A foreigner's questions on Hall Marking

[Myosotis]

[QUOTE=Hans Meevis;71097]That's amazing.
I have never actually realized what this hallmarking business is.
I have researched a bit more and as I see it, it is basically a method to keep some jobsworth with salary while he ensures that your 9 kt gold is pure.( the irony is strong in this one)/QUOTE]

If you think the UK Hallmarking legislation is just to "keep some jobsworth with salary while he ensures that your 9kt is pure" then you really should have done more research. It is an independent guarantee that the precious metal content is exactly what it is stated to be.

I certainly wouldn't commit a large amount of money to buy some jewellery in one of those countries where any Tom Dick or Harry can hold of an 18ct stamp for example and go merrily stamping it over whatever they fancy - I know someone who got ripped off in that way and I'm sure she isn't the only one.

This is how seriously it is treated here.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/e...fm/newsid/1500
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/e...cfm/newsid/871

In particular the final paragraph on the second link
"Hallmarking was originally introduced in 1300 by a Statute of Edward I and is one of the earliest forms of consumer protection. Compulsory Hallmarking protects all parties - the public who receive a guarantee of quality, the manufacturer who is given quality control and protection from dishonest competitors, and the retailer who avoids the near impossible task of checking standards on all his goods.

Precious metals used in jewellery and giftware manufacture are always used as an alloy. The precious metal must be mixed with other elements to give it necessary properties such as flexibility in order to produce a desirable and durable article.

Even the most experienced jeweller or chemist cannot tell how much precious metal there is in an alloy just by looking at it - or whether a thick plating of gold is covering a base metal interior. Due to the high price of precious metals, this offers a huge opportunity for fraud and there has therefore always been a need to protect the public and honest suppliers, from those who are tempted to cheat them.
Therefore all items being sold as gold, silver, platinum or palladium in the UK must be hallmarked to confirm that they meet the legal standard. This cannot be done by the manufacturer or importer - goods must be submitted to one of the four UK Assay Offices, or an Assay Office belonging to the International Convention.

The only items which are exempt are those which are under the legal weight threshold - 1 gram for gold, 0.5 grams for platinum and 7.78 grams for silver"

You may not agree with the legislation but the people at the London Assay Office in my experience (only speaking about them as I have no experience of the others) are very helpful and do all they can to help you through the process and they certainly aren't "jobsworths"

[Tabby66]

You may not agree with the legislation but the people at the London Assay Office in my experience (only speaking about them as I have no experience of the others) are very helpful and do all they can to help you through the process and they certainly aren't "jobsworths"

I would agree and recommend Birmingham on the same basis!!

[enigma]

Realistically Hans, its not a big deal for us to get it hallmarked- especially in your case when you are working mostly in expensive metals and producing such fantastic work.
I mostly do bespoke ( obviously not on your level!) and so many of my items have to be sent individually for hallmarking.
This costs about £30 as there is a minimum charge and I have to post from France and then they post on to the customer in the UK.
£30 on a decent gold item is easily absorbed by the customer so I don't see it as a big issue.

Obviously if you are able to send several items at once its much better and can work out at pence per item.

[Aurarius]

You may not agree with the legislation

I don't think anyone except crooks would seriously argue that hallmarking isn't a good thing.
However, as an outsider looking in and contemplating registering, there are two things that give me pause:
1). The complexity (of hall notes etc.- and I know someone will turn round and say "it's easy", but evidence of confused punters and confused hallmarkers is plentiful, all the same).
2). The cock-ups (particularly ones of the expensive, irreversible kind).

[josef1]

I think the jewellery that you make Hans is very individual and progressive for what its worth, the assay office should work out a fairer way to hallmark it as the current method is stifling creativity. I understand that they have to protect the uneducated masses but also feel its a very draconian outlook

[art925]

Let's just remember that in Germany there are no hallmarking regulations; I had a similar conversation last year during my exhibition in Berlin. I turned up with everything laser marked and my work was the only work there. I was told a lot of people are being sold brass for gold. In Norway for on the other hand the authorities make random checks to your workplace, however in 20 years of jewellery making and silversmithing the lady who was at the same exhibition had never seen the authorities. We should be proud that we have these inconveniences to our work schedules.

[Goldsmith]

I don't regard the assay office workers as "jobsworths" as I like the fact that my work has a guaranteed metal grade mark that is world recognised, has a makers mark that is registered and an official date mark for history. If you want to know who I regard as jobsworths, how about the Euro nuts who tell me that my vacuum cleaner is too powerful and that I cannot buy cheap lightbulbs unless I buy them for so called rough business use, which I do.


James

[Hans Meevis]

OK, so jobsworth might not be the best description for the folk at the hallmarking center.
They are, after all, just another one of the many layers of bureaucracy doing their jobs.

Over the years, I have done work for many Brits and sent them off with their jewellery with no idea that I was in the strict sense, breaking the law.
When I look on E-bay and Amazon I see lots of jewellery that is on offer with absolutely no mention of hall marking.
I doubt the vendors really care either.

Egal

I will not stamp any jewellery meant for the UK market with fineness stamps but with my web address.
That would be legal, would it not be ?

My point is this.
There is no benefit for me to have my work assayed, because I have always used gold and silver for the colour, not the value.
And if one takes the Fish Pond pendant as an example, there are maybe 2 grams of 18kt gold and forty grams of silver in there. Less than a hundred Euro's.
My customer pays EU2000 for it. Does she think I will cheat her out of 100EU?
Never even crosses her mind.
She likes it for what she sees, not because she feels protected by the government.

I very much doubt that the fact that a piece is hall marked would drive a sale.
Jewellery generally sells on emotion, not because a 5 gram 9ct ring is certified.

And anyway, if one speaks of high end jewellery, the gemstones and labor are by far the highest factor in the cost of the piece.
And the gemstones are far more likely to be presented in a deceptive manner than a bit of gold.

[SteveLAO]

Thank you everyone for your kind words of support regarding hallmarking in the UK. You're absolutely right..it is (the oldest form of) consumer protection which has served the trade and the public very well for seven centuries. What is also good about it is that it is also joint responsibility.....the maker or sponsor's mark enables anyone to trace who made or commissioned the piece so that (God forbid!) if it all falls to bits, there is traceability and accountability, and the assay office mark enables anyone to trace who was responsible for testing the piece, so far from being "draconian" makers and assay offices work hand in hand to protect the public from the cowboys. The recent "red tape challenge" clearly demonstrated too that the public and the trade both believe in the importance of maintaining the hallmarking system. Changes in the hallmarking act to, for example, allow articles made of mixed metals to be hallmarked is actually encouraging rather than stifling creativity. The hallmark can also add value to the piece as the public look for the hallmark as their reassurance and the maker also has a piece of everlasting advertising, proudly being able to display the fact that they made the item, long after the receipt or box has been thrown away.
And of course, like it or not, it's the law and non negotiable.

[SteveLAO]

Hans Meevis, I see that you're based in Germany....it's interesting to note that here at the assay office, as well as hallmarking we are also active in smelting scrap gold, which comes from all over the world. We do get a fair amount of German 8ct (0.333) jewellery and quite a percentage of this turns out to be under carat and under standard, because there is no independent check in Germany to ensure its purity. Call me biased, but I think I would personally prefer to buy jewellery with an independent guarantee of purity than one without. The amount of jewellery people buy outside the UK without any hallmarks on them, and which, after testing, turn out not to be as they thought, only reinforces my belief.