NEW YORK — Cartier is taking aim at jewelers in Manhattan’s Diamond District that it alleges are embellishing legitimate Cartier watches to mimic higher-end models.
In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on Nov. 28, the luxury giant accused 10 watch and jewelry stores located on or near West 47th Street of adding diamonds to genuine Cartier watches. The placement of the diamonds imitates the diamond patterns on more expensive Cartier designs, according to the complaint. Cartier also argues that drilling on the watch case negatively impacts the product, including its core functions, water resistance and comfort.
Jewelers named in the complaint are Avianne’s, Watch Hospital & Jewelry, Motion in Time, Kinetics of NY, M.M. Dynasty Jewelry, Johnny’s Diamonds and Jewelry, Diamond Source, Gold Standard Watch and Jewelry, Yaeger Watch and Nelly’s Fine Jewelry. Eight of the 10 named defendants have store locations on 47th Street. Forty John Does were also listed as defendants.
The complaint alleges violations of trademark infringement and false designation of origin. Gold Standard and Motion in Time were accused of additional violations of trade dress and trademark infringement as well as design patent infringement for selling “imitations and copies of the Tank Française, Tank Americaine and/or Panthere watch designs.”
“If the customer buys a watch and it’s their watch and they give consent for us to do work on that watch, why does Cartier care?” said a spokesman for Avianne’s, who declined to be named. “They brought in their own personal watches and asked us to do work. I don’t understand what we did wrong if the watch belongs to an individual.”
All other named defendants declined to comment on the case.
According to court filings, at each of the named stores a Cartier investigator was able to buy lower-cost Cartier watches —authentic models with stainless steel wristbands and no diamonds — and request after-market diamonds be attached to them. In some cases the investigators choose from a selection of already embellished Cartier watches that vendors readily admitted they had done themselves. The investigator, working with a female colleague, was repeatedly told by vendors that diamonds could be added instead of paying for the higher-priced designs and that it was a common practice. Some of the vendors also told the investigators that the watches could be polished to look more like white gold. Receipts for the items included in the court filings often indicated that after-market diamonds had been added.
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John Sokol, Richemont North America’s director of technical services, also submitted a court filing of his analysis of eight of the watches purchased from the vendors. In five of the watches Sokol said the vendors’ drilling had “gone completely through the case” in several places, making the watches no longer watertight. Aesthetically, Sokol said the settings of the after-market diamonds were poorly done in each of the eight watches.
“It is essential that the prestige and reputation of the Cartier name be preserved,” said Frederic de Narp, president and chief executive officer of Cartier North America, in a statement. “We therefore have no choice but to take firm legal action against those who denigrate and tarnish our product with unauthentic changes made to our unique designs.”