Hallmarking two-tone metal

Jewelry Discussion
1 
   This idea is fine for the initial sale of a piece but what

about reselling it down the line aways.

   I think if you advise your initial buyer of the content of the
piece of jewelry you have sold them, that's about all you can do.
You can't be responsible for what happens 20 or 30 years down the
road. They could have lost/damaged/given away/or whatever the piece
of jewelry. How would you know and even if you knew, what could you
possibly do about it.  I would think your concern would be with the
original sale and from there on it's the responsibility of the
owner as to what they do with it.

Thank goodness we have a ‘proper’ hallmarking system in the UK. It
may be a bit more irksome to get a piece ready for sale but , in the
long run, it protects everyone down the line and makes life a lot
easier. At least when you buy something marked 14 carat, you know
for sure that every part of the piece including solder, fittings
etc., is at least that standard of metal.

Best Wishes
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK

2 
       This idea is fine for the initial sale of a piece but what
about reselling it down the line aways. 

       I think if you advise your initial buyer of the content of
the piece of jewelry you have sold them, that's about all you can
do. You can't be responsible for what happens 20 or 30 years down
the road.

Yes, you can. The whole reason for requiring your hallmark, makers
mark or name when you quality stamp a piece is so that the governing
authority can contact you “20 or 30 years down the road” if there is
a problem or complaint. As the maker, YOU are responsible for as
long as your creation lasts. If you can’t deal with that or aren’t
confident enough in what you created, go into retail.

   They could have lost/damaged/given away/or whatever the piece
of jewelry. How would you know and even if you knew, what could you
possibly do about it.  I would think your concern would be with the
original sale and from there on it's the responsibility of the
owner as to what they do with it.

Your concern is with properly marking and hallmarking your pieces.
If you do, the above scenario won’t matter.

        Thank goodness we have a 'proper' hallmarking system in
the UK. It may be a bit more irksome to get a piece ready for sale
but, in the long run, it protects everyone down the line and makes
life a lot easier. At least when you buy something marked 14
carat, you know for sure that every part of the piece including
solder, fittings etc., is at least that standard of metal.

And that’s precisely the point. Thanks, Ian. Irksome though it may
be, it can’t be beat. And if observed religiously, it protects the
maker as well as the buyer. What could be better than that?

James in SoFl

3 
    Thank goodness we have a 'proper' hallmarking system in the UK.

Is there something “wrong” with combining metals? If a piece
combines gold and silver in the UK, not only can you not inform the
customer of this by the quality marks, you are not supposed to
describe it in writing. Can you even speak it? I saw a mokume piece
in the National Museum of Scotland that was obviously silver and
copper. The display label stated it was copper and “white metal”. Who
is served by this? If the work has enough merit to be exhibited at
the NMS isn’t it silly to think that somehow it is harmful to say
what it is actually made of?

Stephen Walker

4

Thanks Ian, but we do have a system in place in the USA since around
1900, there was a post that went over it a bit

I am sure our government has posted it on the web, but finding the
answers will take some digging, or $200 per hour for a lawyer. Both
seem painful :slight_smile:

Tim…