By Alex Robinson
A Flushing business leader claims a jewelry store swapped her $1.2 million diamond ring with a cheap substitute when she took it in for cleaning last summer, a lawsuit said.
Liu Tee Shu, owner of Shu Enterprises, brought a 15-carat diamond ring to Carat & Co., at 37-09 Main St., with the purpose of having it cleaned in July 2013, according to the civil lawsuit she filed in Queens Supreme Court.
She handed the ring, which had an approximate value of $1.2 million, to an employee of the store, who took it to the back of the shop to clean it for 20 minutes, before re-emerging with the ring in an open box, the lawsuit said.
One day in August when she was wearing the ring, Shu noticed the stone was not the original diamond, the lawsuit said. An examination by an expert revealed the stone had been replaced with a cubic zirconia, according to the lawsuit.
Cubic zirconia is a clear synthetic material and a cheap alternative to diamonds.
Shu, who said she was a longtime customer of the store, believes the employee replaced her ring’s stone with the new stone when the employee was supposedly cleaning it for 20 minutes, the lawsuit said.
Carat & Co. “carries a full line of cubic zirconia in stock,” the lawsuit claimed.
“All the allegations she’s making are false. This never happened,” said Melissa Mon, an employee of Carat & Co. “She never even came into our store before. We don’t know where she’s getting these things from.”
The office for the lawyer who represents Carat & Co. said the allegations will be denied in court.
Shu is seeking at least $1.2 million with interest and costs from the jewelry store, the lawsuit said.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
