Apparently the FTC has ruled that you can use the term “cultured” to
describe man made gems as long as it is used in conjunction with
“laboratory-created,” “laboratory-grown,” “(manufacturer
name)-created,” or “synthetic”. So you could call a man made diamond
a “cultured synthetic diamond” or a “cultured laboratory-created
diamond” but not just a “cultured diamond”. I’m sure this will make
a number of sellers of these types of stones (it actually applies to
all synthetic stones, not just diamonds) happy. The rest of us will
just have to spend a lot of time explaining exactly what it is the
customers actually bought.
Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers