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View Full Version : First Items Sent for Hallmarking!



Ominicci
05-11-2009, 01:12 PM
Some of these were made ages ago but have sent them with new stuff too. (Quick pics to remind me what I sent so not good quality!)


547

549

550

Stone cabs for rings, clockwise from top;
Malachite - bought at IJL and as it is so soft I could sand the edges to fit better in the bezel - which was useful as I made the bezel to take into account George's comment about making sure the edges match neatly!
Blue Tiger's eye (although it has a golden patch in it too). Cut and polished by me 20 years ago! And the ring bezel for that matches neatly too otherwise it would have been a plain bezel. But I think the crown effect will suit it better as it is a very high cab and it will look almost medieval (sp?). Will probably oxidise it too.
Agate (dyed probably) bought at a Gem n Bead fair from the 5 for a £1 box
Labradorite cab - gorgeous milky green flash £6 at IJL
Agate or Obsidian - black circular conical (!) cab - from the 5 for a £1 box. Thought it would be a fun shape for a ring. There was only one in the box otherwise I would have bought more.
Labradorite cab - fantastic deep blue flash (may have to keep this one after I see it set :-" )

bustagasket
05-11-2009, 01:14 PM
excellent selection of stuff Nicci! and gorgeous stones!

Di Sandland
05-11-2009, 01:17 PM
ooh, how exciting, Nicci. It makes you 'real' doesn't it!

Ominicci
05-11-2009, 01:23 PM
LOL Di! I know what you mean, but yes, and I will be even more real when I sell them!!

mizgeorge
05-11-2009, 01:43 PM
Cool!!!

Can't wait to see those rings finished - they look fab. Love the flower pendants as well :)

Out of interest, where are you having your maille pieces marked, or are you having them lasered? I still can't decide what I like best for this.

Petal
05-11-2009, 02:08 PM
Cool!!!

Can't wait to see those rings finished - they look fab. Love the flower pendants as well :)

Out of interest, where are you having your maille pieces marked, or are you having them lasered? I still can't decide what I like best for this.

ahhhh, hallmarking is another thing I shall be looking forward to doing, but maybe next year when I've made more stuff.

xxx

Di Sandland
05-11-2009, 02:14 PM
ahhhh, hallmarking is another thing I shall be looking forward to doing, but maybe next year when I've made more stuff.

xxx

Likewise Jules - this is a definite for next year for me. We can 'talk' one another through it when the time comes ;)

Petal
05-11-2009, 02:25 PM
OOh, that sounds like a plan then! I'm up for that.

xx

AlexandraBuckle
05-11-2009, 02:43 PM
ooh nice stash there Ominicci!

Emerald
05-11-2009, 02:56 PM
wow you have some great items there Nicci :)

kymbi
05-11-2009, 03:02 PM
you've been busy Nicci - lovely work and I love the rings - look forward to seeing them with their settings :Y:

Jayne
05-11-2009, 03:20 PM
what lovely stuff! :)
J x

Ominicci
05-11-2009, 06:44 PM
Thanks everyone [[]]

George, I have completely left everything up to them (Edinburgh) this first time to see what happens. On the maille bracelets I have put a soldered 5mm jumpring (1mm wire) as the clasp ring and as I have the minutest hallmark you could get (0.5mm high - as that's what they insisted on), technically the hallmark should go on that one as all the other rings are unsoldered. I'm still not sold on the idea of having maille items hallmarked as I could quite easily take them apart when I get them back. I explained that to the assessor on the phone but of course they want the business so he wasn't going to agree with me and said if they were over the 7.78gm weight limit then they should be done... I will eventually have a laser hallmark too as I want to do large hollow beads. But the blurb says they will automatically make the decision if they think something needs to be lasered and then you pay the one off charge of £20 for the laser image file to be created. A separate Hallnote needs to be raised for laser so there needs to be enough items in a batch to make it worth while, but there is always the chance if you send something they think should be lasered in with a batch to be 'punched' they will make the decision and will raise another laser hallnote on your behalf and you just have to pay, even if its for only one item :-O

Lisa Quinn
05-11-2009, 07:22 PM
Crikey you have made loooads of beautiful things, I would be so excited waiting for them to come back so I could see that lovely little mark on it !!

