Can you tell me, if I sell lampwork jewellery which is made up of sterling silver, do I have to have it hallmarked or Assayed. Only another lady selling jewellery, said I couldn't sell anything that is Sterling silver unless I was authorised to and it should have a hallmark on it?
My husband thinks she had the little green moster and was just trying to put me off.
Rita
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51048389@N02/4739285681/
i'm sure someone more knowlegable will come soon but i believe if the item contains more than 7g of silver it needs to be hallmarked. The website it very gd at explaining it, as are the office if you call them
Website: http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/ (http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/)
thts the birmingham one but there are a couple of others, all the same regulations though to the info on here will be the same as any of the others
Thank you
Well, she's right and she's wrong.
"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." is what the Assay office says.
In other words, if all the silver bits and pieces on a piece of jewellery together weigh less than 7.78g you don't actually need a hallmark.
If your total weight of silver exceeds 7.78g in a single piece then it will have to be assayed in order for you to sell it as sterling silver. Although - you can still sell it as "white metal".
By the way - "925" - which denotes the purity of the silver (in this case sterling silver has a purity of 92.5%) - is NOT a hallmark, by itself.
Rota I've just had a look at your piccie your workshop is fantastic very pretty ;D
Quote from: Redhotsal on June 29, 2010, 04:11:50 PM
Well, she's right and she's wrong.
"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." is what the Assay office says.
In other words, if all the silver bits and pieces on a piece of jewellery together weigh less than 7.78g you don't actually need a hallmark.
If your total weight of silver exceeds 7.78g in a single piece then it will have to be assayed in order for you to sell it as sterling silver. Although - you can still sell it as "white metal".
By the way - "925" - which denotes the purity of the silver (in this case sterling silver has a purity of 92.5%) - is NOT a hallmark, by itself.
ah! i knew there was more to it than tht just couldnt remember the finer details hence the link to more knowledgable types :P
Sorry Claire "she's the cat's mother"! I meant the original lady selling jewellery, when I said she - as opposed to you. Reread it and it sounded rude! :-[ Forgive. :D
lol dont worry about it! i just knew there was more to it but couldnt remember it, i should really look into it myself. ;D
If, as Sal says, all the silver components come to a combined weight of more than7.8 grams it must be hallmarked by the assay office for you to describe it as silver when you sell.
If you don't need to get a lot assayed and hallmarked you can have a third party submit it for hallmarking, such as Cooksons. They will charge you a fee, and you will have postage to pay as well, so this needs to be factored into your costs. You could find a local silversmith who may be happy to include your work in their packages to the assay office as well, for a fee. Obviously your work would not have your own personal mark on it. But it's not cheap to set up your own stamp etc.
Try this link for Cooksons.
http://portalgc.knowledgebase.net/display/2/kb/article.aspx?aid=250038&n=1&docid=12001
Terri
If your selling SS less than 7.78grams you still need to display a dealers notice which are available free to download here [url][http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/dealers_notices.html/url].
This is a popular discussion on here and there's lots of info in other threads - it can be V.confusing but the best thing to do is to contact your local assay office as we found advice differed between them!
If you do go the route of Hallmarking (wayhey) ring them up and have a chat. We wanted to use a cranked punch for our makers mark as we thought this would do for everything - NOT the case, the lady at Birmingham informed us that they were only for use on rings and we would still need a straight punch therefore doubling the cost. This seems to be a petty rule and I've read recently in B&B that others have got away with this ???
Quote from: ARBeads on June 29, 2010, 04:35:39 PM
We wanted to use a cranked punch for our makers mark as we thought this would do for everything - NOT the case, the lady at Birmingham informed us that they were only for use on rings and we would still need a straight punch therefore doubling the cost. This seems to be a petty rule and I've read recently in B&B that others have got away with this ???
Ooh - that's interesting. I was also under the impression that you could get away with a swan neck punch for everything.
