Greetings to all at Orchid,
We have come across a court case of considerable importance to
the gem and jewelry community - the Fred Ward case. Fred Ward
and Blue Planet Gems, Inc. are on the verge of losing one of the
most astonishing cases involving gemstones in recent history.
He is being sued by his customer for having sold her a 3.65
carat emerald that contained a massive 10.8 mm fracture that only
became visible once she managed to hit it hard enough to “reverse
the filler process.”
How is it possible to have hidden a massive 10.8 mm
surface-reaching fracture so completely that it could get passed
microscopic, UV light, and fiber optic light exams; and a pin
test for surface breaks? Fred Ward still doesn�t have the answer
to this question, but apparently his opponents do - and it�s
about to cost him $380,500!
Fred Ward has provided us with a description of this case
according to his own experience - an inside look at one of the
most costly and misguided cases of our time. Fred Ward asks the
following important question: “if a customer can buy a sound,
high-quality, unfractured and unfilled gemstone, break it, and
then receive a judgement making the jeweler liable for the
original cost, plus treble damages, plus legal fees, where does
that leave us?”
Where does this leave us? Possibly on very, very thin ice
before a wildly litigious public and a precedent setting case
that may well have severely disadvantaged us all.
We would like to invite all of you to read the case thoroughly
and participate in the open forum discussions via Orchid - let�s
see that this case receives the discussion and debate that it
deserves. Fred Ward will be with us on Orchid to answer questions
and discuss the case.
Please refer to the full case description and graphics published
at:
http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/emerald-case-intro.htm
Looking forward to hearing from everyone on this on,
Dr. E. Aspler and Michael T. Carney