"However, this high degree of care is a lie, as items sent to Cash4Gold are commonly 'lost,'" the suit alleges. "At best, this means that Cash4Gold is not exercising the high degree of care it has promised and is liable for negligence. At worst, this means that Cash4Gold is intentionally stealing the goods sent to it and is liable for conversion."

The second alleged example of fraud outlined in the suit involves Cash4Gold's 12-day return policy, which asserts that customers who are unsatisfied with the price offered to them for their gold jewelry may contact Cash4Gold and have their jewelry returned to them.

"However, this 'return policy' is a lie," the lawsuit alleges. "Importantly, it is measured from the date on the check sent to consumers. Then Cash4Gold, as a matter of company policy or practice, routinely issues the checks, sets them aside, and mails them out days later so that customers do not receive their checks until after the 12-day return window has already passed...customers are simply unable to reject Cash4Gold's offer or to have their jewelry returned to them.

"Every time we hit the $1,000 mark, we see this phenomenon of people stepping in to sell their gold," Kahn said. "They sell their old jewelry sitting at home, things they got as gifts. They need instant money."

Demand for the precious metal pushed gold to a record of $1,033.90 an ounce in March 2008. The gains enticed jewelry sellers and sent scrap supplies to an all-time high of 1,218 metric tons last year, said GFMS, the former research unit of South Africa's second-largest gold producer.

Scrap supplies will jump to a record 1,485 tons this year, Klapwijk said in a Sept. 14 interview. The gains may "play a role in capping" the bullion rally, said Klapwijk, who joined two other managers to acquire a unit of Consolidated Gold Fields in 1998 to create GFMS. Scrap gold represents about 25 percent of global supply, according to the World Gold Council in London.

"It's inspired by things like seeds and pods, like cardamom, lentils and cloves," said the Indian-born Lakshmi, whose passions also include traveling, writing books and articles and producing documentaries. "I wanted jewelry that isn’t big or grand. I wanted to make something with an exotic lilt and a nod to my background."

Called Padma, the collection consists of more than 50 styles of 10-karat and 14-karat gold jewelry, including necklaces, rings and cuffs. The line goes from day to night, including delicate arm cuffs with citrine briolettes, four-row gold cuffs with charms and dangling gold earrings reminiscent of a common kitchen sight: a fish bone. Several details echo Lakshmi's Indian heritage, which incorporates jewelry as a symbol of beauty and wealth.

Padma ranges in retail price from $375 to $6,600 and hits Bergdorf Goodman in May.

And that's the point. Until last year, Bevirt and her friends would have fallen far outside Taser International's customer base, which has historically been law enforcement. That changed when the company introduced the C2, a model intended for civilian use.

And its release has launched a new trend: get-togethers in the spirit of Tupperware and lingerie parties but where women sell women Tasers.

That was the gathering at Bevirt's house, where Taser dealer Melissa Norris was leading the demonstration.

As Central Florida's self-proclaimed "Taser Lady," Norris knows there's a bit of novelty to her act.

In addition to her own pink C2, safely secured in a pink holster with a sparkly pink decal, Norris came armed with a stack of pink folders holding pink literature.