The discount warehouse chain Costco got something from Tiffany for Valentine’s Day: a lawsuit claiming it had sold diamond engagement rings falsely marketed in stores using the jeweler’s name.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in Federal District Court in Manhattan, says a shopper complained to Tiffany late last year “that she was disappointed to observe that Costco was offering for sale what were promoted on in-store signs as Tiffany diamond engagement rings.”
In an investigation, the lawsuit says, Tiffany found that Costco salespeople referred to the rings as Tiffany, but that the rings were not promoted as such online. The suit says, “Tiffany has never sold nor would it ever sell its fine jewelry through an off-price warehouse retailer like Costco.”
As a result, the suit says, there are “hundreds if not thousands of people who mistakenly believe they purchased and own a Tiffany engagement ring from Costco.”
Costco said it had no comment.
The lawsuit says Costco stopped marketing Tiffany rings after the jeweler approached it last year.
Tiffany asked for all profits made from selling the rings, and for damages that take into account the value of the Tiffany brand in bolstering Costco’s business and gilding a move by the retailer to sell discounted luxury goods.
Luxury brands often sue to preserve their stature and prevent imitations. Previously, Costco took a fight with the Swatch Group over the right to sell Omega watches as far as the United States Supreme Court.
On Thursday, watches by Breitling, Cartier and Chanel were on sale for as much as $15,000 on Costco’s Web site. An engagement ring in the “Audrey” collection — Costco’s advertising makes no mention of any connection to Audrey Hepburn, the star of the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” — was priced at more than $60,000.
A Tiffany at Costco? Not Now, or Ever, Tiffany Lawsuit Says
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A Tiffany at Costco? Not Now, or Ever, Tiffany Lawsuit Says
