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Hi Guys,
I would like to get some of my pieces hallmarked but I'm a bit confused over the whole process. I have been on the Sheffield and Birmingham assay office websites but I'm still not totally sure of what I need to do and was hoping someone could explain the process a bit better for me! Does it matter which office you register for? How much does it cost to get your own sponsor mark, do all the offices charge the same?
Any help would be much appreciated :)
Rachael x
Rachel, the first thing you have to do is register with an office of your choice. I am in France but am a Scot so went with Edinburgh. You being where you are might have an effect on the one you choose as it may be possible for you to hand deliver items, if not, it is all done by post so I don't think it really matters. Ask the assay office of your choice for the relevant forms, which are very simple to fill in, one of the forms is choosing your makers mark, which is the shape into which your initials will go. For this part it is best to talk to the assay office because as you can imagine, there are many registered makers and the shape you want with your initials may not be available. So give them a ring and ask.
My experience with Edinburgh has been a delight, they are super helpful and talked me through the form filling and shape selection and the size of mark over the phone, I am guessing all offices will be the same (depending on how busy they are I suppose). You then send off the forms to be registered, along with the fee. Once your registration is done you will then be asked about your sponsors mark (the actual stamp), which in my case was arranged by the assay office on my behalf. You are given a choice of straight or swan necked but I am sure you can have both if you want. The cost of the stamp was in two parts I paid a £50 deposit to get it started and the balance on completion of the stamp, though I cannot for the moment find the bill for the balance I think it ended up around £70 total. (this is on top of the registration fee).
I do not know if all the offices charge the same but I am assuming yes give or take, there surely will not be much in it.
The very best place to start is by giving one of the offices a call and getting the help from the horses mouth as it were, it really is not as complicated as it appears.
Hi - I agree with everything above. I found them all to be very helpful and finally went with the London Assay Office. One thing you should bear in mind tho', there is a minimum/standing charge so if you can send a lot of items to be hallmarked it will lower the cost per item.
Theresa
Thanks for the advice guys. Sheffield is my nearest office so I think I will start by giving them a call or maybe even call in person as I'm over that way next week.
Hi yes I agree with the above too, the minimum charge is quite high. I paid £13.50 minimum charge for two items, plus the sponsors mark and of course hallmarking, plus post and packing and it came to £34.50. For just a hobby jeweller and a once-a-month local craft fair person it is quite an outlay. We went to the London Office as on the odd occasion we take our jewellery up to be hallmarked we can combine with shopping. Lots of tool shops, and bead/stone shops around the area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by theresa
That leaves a discussion about punches versus lasers.
If you have a stamp made, your hallmark will look very traditional, but on the downside:
1. It will have a fixed size, not always ideal for your piece. Kwant has also mentioned that you might want an additional swan necked one for inside rings.
2. Applied at the assay office it might leave a dent, or a mark on the reverse side, which requires further cleaning up.
I might be the odd one out in that I only use laser marking, which looks less punched out, more like etching, although I always specify: 'Deep 3-D'. The advantages are that it can be applied on the flat, or inside rings to any size you specify, since the data is kept on disk. Dennis.
I'm in South Wales but registered with London, mostly because I liked the leopard's head mark :-) but also because I could use all four of my initials, instead of just three! I had a swan neck punch made, but like Dennis (actually I shamelessly nicked his idea) I also have my items 3D laser marked, and for most pieces I get it done as large as possible. I keep my punch at home and use it to put my initials on everything I make, like copper and brass.
Those of you who already hallmark your items, what size punch did you opt for?
Opt for a size you can read without magnification. After all it gives information about you piece. I would guess 1.5mm tall might be OK. Personally I opt for a lazer mark, which can be varied at will. Dennis.Quote:
Originally Posted by solitarysmagick
Thanks Dennis, that was what I was thinking too. I'd like a punch as I make a lot of copper pieces and it would be nice to have my mark on these, but I also think laser marking might be the best option for my silver items. As you say, you can then tailor the size to the item without the need for gazillions of stamps!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennis
Out of interest, which office do you use Dennis, and how much did it cost to set up for laser marking initially? I printed off all the registration forms/info sheets for each office this morning. I'm drawn to Sheffield first as its the closest and I like the Yorkshire rose :)
Hello - late to the thread as usual!