Quote from: Terri on June 29, 2010, 04:25:42 PM
But it's not cheap to set up your own stamp etc.
The London office do a deal for part-time students, which is everything you need to set up your mark, plus one punch for £60. My evening class tutor said she could sign the form for me, but I haven't "taken the plunge" yet.
Thank you all for the info. I think I might stick to Diane's lovely ribbons, copper and silver plate, then I will not have any worries.
One question though, if I did have a piece which is over the amount and used Cookson, would it then be o'k to sell it as sterling silver?
Sorry if I seem thick, but this is all new to me and all I want to do is make beads!!
Rita
Hi All, I do some silversmithing and anything in silver 7.8gms or over must be hallmarked. The Assay will not hallmark without a makers mark so you have to obtain one through the assay Office or go the Cooksons route. If you speak to the Assay Office they are always more than helpful (I know I've spoken lots). Also if you are selling from a stall or premises you must by law display a dealers notice which is a hallmaking guide . This can be downloaded from http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/dealers_notices.html. If not displayed you are liable to prosecution. I hope this is of help - most lamp work items will probably be under the 7.8gms.
Regards
Nick
Quote from: chipperpottery on June 29, 2010, 05:07:39 PM
if I did have a piece which is over the amount and used Cookson, would it then be o'k to sell it as sterling silver?
Sorry if I seem thick, but this is all new to me and all I want to do is make beads!!
Rita
Rita - you are not thick - this takes a lot of getting your head round. Answer is yes, if a third party gets the work hallmarked for you, you can then quite happily sell it as silver.
Terri
Is that right that you have to display this notice at a craft fair even if everyhting you sell is under the 7.8gms I have noticed some sellers dont have, are they wrong in doing this ...me included in the dont have actually !
Quote from: jammie on June 29, 2010, 07:21:37 PM
Is that right that you have to display this notice at a craft fair even if everyhting you sell is under the 7.8gms I have noticed some sellers dont have, are they wrong in doing this ...me included in the dont have actually !
Yes, you do. I'd forgotten to take mine with me once, three years ago at the Royal Welsh Show, and at that time my jewellery wasn't silver-heavy so I obviously didn't have a hallmark. I didn't think it would matter, but Trading Standards noticed, and told me not to leave it behind again!
Nia xx
Ah, okay I will get one sorted then. Thanks ! :)
You have to by law display the notice if you are selling any precious metal regardless of weight but if you use the link in my previous post you can download it for free
regards
Nick
Quote from: ARBeads on June 29, 2010, 04:35:39 PM
We wanted to use a cranked punch for our makers mark as we thought this would do for everything - NOT the case, the lady at Birmingham informed us that they were only for use on rings and we would still need a straight punch therefore doubling the cost. This seems to be a petty rule and I've read recently in B&B that others have got away with this ???
Actually, it's a bit more complicated than that. A proper swan necked punch is also slightly domed at the face, and is designed to be used solely on rings. Using it in place of a straight punch on a flat piece can lead to mispunching and uneven marks. I know a couple of the assay offices will allow it, but having seen the marks struck, I can see why it makes sense to have both. Alternatively, you can just have a laser setup and no punch at all.
Thanks for that reply George - it now makes sense, why couldn't birmingham have explained the difference between the punches instead just giving us a no.
Ruth
x
Sorry to ask for yet more clarification. I am doing a fair shortly and want to be legal, so I am right to say that if all my sterling silver findings etc add up to less than 7.78g, and I display the Dealer's notice that I have downloaded, I can describe my jewellery as made with sterling silver?
Quote from: paintboxcrafts on July 01, 2010, 10:58:47 AM
Sorry to ask for yet more clarification. I am doing a fair shortly and want to be legal, so I am right to say that if all my sterling silver findings etc add up to less than 7.78g, and I display the Dealer's notice that I have downloaded, I can describe my jewellery as made with sterling silver?
Yes :)
Phew!
