Hallmarks

[TATS]

If you create a piece of gold jewellery, are you legally required to hallmark it? How do you do this? Do you stamp it yourself or the Assay office?

[CJ57]

The quick answer to this is yes you are legally required to have anything over 1 GM gold, 7.78gm silver hallmarked. You will need to register at one of the 5 assay offices, choose your punch initials and then either leave it with the Assay Office for them to mark or you can do your makers mark yourself and send your work into be hallmarked. The initial outlay for registering and having the punch made is quite expensive.
Most of your questions will be answered here but if you do a search on the forum there are endless indiosyncracies that bamboozle people! https://theassayoffice.co.uk/legislation/current-legislation

[trialuser]

No.
You only need to hallmark it if you want to describe it as gold by way of your trade or business, or supply it or offer to supply it describing it as gold, in the UK.

[enigma]

And only if you are selling it in the UK.

[CJ57]

I just assumed that he was making it to sell so all of the above

[TATS]

Thanks for the replies

So basically, if I am selling an item I have made that contains 1gm of gold and I describe it as gold, it has to be hallmarked, but if it is just for me, I do not?

I have seen the prices on the assay office site. Prices are not too bad seeing it is for 10 years.

Is there a charge per item stamped?
What do you mean by makers mark?

Thanks

[ps_bond]

Yup.

Hallmarking prices are here: https://www.assayofficelondon.co.uk/media/1425/2016-7-standard-price-list.pdf
(Slightly impenetrable at times - and remember this is all ex-VAT)

The makers mark is your mark - it indicates who made (or alternatively is sponsoring) the piece. As a physical stamp it can be held either at the Assay Office or by the maker; where it is dictates who applies it. Laser marks are applied by the Assay Office - I think laser marking systems are less common in jewellery workshops than laser welders.

[Aurarius]

I hope I'm not hijacking the thread here by recounting a recent hallmarking experience.

I was at the Christmas street market in Manchester city centre last week. Stall holders come from all over Europe as well as the UK. Some of the stalls sell jewelry. One stall holder, who was English, was selling amber/silver jewelry and only that, and there were several hundred pieces on display on her stall.

As I approached the stall, I heard the stall holder telling a potential customer that a heavy bangle he was expressing interest in was "solid sterling sliver". A label on it said as much. The price was £200.

I asked to see the bangle and asked the stall holder to show me the hallmark. She pointed to some marks, which I examined with a loupe. Though there was a "925" stamp and some unrecognizable sponsor's mark there was no UK assay office mark visible.

When I asked what assay office the item had been marked at she became a little defensive and said "I'm not claiming they were made in the UK".

I didn't have any further dialogue with the stall holder. Can I assume that the bangle and all the other items on her stall over 7.78g being described as sterling silver should have had a UK assay office mark?

Ironically, the stall was right in front of the steps of Manchester Town Hall, where the local Trading Standards people have their office.

[ps_bond]

It has nothing to do with them being made in the UK - if they're sold in the UK then the law is clear. She should also have displayed the Hallmarking Council poster.

[TATS]

I hope I'm not hijacking the thread here by recounting a recent hallmarking experience.


It is a very interesting point you make, so I would say "No"
you are not hijacking.

Thanks again for the input Peter. I never knew there was so much legislation.

[TeeDee]

It has nothing to do with them being made in the UK - if they're sold in the UK then the law is clear. She should also have displayed the Hallmarking Council poster.

And then there are the oddities such as Pandora whose jewellery to the best of my knowledge bears none of the marks displayed on the Hallmarking Council Poster.
Not even the international convention marks agreed at the Vienna Convention. Indeed it was a mystery even to the staff at my local Pandora store as to where their work was marked.
As far as I can make out after some hard Googling their goods are manufactured in Thailand (I think) and assayed in Holland by EdelMetaal Waarbourg Nederland BV. I believe Dutch hallmarking laws allow for them to mark just S925 ALE (Algot Enevoldson the father of the founder) for their silver jewellery.
I'm curious though as to whether their own stores are required to display the notice??

Confusing innit!
Tim

[1711]

And then there are the oddities such as Pandora whose jewellery to the best of my knowledge bears none of the marks displayed on the Hallmarking Council Poster.
Not even the international convention marks agreed at the Vienna Convention. Indeed it was a mystery even to the staff at my local Pandora store as to where their work was marked.
As far as I can make out after some hard Googling their goods are manufactured in Thailand (I think) and assayed in Holland by EdelMetaal Waarbourg Nederland BV. I believe Dutch hallmarking laws allow for them to mark just S925 ALE (Algot Enevoldson the father of the founder) for their silver jewellery.
I'm curious though as to whether their own stores are required to display the notice??

Confusing innit!
Tim
Interesting point about Pandora "other jewellery brands are available".. 😆

European law dictates that any goods meeting legislation can be freely traded.. So as long as Pandora products are stamped in Europe technically they can be sold here.. So although London Birmingham Sheffield and Edinburgh state all items must be assayed "here" I think that is somewhat misleading..

There is also the discrepancy of those offices shipping work to India where labour is cheap..

I'm also in a quandary about registering.. Just because the minimum quantity charges seem to make assaying ridiculously unaffordable if you cannot make and hold sufficient stock.. [emoji15]

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