I’ve only had one person ask me in the retail store why all of our
handmade jewelry wasn’t stamped. I went to the back and brought out
a stamp and showed it to her. She was astonished to discover that
anyone could stamp jewelry with 14K, legal or not. I told her that
most people don’t ask anymore and since I’ve never had anyone ask me
about my work I kinda didn’t think about it.
I think I’ll leave it alone until it becomes an issue.
Amery,
While in London a few years ago, I went to an exhibition of large
scale silverwork and jewelry. A couple of large platters caught my
eye, as the label affixed to them identified them as made in
"Precious White Metal". What is that, I wondered. No one at the show
was able to explain what that meant until I was refered to the
gallery director, who explained that “Precious White Metal” meant
sterling silver, but that the artist could either not afford, or
refused to pay the government’s fee to test and hallmark both
pieces. Therefore, according to English law, without the proper
hallmarks, it was not legal to call them sterling silver, even though
they, in fact, were. Somehow I can’t imagine American jewelers being
required to send their jewelry for sale to a government agency for
assaying and hallmarking, and being charged a fee to do so. That
would be another American revolution, I think. Here in America,
anyone can buy a hallmark stamp and mark their jewelry whatever they
want, in theory. I just wouldn’t want to get caught by the Feds doing
such a thing.
Jay Whaley
Dear Jay,
Therefore, according to English law, without the proper hallmarks, it was not legal to call them sterling silver, even though they, in fact, were.
Technically speaking, it is not legal to call them sterling silver
if they are to be SOLD. Presumably, being in an exhibition, such
pieces WERE up for sale, and as such should have been hallmarked as
you say. I regularly make sterling silver jewellery and stamp it 925
regardless of the weight of the piece - because they are pieces I
have made to GIVE AWAY to family members or friends. I’ve not yet
registered with the one of the assay offices as I’ve not had the
available funds but WILL be either registering or sending for
hallmarking via one of the vendors who offer a hallmarking service,
if I sell anything over the weight limit as that’s what the law
requires.
To the person who told me the following, please forgive me for
forgetting who it was - but an Orchid member told me of someone they
know (in the UK) who always incorporates a little copper washer or
rivet somewhere in every piece, so as to bypass the hallmarking
laws. If a precious metal piece of jewellery (or holloware or
whatever) is a mixed metal piece (ie contains any amount of another
metal), the piece is hallmarked according to the lowest value metal.
So the person’s jewellery in question would be hallmarked as copper,
if there were such a thing as a copper hallmark - which of course
there isn’t because it’s not a precious metal. Therefore, his/her
jewellery does not “need” to be hallmarked. However, if you read the
following, then he/she would not be able to describe it as sterling
silver either.
The Goldsmith’s Company of London says “The Act is built around the
principle of description, where it is an offence for any person to
apply to an unhallmarked article a description indicating that it is
wholly or partly made of gold, silver or platinum. There is an
exemption by weight: compulsory hallmarks are not needed on gold
under 1g, silver under 7.78g and platinum under 0.5g.”
This would imply that the gallery owner verbally telling visitors/
customers that the piece is sterling (ie describing it as sterling
silver) is contrary to the law. Therefore if you cannot even
verbally describe it as sterling or gold or platinum or whatever,
then short of a nudge or a wink or gesture trying to get across the
identity of the metal, there is NO other way in the UK to sell a
piece of precious metal which exceeds the weight limits, other than
getting it hallmarked. Somebody can correct me if I’m wrong.
Every time I post regarding the UK assay laws, I have to go back and
refer to the law to ensure what I say is correct and I’m worried
that I may have got the wrong end of the stick on something. Earlier
in this post, I say that to SELL something made of precious metal
(that exceeds the weight limit for that metal), a piece must be
hallmarked. And I go on to say that I stamp jewellery 925 that I am
giving away to friends and family, regardless of its weight. However,
having reviewed the law again, it does not say that it is any
precious metal article that is to be sold - it says that it is not
lawful for any precious metal article not hallmarked to be described
as silver, gold or platinum. So have I violated the laws by giving
sterling silver gifts to my family and friends and not having items
over 7.78g hallmarked? I am rather perturbed by this. Or is the
wording of the law such that it assumes that all vendors of such
precious metal articles are going to be selling ALL their wares and
so the distinction between items sold or given away was not made? ANY
enlightenment by someone in the know who resides in the UK and/or
understands the UK hallmarking laws would be most appreciated. I’m
sure I’ve read it somewhere that it is items to be sold that are
subject to the law. Please help!
Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://www.helensgems.etsy.com
Hi,
I can't imagine American jewelers being required to send their jewelry for sale to a government agency for assaying and hallmarking, and being charged a fee to do so.
Hallmarking in the UK is carried out by a series of Assay Offices
which are effectively run independently of the government. The law
just says that any article of precious metal which is sold as such
must be independently certified as being of the correct quality in
order to safeguard the purchaser. The Assay Offices are controlled
by The British Hallmarking Council which is composed of
representatives from:
Here is a quote from the Birmingham Assay Office site which gives
the reasons for assaying…
"Hallmarking is necessary because when jewellery and silverware
are manufactured, precious metals are not used in their pure
form, as they are too soft. Gold, Silver, and Platinum are always
alloyed with copper or other metals to create an alloy that is
more suitable to the requirements of the jeweller. Such an alloy
needs to be strong, workable, yet still attractive.
Owing to the high value of gold, platinum and silver, there are
significant profits to be gained by reducing the precious metal
content of an alloy at the manufacturing stage. Base metal
articles plated with a thin coat of gold or silver look the same
as articles made wholly of precious metal, at least until the
plating wears, and even an expert cannot determine the quality or
standard of precious metal items by eye or touch alone.
With volume manufacturing, enormous profits can be made from
even a small reduction in the amount of precious metal used.
Without compulsory independent testing there is huge potential
for deception and fraud."
There ARE penalties for violating the karat marking laws, but actual prosecutions seem to be rare, limited to those instances where it's a pretty major and ongoing violation.
Having penalties for hallmarking fraud is all well and good but how
many items of jewellery are sold each year in the US and how many of
those are actually tested for metal quality? When Aunty Mabel takes
in an expensive ring for repair and finds that it is really junk,
will she have the resources of knowledge to seek out and prosecute
the maker and, if she did, would it be worth her while to do so or
would she be out-of-pocket? If you do want to track down a fraudulent
maker, how will you do it - the chances are that the maker’s mark
will also be fraudulent and the fraudsters will be long gone with a
pocketful of your money. The error may, of course, have been
unwitting and the jeweller may not have meant to defraud anyone -
perhaps the metal he bought was already below standard or perhaps the
alloy changed in casting. Maybe the solder used was not of
hallmarking quality. Do you do a cupellation test on each batch of
metal you use?
The whole point of the British system is that it is _independent _
and equally protects the buyers and sellers. ALL items made of
precious metals above the prescribed minimum weights have to be
tested and certified as correctly described otherwise they can only
be sold as ‘white metal’ or ‘yellow metal’ leaving the purchaser to
draw their own conclusions as to what they are actually made of and
perhaps arrange an assay for themselves.
Where large volumes of mass produced goods are involved - e.g. gold
chains imported from Italy etc., not every piece will be tested but
a ‘representative sample’ is chosen at random - i.e. a couple of
chains will be randomly pulled from each bundle - and will be melted
down and assayed. This basically involves very accurately weighing
the sample, melting it and dissolving away all the ingredients which
are not silver, gold or platinum, and then reweighing the remaining
metal to determine what percentage of the whole remains as pure
precious metal. This is a very simple system which gives very
accurate results and is impossible to cheat… For individual items,
a scraping of metal is taken from an inconspicuous place on each
individual part of it (for example, a box would have scrapings taken
from both the main body and the lid) and assayed in the same manner.
Each part would then be marked with the relevant quality standard
mark. Occasionally now, for unusual or rare antique pieces, a system
is used in which a tiny scraping is made to get below any plating
and an X-ray crystallography technique is used to analyse the metal
composition.