Ominicci
05-11-2009, 07:32 PM
With a big magnifying glass as I understand it lol!

Rustic Charm
05-11-2009, 07:55 PM
Im now getting my first lot sorted to send of to london assay too, real spooky but i've got a flower pendant using the same template as you i think!!! i made it back in march with matching earrings!!

snow_imp
06-11-2009, 09:42 AM
On the maille bracelets I have put a soldered 5mm jumpring (1mm wire) as the clasp ring and as I have the minutest hallmark you could get (0.5mm high - as that's what they insisted on),

I've just got my paperwork to say my 0.5 mm punch is ready at the Edinburgh assay office - now to get together some work to send for hallmarking.

Like you I was told that only the 0.5 mm size punch was suitable for chain maille - but I'm still thinking of using a tag as has been discussed elsewhere in the forum and buying a larger punch to use on it so the hallmark is more visible. In the mean time I also have a larger diameter ring near the catch that I'm assuming they'll use for the mark.

But like you I'm not sure how things work with unsoldered chain maille items and the "adjustability" you have there.

Ominicci
06-11-2009, 12:14 PM
Im now getting my first lot sorted to send of to london assay too, real spooky but i've got a flower pendant using the same template as you i think!!! i made it back in march with matching earrings!!

Bridget - Yes I think it was in one of the Bead magazines, although I added some more bits to the design. Do you mean the one on the top right here? I made it for my daughter's 17th birthday in August 08 so it will go back to her. But the other 2 will be for sale and I made them up from styles I have seen elsewhere - the one on the bottom is similar to 'cherry blossom' type designs and the one at the top is from hibiscus type designs that I see in Campervan magazines (we have a few of those lying around!) but without the stamen part.

Rustic Charm
06-11-2009, 12:33 PM
yes the one top right, i think i just googled images for flower patterns and that was one of them, i added a minature flower copper centre and a couple of silver balls in the centre, but the rest stayed plain gave the whole thing a slight doming, it's such a simple but adaptable shape i love things like that!!

Ominicci
06-11-2009, 01:15 PM
Oooh doming it sounds a good idea! I don't think I had my doming blocks when I made that one originally.

Ominicci
13-11-2009, 01:08 PM
Well I have got them back now and am quite disappointed with nearly all the pieces lot :N: Apart from not really being able to see the mark even with a magnifying glass, whoever did it needs some more training! On some of them the sponsors mark is at a different angle from the rest of the mark. They did tell me to send pieces in a unfinished state, i.e. before final polish, but if I polish some of these pieces I will polish the mark away as it is so lightly imprinted! The rings marked on the chain mail are examples of this. They are certainly not what I would expect to see if I was buying from a shop and don't look like the hallmarked pieces I have bought

I will try and take some pics with superduper new camera - when I work out how to use it!!

Anyone else experienced this, or have any comments/advice?

bustagasket
13-11-2009, 01:10 PM
oo eck i am not looking forward to doing this!

Di Sandland
13-11-2009, 01:33 PM
Oh, Nicci, that's pants. :( Await pics with interest

ps_bond
13-11-2009, 01:40 PM
Anyone else experienced this, or have any comments/advice?

Well, 0.5mm is pretty small... I think that's what my punch is from what I remember. As for the accuracy/imprint, I'd suggest contacting them & seeing what they have to say. Clearly you're not happy with the results, and the assay offices are, from what I've seen, fairly customer focussed (even if we are small fry).

I've had no problems with AOL stamping pieces - I've even made life awkward for them and had 0.8mm earwires stamped (there was nowhere else to mark it!).

Solunar Silver Studio
13-11-2009, 01:50 PM
Some of mine have been a bit iffy in the past but all of them have been deep enough to stand a good polishing! I just look at it that I have ticked the legal boxes and I can prove what my jewellery is made from. I don't consider it to be an artistic statement...not at 0.5mm anyway!! I think they take a great deal more care with hallmarks that are a design feature and are 10 times bigger than our ones!

mizgeorge
13-11-2009, 04:44 PM
Oh Nicci, what a shame. Which office do you use? I'd certainly be contacting them if you're not happy - your hallmark should be something you can take pride in.

