It does seem tha HA has done this before. Wait to the last minute to remove and item. I do not think that it takes a month to get a hold of a consigner of such high valued rings. Same with the watch. It does start to get old.
I also see that an item that is truely suspected to be a forgery is consigned by one of the big shots at HA. I really think that is convlict of interest. Keeping an item in because your own guy is selling it.
Last thing. When it came to the rings even a person who has never dealt with rings could see that they where altered. It really would have made them look good if they just taken them down when this all started.