Is this really a 22ct gold ring?

jenhug

I thought 22ct would be a darker colour than that, like indian gold? that looks like normal 9ct to me.

soolin

Another interesting thread here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2367313

soolin

If you try to list in ebay you get this message:

Attention sellers:



Dear Seller
To sell precious metal jewellery (e.g., Platinum, Gold or Silver) in the UK, sellers should follow the rules laid out by law in the Hallmarking Act 1973. More specifically, it is an offence for any person in course of trade or business to:

• Describe an un-hallmarked article as being wholly or partly made of gold, silver or platinum.
• Supply or offer to supply un-hallmarked articles to which such a description is applied.

To learn more about hallmarking, please review the Practical Guide to Hallmarking by the UK Assay Offices
The interesting bit, which I can never find when I google, is the only exemptions, which is based on size which are:

Main Exemptions:

Articles below a certain weight are exempt from hallmarking. The exemption weight is based on the weight of the precious metal content only, excluding, for example,
weight of diamonds, stones etc., except in the case of articles consisting of precious metal and base metal in which case the exemption weight is based on the total metal weight:
• Gold 1.0 grams
• Silver 7.78 grams
• Platinum 0.5 grams

roses

Hi, thanks all for your help. The main ring is 22ct gold and this is stamped on the inside. What I am disappointed with is the messiness of the largening and the different colour which can be seen in the photo.

I saw that she listed 3 other rings and they all had the same line in the photo so I'll wait for them to leave feedback before deciding whether to contact her and I'll definitely get the ring to a jeweller in 3-4 weeks before the paypal dispute timeline expires (no time before then as I am getting married 2 weeks today!)

Mrs_justjohn

soolin wrote: »

If you try to list in ebay you get this message:

Attention sellers:



Dear Seller
To sell precious metal jewellery (e.g., Platinum, Gold or Silver) in the UK, sellers should follow the rules laid out by law in the Hallmarking Act 1973. More specifically, it is an offence for any person in course of trade or business to:

• Describe an un-hallmarked article as being wholly or partly made of gold, silver or platinum.
• Supply or offer to supply un-hallmarked articles to which such a description is applied.

To learn more about hallmarking, please review the Practical Guide to Hallmarking by the UK Assay Offices
The interesting bit, which I can never find when I google, is the only exemptions, which is based on size which are:

Main Exemptions:

Articles below a certain weight are exempt from hallmarking. The exemption weight is based on the weight of the precious metal content only, excluding, for example,
weight of diamonds, stones etc., except in the case of articles consisting of precious metal and base metal in which case the exemption weight is based on the total metal weight:
• Gold 1.0 grams
• Silver 7.78 grams
• Platinum 0.5 grams

Hi Soolin

Again I will reiterate that this is not something I have experinec in but am reading (and learning) from this thread and links.

I think the point Shaun is making (correct me if I am wrong) is that the act only seems to cover people that are businesses and traders within this field. He (and the assay office) continually refer to people that trade or are a business. So would a personal sale, say of your grandmothers wedding ring, not sold as any part of a business be covered. Yes if I bought a ring at an auction and then resold it, it would need to be hallmarked to be referred to as gold. However if I was selling a personal possesion I could call it gold (as long as it was and could be proven) despite it being unhallmarked?

soolin

I agree that it is all open to interpretation, but the word 'trading' seems to be the trigger for ebay as i get the warning about not selling unhallmarked gold when I tried to do a dummy list on my private account.

If we take ebay out of the equation I cannot see anywhere on a practical basis that a person could offload unhallmarked gold even as a private individual. I know it would be posisble to sell through an auction house, but as above the ones i use would sell it as yellow metal and that would affect the price.

Mrs_justjohn

soolin wrote: »

I agree that it is all open to interpretation, but the word 'trading' seems to be the trigger for ebay as i get the warning about not selling unhallmarked gold when I tried to do a dummy list on my private account.

If we take ebay out of the equation I cannot see anywhere on a practical basis that a person could offload unhallmarked gold even as a private individual. I know it would be posisble to sell through an auction house, but as above the ones i use would sell it as yellow metal and that would affect the price.

Yes my auction house would sell it as yellow metal too and I do understand what you are saying. It is just the 'act', ebay and the assay office use the term "a person in course of trade or business" surely if it was a no no for anyone then just "a person" would suffice? Why mention the "in course of trade or business"? It seems they are trying to differentaite between personal and business sellers.

I know ebay are a law unto themselves half of the time so you can not expect them to give you appropriate advice depending on whether you are a personal or business seller. However they make the rules to be abided by on ebay so you just have to go with them.

shaun_from_Africa

From the horses mouth (so to speak).

http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/law_infull.html

1 MAIN OFFENCE
Subject to certain exemptions it is an offence for any person in the course of trade or business -
(a) to apply to an unhallmarked article a description indicating that it is wholly or partly made of gold, silver or platinum; or
(b) to supply or offer to supply an unhallmarked article to which such a description is applied.

This applies only to transactions "in the course of a trade or business". Thus it applies to transactions by antique dealers, gift shops, auctioneers, pawnbrokers, etc. But it is no offence for such a description to be applied by a person in a private transaction. But where a person carries on a series of transactions it has been held that those were "in the course of a trade or business".

soolin

I agree It is interesting that the word 'trade' is used and I wonder if that just shows the length of time the act has been in place or whether it is a deliberate 'blurring'. By definition anyone selling anything is 'trading' although not of course in a business sense.

I do like a good thread that makes me think beyond what is just laid down in writing.

I am conscious though that we are wll off topic now as the Op stated the ring was hallmarked and I apologise to the OP for my ramblings on a fascinating subject.

Mrs_justjohn

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

From the horses mouth (so to speak).

http://www.theassayoffice.co.uk/law_infull.html

Aaahhh so it's as I thought - personal transactions are exempt from that ruling - it is just ebay can not (or will not) police that, so they do not allow personal or business sellers to sell unhallmarked items as gold/silver/platinum. Again it is their platform so you have to abide by their rules or suffer the consequences but I hate the way ebay try and imply their word is LAW...LOL