Selling unhallmarked jewellery

imafatskintslug

Hi

Please can someone give me some advice on this?

I have an antique 5 diamond ring to sell to put towards the cost of my wedding. We dont know the exact age of it but it was probably my great grandmothers.

Its just been valued for insurance purposes by safeguard who have said it is an 18 carat gold ring with 1.25 carat of diamonds in total.

We paid to have this certificate made so we could sell it on ebay knowing something about what it is to tell the buyer. The insurance valuation is £2200.

So today i went to list it on ebay finally, and got to the last page and up came this warning about not selling un hallmarked jewellery and describing it as gold as it is 'illegal' blah blah blah.

Now i am not sure what on earth all this is about but are they seriously telling me i cant sell this ring and describe it as 18ct gold, when ive just paid £44 to get a certificate to prove what it is?

The reason the ring is not hall marked is because it is an antique. I'm not sure i could even fit a hallmark on it as it is very narrow at the band, plus the fact i dont really want to get it hallmarked as it is all part of its character that it doesnt have this feature because it is so damn old!

Really frustrated now cause we need to get this sorted as we need the cash for the wedding and there always seems to be some obstacle in the way. Does anyone have any idea what the deal is with all this?

Thanks!

hermum

It might be worth taking it to a local auction house, when I've been to mine for furniture the jewellery seems to go for a fairly good price. Higher commission than ebay though.

imafatskintslug

I might do that...

But if this thing about the gold not being allowed to be described as gold is true, how do the auction houses get around this?

:think:

cyberbob

imafatskintslug wrote: »

I might do that...

But if this thing about the gold not being allowed to be described as gold is true, how do the auction houses get around this?

:think:

You can get it assessed and hallmarked, but this will obviously cost money.

imafatskintslug

Well we got it assessed and got a certificate saying what it is, but according to the hallmark website we cannot try to sell it and describe it as containing gold unless it has a hallmark, as this is 'illegal' and they can seize the item!

Its absolutly ridiculous if you ask me, we have a certificate saying what it is, why on earth shouldnt we be able to describe what that certificate says?!

Are there any jewellery experts out there who can shed light on where i stand with this?

DaveAshton

imafatskintslug wrote: »

So today i went to list it on ebay finally, and got to the last page and up came this warning about not selling un hallmarked jewellery and describing it as gold as it is 'illegal' blah blah blah.

Probably because it is illegal:

Wikipedia wrote:

In the United Kingdom (UK), the Hallmarking Act of 1973 makes it an offence to describe as platinum, gold or silver an item which is not hallmarked as appropriate or exempt from hallmarking.

imafatskintslug

But how can it be illegal to own a ring which is so old it was never hallmarked, as it was probably exempt at the time, and then want to sell it, whilst describing what it is?

What do they want me to do? list the ring as 'a ring which i know what it is and it is a very good ring because i have this certificate to prove it but i cant tell you what the certificate says because you'll have to shoot me if i do'? Whos going to want to buy a ring without knowing what the certificate says and what the ring is?

Its just another example of this country trying to control everybodies every move. Why cant people look at the advert and make their own choice about whether they want to buy an unhallmarked 18 carat gold antique diamond ring or not? They are grown adults after all and it is their risk. Im sorry but i think it's another way of making us spend more money, so this useless government can get more taxes out of you. Same as the way they fill the road with speed humps and dont fix pot holes, so you have to get your suspension fixed every year, and pay more taxes, and you have to slow down/speed up for the bumps, more fuel, oh and more taxes. How convenient!!

This is just another load of tosh like every other money making scheme they have going!!

DaveAshton

It's not illegal to own it though, just illegal to sell it.

Also, hallmarking's been going on for over 700 years, it's hardly a new thing to make money.

imafatskintslug

These rules came out in 1973.

It just annoys me that i cant sell an item i own without defacing it and making it something its not - a piece of jewellery like that should not have a hallmark. It is not part of its character and it is not original if it has this done to it. It is probably over 90 years old.

McFilly

I totally agree, it's ridiculous. I am in a similar position and have some jewellery which has been valued quite high but has no hallmark. Do I just list it as "diamond necklace"?

System

The way that I read the exemptions is that providing it meets the fineness test (which this does being 18 carat) and you can prove it was manufactured before 1950 then it is permissible to call it gold and sell it as such. It does not need to be hallmarked.

http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/images/pdfs/Hallmark%20guidance%20Notes%20FINAL.pdf