Marking of 18 karat white gold ring with platinum baguette prongs

No. 313. Marking of 18 karat white gold ring with platinum baguette prongs.

The Commission rendered an advisory opinion in which it advised a ring manufacturer that it would be improper to place the following mark on rings composed of 18 karat white gold with platinum baguette prongs: "18K-Plat."

In rej ecting the proposed mark, the Commission cited the following two reasons: First, since the prongs of the center stone are made out of white gold which resembles the color of the platinum baguette prongs , prospective purchasers might believe that the center prongs as well as the baguette prongs are also made of platinum. Second, to the uninitiated prospective purchaser, the proposed mark, coupled with the similarity in color of the entire ring, might mean that the ring is made in its entirety out of platinum consisting of 18 karat fineness. Similarly, the Commission also rejected two other proposed markings ("18K- IO% Plat" and 90;70 18K-I0;7o Plat." ) because they leave the consumer to speculate as to the exact part of the ring which is composed of platinum. Concluding that these two alternative suggestions are unacceptable, the Commission said: Here , again, because of the similarity in color of the white gold and platinum the consumer might conclude that all of the prongs, including those for the center stone, are of platinum composition. Under these circumstances, it is not enough to merely say that the ring contains 10 percent platinum and 90 percent gold without disclosing the true composition of the various parts of the ring. In short , the Commission believes that the mark should clearly limit the platinum content to the baguette prongs and one possible suggestion would be as follows: ' 18K-baguette prongs Plat.' Any other language of equal clarity would, of course, be acceptable. (File No. 6937041, released Dec. 20 1968.