- What do quality marks reveal about a jewelry item?
- How do trademarks protect retailers?
- What factors determine the marks stamped on plated goods?
This section reveals how precious metals are regulated, marked, and tested. This basic information will help you assess the quality of the merchandise you sell. It will also allow you to confidently explain quality marks to your customers.
The idea of quality marking originated in ancient Egypt and Rome, where they often used official marks to indicate the purity of precious metal bars. By the 14th century, the practice of marking precious metals with official government-required stamps had spread throughout Europe. In 1363 England’s King Edward III decreed that all precious metal items be tested and stamped for purity by the goldsmiths’ guild.
Today precious metal regulations vary from country to country. Negative tolerance—the difference between the fineness stated on the quality mark and the actual fineness of the precious metal—is one area where there are differences between countries.
The US permits a difference of 3 parts per thousand (ppt) on unsoldered items and 7 ppt on soldered items. This means that a soldered 18K (750 ppt) gold ring can actually be as low as 743 ppt (750 minus 7) and still be called 18K.
Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, and Turkey have some of the strictest requirements and do not permit even the slightest negative tolerance.
Germany, on the other hand, has one of the most lenient standards. The difference can be as much as 10 ppt less than the quality mark indicates.
