewellery. There are many different reasons why this is happening. First of all, diamond prices have not increased or decreased for the past five years and it is always difficult to sell them when the time comes (Dharamsi, 2010.). Also, big jewellers tend do not buy back diamonds which were not previously sold by them and if they decide to buy they only pay between 75% and 80% of the diamonds price (Dharamsi, 2010). Secondly, diamonds with a specific kind of cut that was once in fashion may no longer be, so this may also be another reason why a jeweller cannot sell it again (Dharamsi, 2010.). Another inconvenience may result in the exchange of diamonds. The jeweller may decide to buy back diamonds in exchange for the seller to buy another diamond of an equal or higher price (Dharamsi, 2010). Fake diamonds are man-made and are available in the market which a person with no knowledge of gemmology can never distinguish the fake from the real one (Dharamsi, 2010). Fake diamonds are composed of two types: moissanite and cubic zirconia (CZ) (Dharamsi, 2010). Moissanite was introduced in 1998 and is more similar to diamonds than cubic zirconia because of its hardness, density, weight and shine but the only real

different is that they have more and better brilliance and fire than diamonds (Dharamsi, 2010). Cubic zirconia was introduced in the 1980sand it is chemically constructed (Dharamsi, 2010). Cubic zirconia is much heavier and breakable than moissanite and the demand of cubic zirconia in jewellery has multipled (Dharamsi, 2010). Even rich people buy it instead of diamonds as they prefer the colour variation and the different shapes it can have (Dharamsi, 2010). Furthermore, fake diamonds are bought by jewellers for a value lower than purchased one but the only problem is that unlike diamonds, cubic zirconia is a fragile stone and it may be scratched or even break (Dharamsi, 2010). As an example; DeBeers is a cause of the power that fake diamonds can have. DeBeers is a South African company that dominates over the worlds diamond market and sets the price of diamonds (Dharamsi, 2010). Diamonds are mostly sold through the Central Selling Organisation of DeBeers (Dharamsi, 2010). The issue referred to DeBeers is that over the years, its domination has been deteriorating because of a more up-to-date fluid and open free market (Dharamsi, 2010). Therefore, fake diamonds have played a major role in the deterioration of DeBeers global control over diamonds (Dharamsi, 2010). Take a step back in history and look how far fake jewellery has improved since. Paris is and has always been the centre of arts. The city revived the glamour in everyone after both War Worlds and the Great Depression. In the 1930s, Coco Chanel, a very significant and influential fashion designer from France made fake jewellery more important and desirable than real jewellery (Farage, 2008). Also, she went beyond the normal boundaries and introduced fake jewellery which could be worn possibly from the morning to the night (Farage, 2008). This was the first time in fashion history that a person could wear such jewellery and have the same one for the all day without changing it (Farage, 2008). The economic depression of the two last years has endorsed a slight recovery because of the investments put into the luxury market (Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011). Also, some sectors in the luxury market have different growth rates such as the watches sector which alone increased by 8.5% in 2009 (Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011). Even though, consumers have been spending in the luxury industry, they still opt for cheaper alternatives than real jewellery because they are still vigilant towards the prices (Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011). In the market, real

jewellery has been experiencing a small increase while cheaper fashion goods have been rising dramatically in sales (Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011). In the United Kingdom, the reason for having a positive jewellery market is due to weddings (Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011). Weddings have contributed a lot to the market by spending on engagement rings, weddings bands, bridal jewellery and gifts (Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011). Furthermore, in the next five years, the market of jewellery and watches in the United Kingdom is expected to have a constant growth as the economy recovers, the sales are intended to peak at 5.32 billion in 2015 (Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011). Although, fake jewellery seems to show that it is better than real jewellery, there still exits some negative aspects about it. In China, for example, many shops have closed down or are in the verge of closing because the negative sale of fake items such as earrings, rings and bracelets which are basically copper covered in a film of gold (Yau, 2010). This situation occurs when people are just not buying anymore the goods. In the past, poor people used to buy fake jewellery for weddings, big occasions or just to host visitors because they did wanted to show off their wealth (Yau, 2010). While now a day, people in China do not really care anymore about it especially if they are rich or have an education, they just buy the real thing (Yau, 2010). Another example occurred in the United Kingdom when a woman was selling fake designer jewellery such Tiffany for at least a year before getting caught (Freedman, 2009). She was getting her fake goods from China and was selling them for a cheaper cost (Freedman, 2009). For instance; a Rolex watch which she bought and then sold for 45 whereas the real price of one was 5000 (Freedman, 2009). As a final example, Hong Kong jewellers and pawnshops have experienced a highly sophisticated scam with fake gold (Devadas, and Lim, 2010). Most shops have declared to have fallen in this fiasco. The gold involved in the scams was made up of pure copper coins covered from the outside with gold (Devadas, and Lim, 2010). Even with sophisticated chemical tests to detect fakes, one of Hong Kongs largest jewellers had been tricked in believing that the gold was real (Devadas, and Lim, 2010). These three different examples demonstrate that fake jewellery may in some cases be high than real jewellery but it can also have a very different aspect(s) to it. As a conclusion, the problem is not whether fake jewellery is more important than real jewellery or vice versa but that in fact neither of them can be overthrown because

each one of them has good and bad aspects. For instance, fake jewellery is cheaper and more commercial but it can also it can also be a dangerous way of cheating and tricking people who do not have a clue. While on the other hand, real jewellery is expensive and authentic, it has more difficulty adapting to the recent and following years. References Devadas, D. and Lim, C., 2010. Fake gold alert after scam hits HK shops; Adequatemeasures in place here, traders say. Available:<http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?doc LinkInd=true&risb=21_T11713201710&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo= 1&resultsUrlKey=29_T11713201713&cisb=22_T11713201712&treeMax=tru.> [Accessed 10 April 2011]. Dharamsi, K., 2010. Artifical diamonds are better than the real. Available:<http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?doc LinkInd=true&risb=21_T11713201710&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo= 1&resultsUrlKey=29_T11713201713&cisb=22_T11713201712&treeMax=tru> [Accessed 9 April 2011]. Farage, J., 2008. Fashion. Available:<http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docvi ew.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T11713201710&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&sta rtDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T11713201713&cisb=22_T11713201712&treeMax=tru.> [Accessed 10 April 2011]. Freedman, N., 2009. Brighton mum faces jail for fake goods party scam. Available:<http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?do cLinkInd=true&risb=21_T11713201710&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo =1&resultsUrlKey=29_T11713201713&cisb=22_T11713201712&treeMax=tru.> [Accessed 11 April 2011]. Yau, E., 2010. Once Popular artisans are now a dying breed. Available:<http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/auth/checkbrowser.do?rand=0. 01166559053411853&cookieState=0&ipcounter=1&bhcp=1>. [Accessed 10 April 2011]. Research and Markets: Jewellery & Watches Market Report 2011., 2011. Available:<http://www.lexisnexis.com/uk/nexis/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkI nd=true&rsb=21_T11716909792&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&res ultsUrlKey=29_T11716909795&cisb=22_T11716909794&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0& csi=162367&docNo=2>. [Accessed 9 April 2011].