Fake diamond isn’t jeweler’s best friend
Ted Shaffrey
NEWPORT BEACH -- Police are warning local jewelers to keep a sharp eye
out for a new state-of-the-art type of fake diamond.
At least one longtime Newport Beach pawn shop and two Los Angeles
jewelers have been fooled into buying the phony stones in recent months.
The man-made sand compound, called moissanite, not only looks exactly
like a real diamond but stands up to traditional methods of detecting
fakes, said Sgt. Mike McDermott of the Newport Beach police department.
Newport Beach jeweler Darwin Hurst, of Hurst’s and Son Jewelry and Loan
on Via Lido, gave a loan of $4,500 for what he thought was a loose
diamond worth $17,000 last May. The man who pawned the phony diamond
identified himself as Nathan Richard Mildrew, 25, of Santa Ana Boulevard
in Costa Mesa.
Mildrew never returned to the shop to make payments on the ring, and
police have been unable to locate him.
“[Mildrew] could easily defend himself by saying he bought it from
someone else and was fooled himself,” said McDermott.
Last month Hurst received a flyer from a nationwide group called the
Jewelry Security Alliance warning retailers about moissanite. The
pawnbroker bought a new type of diamond detector that is sensitive to
moissanite, and realized he had bought a fake.
“He’s stuck with a $4,500 piece of sand,” said McDermott of the
disgruntled Hurst.
Hurst did not return calls for comment.
The Los Angeles Police Department this month put out a warrant for a man
named Stephen Albert Briller, who is suspected of selling moissanite to
two pawnshops in Los Angeles.
While visiting Newport Beach and Costa Mesa jewelry shops yesterday,
McDermott heard unconfirmed rumors that moissanite was being sold legally
on the Balboa Peninsula as costume jewelry.
Newport Beach police are recommending that anyone who wants to learn more
about how to spot a phony diamond should visit the Jewelry Security
Alliance’s web site at o7 https://jsa.polygon.netf7 .
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