I, for one, am pleased that we have this system over here - when I
look at jewellery marked 22K in a Turkish bazaar or somewhere, I
somehow can’t help feeling that I may be being cheated, but, over
here, I can always be sure that I am getting value for money…
Best wishes,
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK
Hi Helen,
So have I violated the laws by giving sterling silver gifts to my family and friends and not having items over 7.78g hallmarked?
Technically yes, you have violated the law as it could be argued that
the piece was traded for favours past or present. However, in
practice, thiswould never be tested until the piece is sold - perhaps
after the relative’s death or if they give it to someone else and
they decide to sell it. Then it could only legally be sold as ‘white
metal’ unless it was hallmarked at that time. I don’t really think
you need to worry too much though as it is unlikely the ‘hallmarking
police’ will come after you at that stage - unless they are reading
this forum… Stamping a piece 925 in the UK has no validity
unless there is a clear intention to defraud and it is just not
lawful to sell any item as ‘silver’ unless it has the full hallmark.
I was recently asked to get a full canteen on Jorge Jensen cutlery
hallmarked so that it could be sold - now, as a very desirable
collectors item it was questionable whether hallmarking it with a
British hallmark would deface it as far as collectors are concerned,
however, its owner wanted to sell it as silver and so it was felt
that the hallmark was necessary. In this case the Sheffield Assay
Office were very accommodating and used non-destructive testing and
marked the pieces very discreetly with laser marks.
Best wishes,
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK
I, for one, am pleased that we have this system over here - when I look at jewellery marked 22K in a Turkish bazaar or somewhere, I somehow can't help feeling that I may be being cheated, but, over here, I can always be sure that I am getting value for money...
I agree with you wholeheartedly, but there seems to be an industry
wide deception that some vendors/manufacturers take advantage of. It
concerns the stamping of sterling silver jewellery with a 925 stamp.
I was once again reading the nitty gritty of the law concerning
hallmarks the other day so that I could answer a question, and I
came across an article on the internet that was written by the former
owner of a UK company which sells mass-produced silver jewellery
inexpensively. It had a link to the company in question. Both the
article and the FAQ section of the company’s website played on the
public’s common misconception that a “925” stamp is a hallmark! It
described in quite good detail what the law states regarding
hallmarks and the agencies which carry out such a service - but then
went on to say that the most common hallmark in the UK is a “925”
stamp. The in the company’s FAQ’s said that “Nearly every
item of silver jewellery that we sell is stamped with a 925
hallmark”. To me, this statement is extremely misleading, as the
company only sells a handful of pieces over the 7.78g weight limit
and thus only a handful of pieces are sent for assaying and
hallmarking, making the “nearly every item” statement dishonest.
I emailed the company and the new owner assured me that it was an
honest mistake and that he’d sought the advice of Trading Standards
when he took over the company - who had not picked up the error. He
said that he would be looking into it and getting further advice on
the matter. He was, to his credit, very concerned and determined not
to have any misleading on his site knowingly.
It seems that because the vast majority of UK buyers think that a
fineness stamp alone is a hallmark (as opposed to the proper, three
mark hallmark performed by an assay office), and the fact that they
trust in the hallmarking system - vendors/manufacturers of sterling
silver jewellery often play on such a misconception and imply that
the majority of their jewellery is hallmarked - thus giving the
impression that each piece has been sent for assay and stamped by the
assay office - when in fact, most pieces have just been stamped “925”
because they fall under the weight limit above which articles must
be hallmarked.
As a former naive and regular buyer of sterling silver jewellery,
this deception has me incensed, because the public are deceived by
either clever wording, or by companies not correcting customers’
misconceptions. I tell everyone who receives a piece of my
jewellery, what a hallmark is and that it consists of at least three
marks, stamped by the assay office, and which pieces of jewellery
should have such a hallmark. I have in the past (before I started to
research/ make jewellery), bought very heavy, solid sterling
jewellery from outdoor shows (bike shows) which should have been
hallmarked but were only stamped “925” and it annoys me that there
are vendors who are getting away with such misdemeanors. But for the
most part, vendors are abiding by the law with regard to which items
are sent for hallmark, but they are perpetuating the myth that
lighter (under 7.78g) items are hallmarked when they’re not.