MuranoSilver
13-11-2009, 05:14 PM
Nicci
I use Assay Office London and they don't charge to make the Laser file.
They also let me pick what size stamp I had created. Definately not light stamps from them (usually the opposite, lol)
nic x

Emerald
13-11-2009, 05:23 PM
Oh Nic what a shame as they are you first pieces, sadly at this time of year there are a lot of students and xmas staff, do as George suggested and tell them you are not happy and see what they say xx

Lindyloo
13-11-2009, 09:31 PM
I think you should push for getting your next lot done for free. Bit difficult to remedy something like this, so they should compensate you for it.

mizgeorge
13-11-2009, 10:07 PM
Just seen your comment about the maille Nicci, and that was the reason I asked you if you'd decided on where to mark them.

I've pretty much given up on marking on the chains themselves for anything under 1.5mm wire, and have reverted to tags attached by a soldered link, or having the clasp marked. Not ideal, but I don't think anything is for maille.

Milomade
15-11-2009, 03:33 PM
I've got my application from the assay office in Edinburgh but not sure I'm going to apply for it yet. I'm not making enough to warrant registering and nothing I'm making is above the minimum weight anyway. I'm applying for a R&D grant in January and if I get it I'll be able to take some time out from work and concentrate on creating a body of work - only then will I consider getting stuff hallmarked.

if you can upload images of the duff hallmarking they've done that'd be great as it would be good to see what you mean. I would definetly either go in there and speak to them about it or phone them up to have a discussion about it. It doesn't sound like they've done a good job.

Ominicci
17-11-2009, 03:43 PM
Here is some of my hallmarks. All of them them 'came up' better after I had polished over them (even though I was worried about doing so!). Don't forget they are magnified a lot! The first bracelet is about 4x real size and the jumpring is only 1mm thick in real life (the maille bracelets jumpring hallmarks are the same as these). The hammered ring is only 2mm wide and the last one shows the back of a 2mm wide flat hammered heart shape - both of these hallmarks are a bit wonky to me. I can see now that the sponsor's mark is applied separately from the rest of the hallmark. The width apart is not always consistent on all the pieces, and on some of them (not shown here) there is no date letter (although that is no longer compulsory).

But I have decide to accept is for what it is and just go with it I'm cool.... :cool: :snow:

Solunar Silver Studio
17-11-2009, 04:16 PM
I think, when you consider that someone has applied these by hand, and think how hard it is to stamp anything on metal and get consistant depth and accurate positioning...even when you are using letter stamps 5mm high it is a miracle that anyone can even get it on the jump rings! We accept little innaccuracies in our own work as it is impossible to get machine like consistancy when something is handmade....if hallmarks are stamped by hand then we must expect that they all won't look perfect... and as you say - at 0.5mm high - very few people can even see them well enough to notice innaccuracies!!:-D

Lindyloo
17-11-2009, 09:32 PM
Are those links Argentium Nicci? Just asking, following reading the thread on earwires - about balling up the ends. Because yours look lovely here.

Ominicci
17-11-2009, 10:07 PM
I think, when you consider that someone has applied these by hand, and think how hard it is to stamp anything on metal and get consistant depth and accurate positioning...even when you are using letter stamps 5mm high it is a miracle that anyone can even get it on the jump rings! We accept little innaccuracies in our own work as it is impossible to get machine like consistancy when something is handmade....if hallmarks are stamped by hand then we must expect that they all won't look perfect... and as you say - at 0.5mm high - very few people can even see them well enough to notice innaccuracies!!:-D

I know, I KNOW!!! It adds to the handmade-ness. I am backtracking from my original wails of complaint and getting very laid back about it all now. Each time I look at the photos I am calming down about it and saying 'It's not too bad after all' Soon I'll be positively horizontal :rofl:

Yes, Lindy they are Argentium. I have an original version done in sterling just to remind me why the slightly extra expense is worth it lol

snow_imp
18-11-2009, 07:26 AM
I guess it's that we're all striving for an ideal picture of the finished item - when someone else is involved for any part of it, we're not as happy as we might be if we'd done it ourselves.

But I'm glad i'm not trynig to stamp a 0.5mm hallmark into a 1 mm ring myself - having seen your photos I'm much happier about the idea of sending my chain maille off for hallmarking. Even if my eye sights so bad I won't have a hope of reading it when it gets back.