UK specific: What is a hallmark?

"CheshireCat" wrote in message
...
Well if you go into a legitimate supplier and ask them to make up the
punches I imagine they'd send you away.

So first of all you need a set of punches made by a currupt maker, and
they'd cost plenty. The penalty for cheating is ten years in prison.

I was horrified to see a seller offering a 14K punch on UK ebay a few
weeks
ago.

No problem in the UK, a 14K stamp is NOT a hallmark. Hallmarks refer to
fineness in parts per thousand.

--
William Black

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe
Barbeques on fire by chalets past the headland
I've watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off Newborough
All this will pass like ice-cream on the beach
Time for tea

CheshireCat wrote:
Well if you go into a legitimate supplier and ask them to make up the
punches I imagine they'd send you away.

So first of all you need a set of punches made by a currupt maker, and
they'd cost plenty. The penalty for cheating is ten years in prison.


I was horrified to see a seller offering a 14K punch on UK ebay a few weeks
ago.
I suppose seeing the advert there was good for warning people to the dangers
A quick google on "14k punch" revealed some sites selling punches to whoever
wants one.
What rules are there in USA regarding marking gold?


Lets get a few things right.
Its illegal in the UK to have stamps made that replicate all the
official hall marking stamps. Any reputable stamp maker will not do it.
however this isnt a perfect world and there are crooked stamp makers
like there are other crooked makers of everything under the sun thats
normally expensive and some one wants for a cheap price.
your Korean made Rolex watch is just one example.
however its not illegal to have any stamp you like made and for you to
use as per the the example quoted ie 14k, so long as it also has the
official assay mrks on it as well. also your own registetred mark, which
is a prerequisite before the assay office will test your piece and mark
it as the carat you declared on the paperwork accompanying it.
So theres no need to be horrified when you saw the advert for this
marking punch.
Abrasha has mentioned that these marking dies are made nowadays by EDM,
tho most stamp makers here in the UK use the 3d die sinking method as it
is a lot quicker with letters unless you want something in relief. Then
you need a model usually 3in or so in diameter, from which a negative
in resin is taken then this is used as the master from which the stamp
is made. A good reducing die sinking machine like the German Deckel will
reduce this up to 50 to 1. If you wnat smaller then you do the reduction
in 2 steps.
hope this is of further help.
Ted Frater.

On Sat, 07 May 2005 00:57:44 GMT, Alan Balmer
wrote:

Until now, no one has challenged the basic premise. So, let's hear it
from you UK artists. Is it illegal to describe your material as gold
without it being hallmarked, or not?

Yes, absolutely, if it is over the minimum weight limit of 1 g, 7.9g
for silver and 0.5g for plat.

As a metalsmith and lapidary working in the UK I have to say I like
being part of a system over 300 years old and the trust my customers
can have that a hallmarked piece is gauranteed to be of the right
quality. I feel hallmarking is a consumer protection service and would
not like to see our system changed to one of maker marking although
would obviously work in whatever system pertained.

Mind you a lot of the public seem to think that the 925 stamped on all
the (probably) imported silver I see is a hallmark which it patently
is not.

No system is perfect - I recently altered a presumably 9ct gold bangle
for a customer, weight 12g or so that bore no marks at all, it had
been bought from a major high street catalogue trader earlier this
year and was in a box labelled 9ct gold. She didn't take me up on my
suggestion to take it back and tell them where to stick it because she
liked it which probably should be the main point when buying
jewellery, shouldn't it?
Andy Parker, Agate House Lapidary
Ulverston, Cumbria, England

www.agatehouse.co.uk
Tel: 01229 584023