But that having been said, our hallmarking system is an extremely
well run system that allows people to trust that what they are
buying, is what it says it is. And although I’m annoyed at the
situation I describe above, the vendors/manufacturers are not
necessarily breaking any laws (correct me if I’m wrong) - they are
just not correcting a misconception held by the majority of the
public. The jewellery stamped “925” will (more than likely) still be
sterling silver, but it falls under the weight limit, meaning that it
doesn’t have to be hallmarked.
I think as makers or vendors of precious metal jewellery, we have a
duty to inform the buyers about the hallmarking system and dispel
any myths associated with it.
Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://www.helensgems.etsy.com
When Aunty Mabel takes in an expensive ring for repair and finds that it is really junk, will she have the resources of knowledge to seek out and prosecute the maker and, if she did, would it be worth her while to do so or would she be out-of-pocket?
Yes, Ian - Here in America we are accustomed to the ability to just
whack a ring with a couple of stamps, and I seriously doubt that we
would ever convert to any hallmarking system like the UK has. But
it’s too bad, because that system is probably the best in the world,
and has been for so long that now there is history and provenance to
it. It’s really difficult for us to imagine sending pieces out and
paying for them to be stamped, though. But it would be a better world
if we did, IMO.
Hi Ian,
Thanks for your reply to my query. It occurred to me that such
pieces that I’ve given as gifts that weren’t hallmarked, might one
day be sold. I need to rethink this and inform members of my family
and friends that any piece I’ve given them, if later sold may need to
be hallmarked.
Stamping a piece 925 in the UK has no validity unless there is a clear intention to defraud and it is just not lawful to sell any item as 'silver' unless it has the full hallmark.
Your statement above is not strictly correct. The law says that it
is unlawful to describe a silver piece as silver unless it is
hallmarked. Then it goes on to say that there are exceptions, ie
those items below the weight limits (7.78g for silver). In other
words, it is legal to describe a piece of silver jewellery as
silver, without a hallmark, if it is under 7.78g - and all such items
for sale are stamped with just the figures “925”. Go into any
jewellery shop. Sterling items not needing to be hallmarked, ie under
7.78g, are stamped 925. Gold items under 1.0g are stamped 9K or 18K
and platinum, 900 or 950. I see it as our duty to inform customers
that these are NOT hallmarks and that such pieces are exempt from
requiring a full hallmark due to their weight.
I do have issues with the practice of just stamping pieces with a
fineness stamp (see my post today). The majority of the public think
that a “925” stamp is a hallmark and the industry seems to exploit
that misconception. It annoys me and I make sure that people I deal
with know what a full hallmark is and that it consists of at least
three marks - and which pieces should have that hallmark.
What do you do Ian? How do you sell items under the weight limits? Do
you send ALL items for hallmark, regardless of their weight - or do
you stamp them 925, etc?
Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://www.helensgems.etsy.com
Thankfully I don’t have to worry about the UK laws, not living
there, but I am curious as to what having something assayed costs,
and which pieces must have it done. If I did live there and made a
bracelet or ring or earrings, do they each have to be assayed? Seems
incredibly time consuming.
Thanks for the
Beth in SC
It seems that because the vast majority of UK buyers think that a fineness stamp alone is a hallmark
Even though I quoted Helen since it was handy, I have a question for
those of you in the UK about hallmarking - a matter of procedure,
only. That is, how do high value goods get handled? By that I mean
5-6-7 figure items, the sorts of things that owners are not willing
to let out of their sight, sometimes. And how does transport happen?
Do you have to pay an armored car (around $200 {100 GBP} or more
around here) there and back just to get hallmarked? Just curious…
Hi John,
And how does transport happen? Do you have to pay an armored car
This is an aspect of hallmarking that I am dreading. If you are
fortunate enough to live near one of the assay offices, you can
obviously take your work and collect it in person - and hope that
you won’t get mugged when leaving of course. For those of use who
don’t, it must go in the mail. I wonder how many pieces go missing
while in the mail, as the postal workers are going to know the
destination and therefore that the package will contain precious
items.
