gold plating and hallmarking - am confuddled

[Melanie]

Have just read the British Hallmarking Council's guidance on gold plate (https://assayofficebirmingham.com/legislation/the-british-hallmarking-council) and am now totally confused (tis easily done!).

This seems to say that silver can not be plated to any greater depth than 2 microns. However I must be misunderstanding as in my experience 2 microns plating won’t last any time at all and will just result in disgruntled customers - no one needs them right!

Does this mean that a silver item plated to a greater depth (say 5 microns or so) should be submitted to be hallmarked as a mixed metal piece? Or is it really saying you are not allowed to gold plate on silver any deeper than 2 microns full stop?

Would be grateful if someone would enlighten me, obviously I want to make sure we are working within the rules!

Thanks :) :)

[SteveLAO]

Taking your example of a sterling silver item with gold plating - you can only plate up to a maximum of 2 microns of you want the items hallmarked as silver. If the plating is over 2 microns then it would not be able to be hallmarked. You would never get a mixed metal mark relating to a plating - the metal would need to be "solid" - in other words a piece of sterling silver joined with a piece of 18ct gold not just with a plating, however thick.
Hope this helps to clarify?

[susieq]

Interesting question Melanie, glad you asked it!

Steve - presumably the item can be marked as follows (quote taken from the website Melanie linked to)

"A gold fineness mark (not hallmark) is allowed if it is immediately preceded or followed by the words ‘gold plated’. For example an article with a silver hallmark (or 925 stamp on underweight articles) can be marked as follows ‘925 & 18ct gold plated’. "

Does this apply only if the whole piece is gold plated? Or can it also be applied if part of the piece is plated - for example, a silver ring with gold plated flowers?

Thanks

[trialuser]

And, presumably there is nothing to stop you gold plating something after it has been hallmarked.

[SteveLAO]

yes it can be marked as you describe.

your silver ring with gold plated flowers can be marked with a silver hallmark (assuming it complies with hallmarking regulations!)

You can plate after it's been hallmarked....up to 2 microns to stay within hallmarking regulations

[josef1]

Its all very interesting ,how would you even begin to measure 2 microns Its 0.002mm ,thermal expansion of the metal would account for that with different weather conditions, is there a control temperature to measure at ?

[trialuser]

Steve, would it actually be illegal to plate to greater than 2 microns post hallmarking, I can' see how it could be.
The material would be definitively identified by its hallmark, not much different to a good patina, or a coat of paint really :)
Edit
opens up all sorts of questions, I believe cookson keum boo foil is 2.5 microns.

[Melanie]

Thanks for the replies - am interested to hear Steve's thoughts on the above as if it is illegal then we will have to rethink gold vermeil. May be time to start playing around with that wax in my studio and go solid!

[Tabby66]

Wow......well, I hadn't realised this at all,.....surely the 'solid' part of the item is silver, no matter the thickness of the plating and is hallmarked as such. Can I ask Steve, why if I inadvertently plate the item to 3 or 5 microns would I contravene the law? Really keen to understand this :)

[Patstone]

Talking about hallmarking, if for instance you made a silver cuff and wanted to add a 9ct gold motif of some description on it as decoration, which would be the item to require hallmarking - the cuff in silver (assuming it was over the 7.78g limit) or the gold motif, and which hallmark would go on the cuff.

[Tabby66]

Talking about hallmarking, if for instance you made a silver cuff and wanted to add a 9ct gold motif of some description on it as decoration, which would be the item to require hallmarking - the cuff in silver (assuming it was over the 7.78g limit) or the gold motif, and which hallmark would go on the cuff.

You could probably have a mixed mark Pat.....sterling silver as the main mark and the carat of gold as a part mark.

[medusa]

Have just read the British Hallmarking Council's guidance on gold plate (https://assayofficebirmingham.com/legislation/the-british-hallmarking-council) and am now totally confused (tis easily done!).

This seems to say that silver can not be plated to any greater depth than 2 microns. However I must be misunderstanding as in my experience 2 microns plating won’t last any time at all and will just result in disgruntled customers - no one needs them right!

Does this mean that a silver item plated to a greater depth (say 5 microns or so) should be submitted to be hallmarked as a mixed metal piece? Or is it really saying you are not allowed to gold plate on silver any deeper than 2 microns full stop?

Would be grateful if someone would enlighten me, obviously I want to make sure we are working within the rules!

Thanks :) :)

It's additionally confusing when it says that you can use the term Vermeil as long as it's got the word 'plating' but Vermeil is only vermeil if it has a minimum plating depth equivalent to 2.5 microns of fine gold.

[theresa]

I understood Vermeil to mean gold is always over sterling!
Am I misguided?

[medusa]

I understood Vermeil to mean gold is always over sterling!
Am I misguided?

that is Vermeil, but to be classed as such (at least in the USA) the gold needs to be a minimum of 2.5microns of fine gold or the equivalent of... so a a lower carat gold would need to be thicker. I guess if one is making for outside the UK, a good thick plating of gold and not hallmarking are in order.

[SteveLAO]

The letter of the law does indicate a maximum thickness of 2mm for plating so on that basis a thicker plating would contravene the act.

Tabby 66 & Trialuser - You are probably aware that one of the offences under the act covers "illegal additions" whereby it's an offence to add metal to an already hallmarked item. There does, I guess, need to be a line drawn as to when a plating become an "illegal addition of metal" if you plate the item after it's been marked.

Patstone - now we're onto mixed metal marking, which is different to plating! In answer to your question first of all you should look at the total weight of the item after you've added the silver and gold together and secondly it does depend on how you want to describe it which I know does sound a bit confusing!
In the example you describe, a silver and 9ct bangle totaling over 7.78g, you would get the complete silver hallmark, together with a part mark (the standard and fineness symbols - 375 & crown) for the gold. If the gold area is large enough then the part mark would be on the gold bit, otherwise the part mark would be added straight after the silver hallmark on the silver bit.

[trialuser]

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply Steve, it's certainly complicated, opens up lots of other questions, like who is guilty of the offence, the maker, the plater or the seller, they could easily be 3 different people.
Best to stick to <2 microns then!

[ps_bond]

That said, given how little the regulations are enforced it's easy to see why so many people just don't bother.
It'd be nice to see some educated members of TS at some of the equestrian events; even focussed purely on hallmarking legislation they could earn their keep for the year.

[SteveLAO]

hear hear ps bond!!!! Quite right! Certainly a good number of TS people actively do enforce the act and are very proactive, but there are others who I think have higher priorities which I guess is also understandable from their point of view..just not from mine!!!.

Trialuser - I'm afraid it'd probably be the seller.....

[ps_bond]

Well, after I checked out the 2 I've flagged to you before, there seemed little point. Loads of cases of no Hallmarking Council notice, repurposed items not hallmarked, overweight items not hallmarked...

[SteveLAO]

I know...I know....and its the TS who enforce the law. The assay offices have no power to enforce the law. They can spot the offences but cannot enforce change, which some would say is a shame!

[ps_bond]

I know...I know....and its the TS who enforce the law.

I know... Even when I've contacted the TS local to the show directly they've been less than interested.