BACKGROUND

Changes to the Hallmarking legislation which come into force on April 6th 2007 will create new opportunities for the Jewellery industry and offer consumers more accurate descriptions of the items they are purchasing.

Historically the Hallmarking Act has prevented the Assay Offices from hallmarking items made of a mixture of precious and base metals, and the regulations for mixed precious metal items have been very restricting. This has resulted in misleading descriptions because if a precious metal item is not hallmarked then it can not be described as such. Significant anomalies have arisen, particularly for expensive items such as 18ct Gold and Stainless Steel watches which have had to be described as “yellow metal” and stainless steel.  

Consumers and the jewellery industry will benefit from the changes which will allow for much more accurate descriptions of both upmarket mixed precious metal products and also fashionable lower priced pieces.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE HALLMARKED?

• Anything which is to be described as silver, gold or platinum must be hallmarked if it is to be sold as such, unless it falls beneath the appropriate exemption weight.

• All precious metals must be of the minimum legal fineness or the article cannot be hallmarked.

Any precious metal below the minimum fineness means the article cannot be marked
at all.

Precious metals below the minimum fineness cannot be regarded as a base Metal.

• Exemption Weights for Mixed Precious and Non-Precious Articles are based on
  the total weight of metal in the article (ie excluding stones or other non metal parts).

The standard exemption weights apply so:

• Platinum

All articles with a component to be described as platinum in which the total weight of all metal is over 0.5 grams will need to be hallmarked.

• Gold

All articles with a component to be described as gold in which the total weight of all metalis over 1 gram will need to be hallmarked.

• Silver

All articles with a component to be described as silver in which the total weight of all metal is over 7.78 grams will need to be hallmarked.

REGULATIONS FOR ARTICLES OF TWO OR MORE PRECIOUS METALS

• The item can only be marked if, in the opinion of the Assay Office, an ordinary person will be able to determine which part is which precious metal.

• Each precious metal component must be at least the minimum legal fineness for that metal  ie:  Gold 375.  Silver 800.  Platinum 850.

• The full hallmark (Assay Office and fineness mark) struck will be that of the least precious metal, in order, silver, gold, platinum.  This will normally be struck on the appropriate metal.

• The minor (fineness) mark only will be stamped on the “higher” precious metals.

Anomalies

• Where small components are used the above may not be possible.  In these circumstances the following rules apply:

1. If it is not practical to stamp the fineness marks on the “higher” precious metals, they may be stamped on the lower precious metals.

1. If this is not practical then the fineness marks can be stamped on another precious metal part.

1. If neither of these options are  practical, then the full (Assay Office and least precious metal fineness)  mark will be applied on the least precious metal part  and all other marks omitted.

REGULATIONS FOR ARTICLES OF PRECIOUS METAL PARTS AND OTHER MATERIALS

• A mixed precious metal and base metal article can only be hallmarked if any precious metal component is at least the minimum legal fineness for that metal ie Gold 375.  Silver 800  Platinum 850.

• Base metal parts must be clearly distinguishable from precious metal parts by Colour,  or by having the word METAL or the name of the metal struck on the base metal part (brass, stainless steel, titanium etc)

• The non-precious metal part must not be plated to resemble any precious metal.

• The extent of each part must be clearly visible.

• A mixed metal article containing only a single precious metal will be hallmarked on the precious metal part only.

• For an article with more than one precious metal and a base metal the rules which apply to hallmarking Mixed Precious Metals apply.

PRE 1950’S EXEMPTION

6th April 2007 also sees another amendment to Hallmarking legislation in respect of items brought onto the market  pre 1950.

Prior to this date it was not compulsory to hallmark all precious metal articles, and up until now  unhallmarked  items manufactured after 1920 could not legally be described  as silver, gold or platinum. 

The new amendment extends the exemption date to 1950 and allows these items to now be sold as gold, silver or platinum without a hallmark, so long as the seller can prove the fineness of the precious metal and that the item was manufactured before 1950.

Information correct as at 5th April 2007


Exemption Date

Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the Hallmarking Act, paragraph 10(b) is amended

so that 1920 is substituted by 1950. 

Any article which was manufactured before the year 1950 and has not since the beginning of the year 1950 been the subject of any alteration which would be an improper alteration if the  article had previously borne approved hallmarks”.

This Order amends the categories of articles that are exempt from the prohibition in section 1 of the Hallmarking Act 1973 (the “1973 Act”) on describing unhallmarked articles as gold, silver or platinum.

Regulation 2(2) provides that any article of gold or silver or gold and silver of minimum fineness manufactured before 1950 is now exempt.  This exemption had previously only applied to articles manufactured before 1920.