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 .