George,
To clarify the point a little - in which you don't get what the fuss is over, lets look at it from a different point.
What if - Your wife goes out and buys you a diamond ring (because you are a great guy.) That ring has a 1 carat zirconium and several miniscule diamond particles or diamond dust in the finish. Now, if it was advertised it was "Diamond" and the salesman said it was a "diamond" ring, I am sure she and you would be highly upset when you found out it was not what _you_ consider a diamond ring. It DOES have diamonds in it. It is true that it is a "diamond" ring . . . This is the issue here. It is wrong to sell something as one thing when in fact it is something else, even if the difference is minor.
Wrong is wrong whether it is diamond dust in a zirconium ring and labeling as "diamond" OR selling a 90% turquoise dust in a dust binder as "turquoise stone". Also wrong in my strong opinions is deliberately using words that the customer will not understand to make them think they are getting something that they are not, and then saying that their ignorance is not your fault.
A few months ago, there was a discussion about the possibility of selling any olive wood as "Bethlehem" Olive Wood (BOW), since no one can really tell where the olive wood is from just by observation. There were several posts telling how deceptive that is as well as illegal. Some people buy BOW because of where it originated and the personal value they place on "Bethlehem". To sell California OW or Jerusalem OW as BOW is wrong and illegal. So is selling crushed turquoise powder in a binder as real turquoise. Or diamond dust . . .
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