minkiemink wrote:

Peter W.. Rowe, wrote:

On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:22:33 -0700, in rec.crafts.jewelry
wrote:


Just bought a pin that states "1/20 G.F." on the back - from reading
the posts, I understand the pin is 12K gold-plated. Here's my
questions, is there a way to tell the date of the mark? Thanks in
advance


What' you've quoted is indeed gold filled, but nothing in the "1/20 G.F."
specifies 12K. It could be another karat. 14K is equally common, and 10K is
also seen.. The 1/20 is a fraction, denoting the fraction of the weight of the
metal that is the karat gold cladding. it can consist of a layer on each side
of sheet metal (1/40th the weight on each side), or one layer on one side only,
the full 1/20th of the weight. Wire is a single outside layer, of course.
Either way, the remaining 19/20ths of the weight is the base metal core. The
actual karat of the gold cladding of the metal is usually indicated by a
seperate karat mark. Most commonly, it's placed between the 1/20 fraction and
the G.F. mark, but can be just before or just after in a few cases.

With jewelry made in the U.S., nothing in a hallmark indicates the date of
manufacture. Sometimes, a given piece can be dated by style, or by knowing that
a certain identified manufacturer (who CAN be identified if the hallmark is
complete with a seperate makers mark) was in business at a certain time, or made
that style during a certain period, but this usually requires some research
beyond just the markings on the piece.

In the United Kingdom, precious metals marking are done as actual hallmarks,
meaning the marks are applied by an independent testing/marking entity, in this
case, run by the goverment hallmark office. A full British hallmark includes
not only the makers mark and one or more marks indicating the karat or quality
of the metal, but also a mark indicating which of the hallmark offices placed
the mark, and the year it was marked. Because the hallmark on British made
items is not placed by the manufacturer, it serves not only as a mark, but a
testament to the accuracy of that mark, since the pieces are actually tested for
metals content. Some other countries, especially in europe, also have assay
offices that place hallmarks on jewelry instead of the maker of the item, but
rules vary. Here in the U.S.A., and in many other parts of the world, the
marks are placed by the manufacturer, and while there are penalties of varying
severity for false marks, the marks constitute only a promise and statement by
the maker for which they can be held responsible, not an actual guarantee from
any independent agency that the mark is actually accurate. And enforcement of
the standards requires first that an offender actually be caught. In the UK,
since everthing is tested before being marked, the only exceptions to the
guarantee would be intentionally counterfeit hallmarks. People who do that, and
get caught, will find the penalties rather harsher in the UK than they might
have found in the U.S. as well.

HTH

Peter


Interesting. I have sold to several stores in the UK, but have never
been asked about, or required to have hallmarks of any kind, although I
do stamp the karat and my trademark on the work. I guess this only
applies to domestic UK goods?

Mink

You do not need to register and have the goods assayed and marked; the
importer is responsible for this. The Assay Offices refer to what most people
refer to as the "Maker's Mark" as the "Sponsor's Mark". That is not just lingo
- the mark is not that of the maker but the mark of the person that put it
through the assay office, or Sponsor (in your case, the importer/shop, one
hopes).

Hallmarking applies to all goods sold in the UK as "silver", "gold" or
"platinum" unless they are exempt. Imported goods are explicitly included
(there used to be a different mark used for imported goods although now the
same mark is used). The simplest exemption is weight, items under the
exemption weight do not need to be hallmarked, BUT they do still need to meet
all the other regulations (eg on the fineness of solder, mixture of precious
and base metals etc):
silver: 7.78g
gold: 1g
platinum: 0.5g

It is a serious office for someone to sell something in the UK claiming it to
be made of gold, silver, platinum and for it to have not been hallmarked as
such (save for the permitted exceptions). These laws apply to anyone "in the
trade" (including, eg, antique shops, pawn shops). The penalties for offences
under the hallmarking laws used to be death or deportation to a penal collony
in times of yore. I think now it is a maximum of 10 years inside.

The hallmarking laws can be avoided by referring to items as being made, for
example, of "white metal" or "yellow metal". The closest you can get away with
is "... plated". All of which are understatements if the items are actually
made of the real thing.

Cheers
Andy