Thanks George ;D
Hi,
Agreed
thank heavens other people asking all the questions I'd like answers to! :D
I tried the Edinburgh Assay office who said that the student deal didn't include part time students, pah! I think I may try the London Office after Redkite's post. thank you for the information.
I have a quick question if anyone can help, do I need to give an explanation/link to regs on my website or is the dealers notice purely for displaying at public events?
Thank you :D
Hi,
When I asked at the assay office they confirmed that it is not compulsory to display a dealers notice on a web page but it may give a potential customer more confidence by displaying the dealers notice. As such it is not a premises but for ease of explanation if it is for anywhere that a customer can handle the goods directly then you must display the notice/poster. (IE craft fair, shop, your living room if you are doing a jewellery party from there).
Thank you :D
Just resurrecting this thread with another question - what about hill tribe and Bali silver and the like which is over 92.5% pure does the hall mark rule still apply? :)
yes, hallmarking still applies to over 92.5 stuff, if its 99.9 or over it can be hallmarked as 999, if its over 92.5 but under 99.9 it would get hallmarked as 925 if it requires hallmarking.
when the assay office marks something as 925 it is guaranteed to have at least 92.5% silver in it
Thanks :) :)
Glad I read this thread!
I am 99% sure that my items would always be under the 7.78grams, but I never knew that you had to display a dealer's notice.
Thanks
Thanks for this thread. I have just downloaded the notice, just need to book a stall now! :D
Hi, for your information and just to confirm if you look at the assay office dealers notices page it says the following to be legal,
Reproduction of the electronic versions must meet the following criteria
The Dealers' Notice:
Must be printed in black and white
Must be clearly legible (minimum 300 dpi)
Must be printed in its entirety with no amendments, additions or deletions
Must be printed minimum A4 size, (210mm x 297mm portrait) but could be larger if required
If you have any queries regarding Dealers' Notices please contact one of the four UK Assay Offices.
So my old dealers notice is no longer valid from 1 January?
I always used a swan necked punch, never made a silver ring in my life and when discussing with them they knew I'd not be making rings, although made some bangles in the latter stages. That account's now lapsed I think, and it was my previous initials. Am going to start working with PMC so was thinking I'd need to think about renewing/re-registering but, for things with just beads that I have bought and not made, how the heck do I hallmark them? Is a hallmarking tag sufficient?
Good thread, and very timely for me.
Hi,
A tag would be sufficient if it's attached and the items you have bought would be tested as part of the piece at the assay office, if that makes sense. If I'm not mistaken a registration makers mark is valid for ten years before it has to be renewed.
Also
"The 2009 amendment to the Hallmarking Act requiring all articles sold or described as Palladium to have a statutory hallmark as of 1st January 2010 has created the need for a new version of the Dealers' Notice to be produced.
After a 12 month period of grace this will become the only acceptable version as of 1st January 2011. This therefore replaces the previous version, last amended in 1998."
So the new notice displays Palladium as well
Sorry if I am being a bit thick here .... so, I make a lovely necklace with lots of beads and, if all added up together, more than 7.78g of silver... I have to send the whole necklace off to be assayed or can I just get some tags marked? My necklaces weight quite a lot, are quite large and I'm already having nightmares about this because I (obviously mistakenly) thought it was individual components that had to be under the weight limit. I don't live near an Assay Office so would have to post my things off and remember how the base copst inflated with all the postage and add on costs.
I've no idea what my beads weight but will be making sure that I use more glass and less silver at this rate.
Who offers a hallmarking service? I thought Cooksons did but can't find it on their website.
Yes Cooksons do, although they do not have it on there site.
The girl that deals with it is only part time. I telephoned them.
Rita
Sue, it's the total weight of components in a piece that has to be looked at. You can send all the components (in a group) and have one of them marked before you make the piece up, or send the finished piece, but you can't just send tags and ask them to assume that all the other bits are OK. There has been two cases very recently of silver findings bought from a very well known company failing assay.
