Categories: Instruction and information; Jewelry
Word count/read time: 465 words; 2 minutes
When it comes to bullion, pure silver is a minimum of 0.999 fine (99.9% pure or "three
nines fine"). Some mints go as high as 0.99999 on special pieces.
So how can anything with a purity mark have less than what is stated, particularly jewelry?
The federal hallmarking law in the USA specifies what these exceptions are. When a precious
metal item is marked with a purity number - 950PLAT, sterling silver, 10k -
there are conditions and tolerances which spell out what components are included in the assay.
So where does this non-precious metal come from? It is not realistic to use a spring made from 24k gold, for
instance, as it is woefully inadequate to perform a lifetime of openings and closings.
That's not what precious metals do though they can be adapted in certain situations.
Thus, the functioning part of clasps, buckles, pivots, pins, and select other parts are not
included in the assay guarantee. It's like they don't exist. The uninformed buyer
might be shocked to learn how
much worthless metal is in sterling jewelry. Maybe not such a good deal after all.
Liken it to the food industry: Their labeling laws
allow an item that contains 100% fat to be labeled as fat-free.
It's not quite that bad with precious metals but dubious sellers will find creative ways to
finance themselves through mistruths and deception.
The precious metal parts of sterling silver items have a tolerance of 0.003. It must be a minimum
of 92.2% pure. You aren't breaking any laws if it is 95.7% or 99.2% but manufacturers lose
money by using more precious metals than required. When an item uses solder, the allowable
tolerance increases to 0.006. Be aware that older pieces had different standards, sometimes allowing
a 13k bracelet to be stamped 14k!
Gold has similar tolerances for whole and soldered items. Platinum has no tolerance for
under-assaying. Precious metal marking standards can be found in the following documents:
Reusing scrap metals means the (unknown contaminating) alloying/soldering metals will
ultimately affect the product by causing porosity, cracks, discoloration, brittleness,
and voids. There may be toxic cadmium, irritating nickel, and other
undesirables. It could result in a lower purity which means you will be defrauding
someone, which is a felony. Melting may cause a rise in purity as lower-melting
metals are boiled off. You'd lose money because that 14k gold bracelet might
be 15k!
Regardless of the hows and whats, the manufacturer is legally responsible for whatever their
fineness mark or accompanying documentation says.
If there is no manufacturer mark on the item they are selling
but there is a fineness mark then they become legally responsible for its purity. It kinda makes
selling anonymous second-hand precious metals a risky proposition.
Posted by M: March 4, 2023
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