Gold Assay Marks Birmingham

Hallmarked Silver Jewellery

British Hallmarks dating back 700 years and represents the earliest form of consumer protection.

The Hallmark shows that the jewelry and other items made with precious metals (gold, silver and platinum) have been independently tested by an assay office. This ensures that The article conforms to a certain level of purity laws.

Hallmark Why?

The precious metals used in jewelry and articles Gift manufacture are always used as an alloy. The precious metal must be mixed with other metals to give you the flexibility and strength necessary to produce an article desirable and durable.

Even the most experienced jewelry or chemical can not say how much precious metal is an alloy, looking at it. Due to the high price of precious metals, it offers a great opportunity for fraud and therefore has not always been a need to protect the public and providers honest of those who are tempted to cheat.

Therefore all items are sold as gold, silver or platinum in the UK must be hallmarked to confirm they meet the rule of law. This can not be done by the manufacturer or importer, the goods must be presented to one of the four offices in the UK test or office test belonging to the International Convention (link to the Framework Convention).

The only people exempt are those under the legal weight threshold, 1 gram of gold, 0.5 grams of platinum and 7.78 grams of silver.

When an item is received at an office of analysis consists of three processes:

SAMPLING to remove a tiny piece of precious metal testing

Analyzed to determine if the precious metal content of the alloy meets the standard requested

Coinage of applying the appropriate tag for the item to confirm the quality.

Silver was analyzed differently from gold. While that gold is measured using a fire refining process, silver is chemically tested by potentiometric titration.

Originally there were two silver standards – 925 pieces in 1000 (the Act) and 958 parts in 1000 (Britannia). To these are added 999 and 800.

1973 Amendments to the Law of contrast effective from January 1 1999, have changed the form of articles of precious metals are contrasted. The hallmark of the United Kingdom now has a mandatory minimum of three symbols.

Factory Sponsor or brand

This means that the manufacturer or the sponsor of the article. In Britain, the brand consists of at least two letters in a shield, and no two marks are the same.

Corazon Latino has its unique brand of personal sponsors. Look closely you can see a small CL on a shield-shaped four-leaf clover.

Metal and fineness (purity) marks
This indicates that the precious metal content Article, which is not less than the fineness indicated. This number is located on a shield, as it represents the precious metal.

Assay Office mark
This indicates that the Office of the particular analysis in which the article was tested and marked.

There are four assay offices in the United Kingdom – Edinburgh London, Birmingham and Sheffield and are each a different brand. When this is applied to the object shows that the metal has been tested and where it was tested. The seal will also help to follow the object back in history to antiques can be properly verified.

Since 1478, the label has included a distinctive note of the day indicating the year of minting. The date stamp is a letter, lower case or capital in a shield or a box.

The final grade is the symbol of elegance. This is a traditional symbol denoting the fineness of the metal. It is a silver lion and a crown of gold.

The law!

Subject to certain exceptions, is an offense for any person in the course of trade or business –

(A) apply unhallmarked an article a description indicating that it is wholly or partly of gold, silver or platinum, or

(B) supply or offer to supply an article unhallmarked to which this description applies.

It should be noted that an item may sell any quantity of gold, silver or platinum it contains. But it should not be described as gold, silver or platinum unless it is marked or that are not exempt;

The harmonized standards of fineness (the number of parts by weight of fine gold, silver or platinum in 1000 parts by weight of the alloy) are:

For gold: 916 6 (22 carats), 750 (18 carats), 585 (14 carats) and 375 (9 ct)
To Silver: 999, 958 4 (Britannia) 925 (pounds sterling) and 800
For Platinum: 950

If the metal in an article of a law is lower than the minimum standard of fineness of up to the metal of the article can not be contrasted.

Imported goods must also be contrasted. It is the responsibility of the importer to ensure that articles are sent to the mint. It is illegal to sell without a UK or EU approved Hallmark. 925 is not enough silver jewels!

For any offense under this Act the penalties are, in the case of a summary trial, a fine not exceeding £ 2,000 or, on conviction on indictment, a unlimited fine or imprisonment not exceeding two years or both, except in the case of forgery or counterfeiting in which case the penalty is a maximum prison ten years.

For more information on Hallmarks and the law, contact your local office for testing.

About the Author

Catherine D’Arcy is the founder of Corazon Latino, an online retailer specializing in handmade silver jewellery. To see their exclusive range of designs, visit Corazon Latino