The hallmarking service from cooksons is in their knowledgebase, not the easiest place to find it. Or you could ask someone with their own mark to include some of your pieces in a batch being sent off.
I am registered at Sheffield Assay Office and they advised me to that I only need to send the silver components for testing, including any tags, with an explaination of how the finished article will be made up. You can send in finished items but it's not advisable as they are likely to get damaged during testing. Be aware though that if you are adding a hallmarked tag to your work then there must be NO non silver metal parts, including stringing material so for example a glass and silver bead bracelet on jewellery elastic is fine but glass and bead bracelets made up using beadalon would not be fine ;)
Oops cross posted with ya George :-*
Definitely need more caffeine ... so I send them 20 silver beads from Cooksons, with a tag and clasp and tell them it'll have 20 glass beads around it, they hallmark the tag and send the lot back to me? Do they hallmark the beads as well as the tag? Would be a problem on a 2mm bead me thinks. I often don't know how I'm making until I make :D
[Be aware though that if you are adding a hallmarked tag to your work then there must be NO non silver metal parts, including stringing material so for example a glass and silver bead bracelet on jewellery elastic is fine but glass and bead bracelets made up using beadalon would not be fine]
In that case I really can't see how you can make a reasonably heavy necklace with any silver in it because elastic is not a sensible option (I use softflex), you can't hallmark 25+ hollow 5mm or smaller silver beads and if you could they'd be marked to the point of being un sightly, let alone the cost per bead.
I can see another spreadsheet coming on with a calculator for the beads, jumprings, fastenings, just to keep things under the limit. If I could walk in to the assay office drop off and collect It be a lot cheaper.
Am I missing something?
Quote from: Blue Box Studio on December 11, 2010, 09:35:21 AM
[Be aware though that if you are adding a hallmarked tag to your work then there must be NO non silver metal parts, including stringing material so for example a glass and silver bead bracelet on jewellery elastic is fine but glass and bead bracelets made up using beadalon would not be fine]
In that case I really can't see how you can make a reasonably heavy necklace with any silver in it because elastic is not a sensible option (I use softflex), you can't hallmark 25+ hollow 5mm or smaller silver beads and if you could they'd be marked to the point of being un sightly, let alone the cost per bead.
Am I missing something?
Sue, jewellery strung on Beadalon etc. is fine. I make all my pieces with it (or similar), and hallmarking isn't a problem. What you can't have hallmarked are pieces that contain silver plated findings, or silvered ceramics.
Nia xx
Well, renewing my mark, which effectively means starting again as I've changed my initials since then, will definitely be a cheaper op0tion than Cooksons ...
*
One hallmark, costs £13.75 per item
*
Two-Four items, costs £8.25 per item
*
Five - Six items, costs £6.88 per item
Think I'll ring Birmingham on Monday, never found London over-helpful if you called them. Might have to save things up and take day tips there and visit M-i-L in Kenilworth on the way.
I am going for it too, but even though I have gone to the website and read the info over about 3 years now, I still find it really confusing. I will probably use it to make pieces which are solely silver, to which glass beads may be added, not silver and glass combined pieces to begin with.
Hi,
To stop all confusion. If you string the silver beads and un-crimped crimps with the tag on a small length of beadalon or what ever you are going to use for stringing, then tie a knot at each end to stop them coming off and put a note and a rough diagram with it explaining you are going to add glass beads then the Assay will contact you if there is a problem to discuss this with you, if not they will test and hallmark the tag. After hallmarking I would not add any other metal so there is no confusion. The spare piece of beadalon could be used when you send the next batch.
Hope this is of some help
Regards
Thanks Nick, that is a real help. I was having a real thickie morning! Previously I used my mark only for solid sterling items so couldn't get my head around the component aspect.
Hi,
Glad to be of help. It can be quite confusing, but bottom line put your makers mark on the tag and send the bits in. The Assay will either stamp it or they won't. If they don't at least you can get an explanation directly from them. I'm sure it will be fine.