He brought pinky rings back — and then someone started making knockoffs.
Luxury Manhattan jeweler-to-the-stars David Yurman — whose signature gem-encrusted “Pinky Ring” has brought back the trend once favored by wiseguys — claims an Italian company stole trade secrets to create a knockoff of the ring.
The Yurman originals — which have been worn by the likes of Paula Patton, Katy Perry and Kate Upton — sell for $6,500 for the blue sapphire version to $12,000 for one covered in diamonds.
In his Manhattan Supreme Court suit, Yurman says Rome-based manufacturer Armando Pasini is hawking cheap replicas of the “Pinky Ring,” which became a rage on the European market in 2012 after its debut on the cover of Vogue.
Yurman, whose business is headquarted in Tribeca, says he met Pasini at a Swiss trade show in 2012 and hired the Italian to make samples of the Pinky Ring for a potential collaboration.
Yurman handed over specs, personal instructions and even a mold, with the condition that Pasini sign a confidentiality agreement.
Pasini heads two Roman-based jewelry manufacturers called Artifex and Bonato Milano.
But the samples were not up to snuff and Yurman parted ways with Pasini only to have his employees discover the knockoffs at a trade show in April 2013.
“While visiting the Bonato booth, Yurman reps, to their surprise and dismay, observed a pinky ring prominently being offered for sale by Bonato that was an obvious copy of Yurman’s Signature Pinky Ring,” the suit says.
Pasini “wrongfully schemed to market and sell a knockoff of the Yurman Signature Pinky Ring that had been designed and manufactured by Artifex using the confidential and proprietary information and materials provided by Yurman,” the court papers allege.
Yurman wants Pasini to hand over all the knockoffs and pay unspecified damages for his “ill gotten-gains.”
Pasini did not immediately return email messages for comment. One of his employees, reached in Rome, told the Post he was not available for an interview.