As for how they’re handled, I understand that it’s best to send
pieces for hallmark when they are unfinished and not set with stones.
That way, getting rid of the scrape marks inflicted during the
process is just part of your finishing process.
Any enlightenment on the postal thing would be much appreciated.
Helen
UK
http://www.hillsgems.co.uk
http://www.helensgems.etsy.com
Any enlightenment on the postal thing would be much appreciated.
Find out the name of a person at the destination and address your
package to that person rather than the name of the business or
institution. This may only be suitable for PO Box addresses but worth
checking out for street addresses too.
Eg…“Betty Boo, PO Box 123, Westerly 54321”, instead of “Ace
Bullion Company, PO Box 123, Westerly 54321”.
Well known business names and those that contain words like “Gem”,
“Jeweller”, “Bullion”, “Bank” etc in the address are flags for the
crooks.
Alastair
Helen,
It would be usual for very high value pieces to be delivered tot he
Assay Office either in person (by courier) or by one of the security
firms (Securicor, Group4 etc.). If a prior appointment is made, I
think the Assay Offices would arrange to test and mark the piece
immediately and so its maker or a courier could wait and return with
it the same morning - this cost should have been factored into the
quotation for the piece…
On the question of security and just as a matter of interest,
anonymity is usually the best policy. Some years ago I used to deal
with a wholesaler of gold chains who never had a single security
problem… He used to walk about the streets carrying thousands of
gold chains which he sold by weight. His secret - he used to dress
like a tramp (hobo) and he carried the chains wrapped in a plastic
supermarket carrier bag in a tatty old cloth shopping bag, also, he
only sold his chains in privale houses - never in a shop…
Best wishes,
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK
I used to visit the London assay office, two or three times a week
when I was lucky enough to be based in Hatton Garden. And over the
ten years or so, I never heard of anyone getting mugged. The doorway
you use was a very unassuming one, drab and round the corner from
the splendid main entrance to the Hall. (that may have changed but I
doubt it)
I wonder how many pieces go missing while in the mail, as the postal workers are going to know the destination and therefore that the package will contain precious items.
I would say very few as the address does not state that its the
assay office. And its always best to send Special Delivery with
compensation.
As for how they're handled, I understand that it's best to send pieces for hallmark when they are unfinished and not set with stones. That way, getting rid of the scrape marks inflicted during the process is just part of your finishing process.
With new jewellery its best to send as is before polishing (but
finished) leave stones out. Although they are careful with second
hand or imported complete with stones you just have to indicate on
the hall note. I’ve had my hallmark there for the last 30 years and
never had a problem.
Barrie
jewellerybybarrie.co.uk
Hi Alastair,
Well known business names and those that contain words like "Gem", "Jeweller", "Bullion", "Bank" etc in the address are flags for the crooks.
Yes, that’s the point I am making, ie to send to the assay office,
one must address it to the assay office - therefore a red rag to a
bull. When ordering things from suppliers, I have noticed that the
things that go missing are from people/companies who have written
somewhere on the package words such as “jewellers”, “gem” etc, and I
have asked such people to make the packages more anonymous, but in
the case of the assay office, there’s no way round it.
Helen
UK
Hi Ian,
He used to walk about the streets carrying thousands of gold chains which he sold by weight. His secret - he used to dress like a tramp (hobo) and he carried the chains wrapped in a plastic supermarket carrier bag in a tatty old cloth shopping bag,
That makes sense. Hopefully, all will be well when I start sending
things for hallmarking and I’m probably worrying about nothing, as
plenty of people are sending things back and forth to the assay
office.
Helen
UK
Hi Gang,
As someone indicated anything on the outside of the package that
indicates its going to or coming from a place that may be involved
with precious metal, gems or jewelry is a strong temptation for some
folks to take the package.
In the US one way to send high value items by mail is to use
Registered Mail. It takes a little longer, but every person in the
postal system that touches the package on its trip to the addressee
must sign a form. Registered mail seldom, if ever goes missing. FedX
& I believe UPS also have a High Value program, but I’ve never used
either.
Dave