I too agree with all that's said above. I registered with the Birmingham because it was the traditional centre for marking silver (the anchor mark) - as evidenced by all the antique progs on daytime telly (which are my guilty secret :">). It sort of hurt me to do that because I'm a born and bred cockney and thought I should really go with London and the leopard; traditionally, London was the gold hallmarking centre. The other reason I went with Brum though, and probably far more important, is the fact that they are so helpful. At the time I was thinking about these things we had a member of this forum registered with London; they made one mistake after another and, apparently, weren't very helpful at all. This might be just one person's experience though. I just didn't want to take the risk because I didn't have a clue what I was doing anyway.
I ordered the 0.5mm stamp - as advised by the assay office. Well, what a waste of time! It might make you legal but it won't make you show - it is far too small to be legible without magnification. For me, my makers mark was important and I was so disappointed that nobody could read the bloomin' thing - especially my family who were just as excited as me.
So, since then I have everything 3D laser marked; I only ever used the punch on that first consignment. The beauty of the laser mark is that you can specify exactly what size you want it - important if your pieces are all different sizes.
To set up the laser marking cost, from memory, around fifty quid for a one-time set up fee.
Hope that helps
Thanks Di, that's very helpful! To be honest I had discounted the Birmingham office almost straight away for the simple fact that I hate the website! It may just be me not looking in the right place (more than likely knowing me) but I just can't seem to find a price list anywhere, which for me being a hobbyist at the moment is near the top of my priority list. However I may decide to give them a call and get some more info over the phone at some point.
I think I am definitely going to go down the laser route, but also order a punch large enough to read so that I can stamp items not to be hallmarked. My copper items tend to be larger items anyway as opposed to dainty rings so as Dennis suggested, possibly a 1.5mm would do the trick.
Something else that came to mind whilst reading the info I printed off was about the initials themselves. My initials as they stand would be RB, however my fiancé and I are planning to get married next year, whereupon they would then change to RH.. so would I have to request RB or RH, or doesn't it matter? :)
A lot depends on whether you plan to change your 'working' name. If you're already known by your maiden name, it can be useful to stick with that for work (especially if there are websites etc involved), rather than changing.Quote:
Originally Posted by solitarysmagick
oh this just gets more complicated! You see I sell my items under the name Magick Creations :) I can see a nice long phone call to one of the offices coming on :)
Well, I'm registered in London, because that's where I live and I can take things there myself. There has been branch office in Greville street off Hatton Garden in recent years too.Quote:
Originally Posted by solitarysmagick
My original registration was about £40 and after ten years I had to renew the registration of my sponsor's mark for £35.
George has already said this, but most women now retain their birth name for professional purposes and personally I would opt for my initials regardless of the name of the company. After all, in time to come, all that is all you might have left of your real identity. Dennis.
You can of course have a separate stamp with your logo on if you have one for Magick Creations, you then have the best of both worlds, your sponsor mark as your name and an extra mark for your company name.
Edited to add and I agree with Dennis your name not your married name.
Thank you Dennis and Kwant, RB it is :) or RAB, decisions decisions... ;)
Whether RB or RAB in whatever shape is governed to some extent by all the RBs who have gold and silvered before you. Your initials in that particular shape will be your mark for ever. That's FOREVER. WOW. I still feel a little bit amazed every time I send something off (london) and I got my mark 30 years ago
yes, and I fully expect my first choice to be taken, but you never know :) I'm leaning towards RAB as I expect that will give me slightly more possibilities. It is quite exciting to think I will have my very own mark soon, I can't wait :)Quote:
Originally Posted by pearlescence
Well I finally took the plunge and sent off my registration form to Sheffield today, can't wait to get my punch!
Received my stamp today!! Been having a play with already, though I think I need a bit more practice stamping things! Can't believe they got my name wrong! The initials are right though at least :)
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Rachael x