Gold bracelet has no hallmark

soolin

sheramber wrote: »

Was the bracelet described a gold or did your wife assume it was gold because of the colour and the price.

If the salesperson told her it was gold then go back to the shop and query it.

As per the link above the bracelet (the first one I found and not the one from the OP) is being sold legally as 18ct Gold Vermeil gold, when in fact it is silver with gold plating and with much less intrinsic value. jewellers are careful for they sell and I very much doubt any reputable jeweller will lie and say something is 9 ct or 18ct solid gold when it is not.

The OP is getting information about what was bought 2nd hand, we are getting it 3rd hand. It might well be that the wife knew exactly what she wanted and what she bought but is perhaps too embarrassed to admit she paid so much for a fashion piece. The receipt showing merely 'bracelet' supports this theory.

soolin

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

That is perfectly legal as the description refers to it being gold plated.


Provided that the OP knows for a fact that the item is made of gold then irrespective of it not having a hallmark, they are legally allowed to call it gold when selling it.
It is only when being sold by a business that it must be hallmarked (subject to the exemptions I mentioned earlier) if it's called gold.

I'm not convinced, I sell jewellery on occasions and always sell in line with guidance-ie an unmarked unhallmarked item cannot be legally sold as gold.

My own bookmark to the legislation has expired and a quick google only turns this up:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/When-is-a-jewellery-hallmark-a-legal-requirement-/10000000006910514/g.html

If you sell any item in the UK and the pieces exceeed the exempt weight levels and there is no hallmark, YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW. This is regardless of whether you sell on EBay or in a retail store. Please take the time to read all the information available at theassayoffice.co.uk

Even auction houses I buy from, and which often interpret the law creatively, will only sell an in marked piece as 'yellow metal - believed to be gold'

Plus an older thread from MSE

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2367313/selling-unhallmarked-jewellery

shaun_from_Africa

soolin wrote: »

I'm not convinced, I sell jewellery on occasions and always sell in line with guidance-ie an unmarked unhallmarked item cannot be legally sold as gold.

But are you selling privately or as a business seller?

The requirement for hallmarking of precious metals is covered by the Hallmarking act 1973 and this is how the relevant part is worded:

Prohibited descriptions of unhallmarked articles.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, any person who, in the course of a trade or business

(a) applies to an unhallmarked article a description indicating that it is wholly or partly made of gold, silver [F1, platinum or palladium], or

(b) supplies, or offers to supply, an unhallmarked article to which such a description is applied,

shall be guilty of an offence.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/43/section/1

soolin

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

But are you selling privately or as a business seller?

The requirement for hallmarking of precious metals is covered by the Hallmarking act 1973 and this is how the relevant part is worded:


https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1973/43/section/1

Selling privately is still a trade though, I think I would not rely on a careful interpretation of the law to risk selling an un hallmarked piece as gold. I think this is an interesting discussion, and as with all opinions on here the 'user' can choose what they want to go with. This discussion though is probably more of interest to the two of us rather than to the thread as there is no indication that the OP wants to re sell, it was merely a throw away remark made earlier.

For the purposes of the thread topic I stick with my earlier comment "The OP is getting information about what was bought 2nd hand, we are getting it 3rd hand. It might well be that the wife knew exactly what she wanted and what she bought but is perhaps too embarrassed to admit she paid so much for a fashion piece. The receipt showing merely 'bracelet' supports this theory".

shaun_from_Africa

soolin wrote: »

Selling privately is still a trade though,

In which case, the Consumer rights act and Consumer contracts regulations must also apply to all sales even from private sellers as both of these pieces of legislation refer to trades and traders.

If the Hallmarking act did apply to everyone selling precious metals, why would the writers have needed to add the phrase "any person who, in the course of a trade or business" when they could have removed all ambiguity by simply stating "anyone selling"

Also, ff selling unhallmarked gold privately was illegal, why does just every scrap gold buying business in the UK purchase it and advertise that they will purchase it?
Wouldn't that be just like a business advertising to buy stolen or counterfeit goods?

soolin

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

In which case, the Consumer rights act and Consumer contracts regulations must also apply to all sales even from private sellers as both of these pieces of legislation refer to trades and traders.

If the Hallmarking act did apply to everyone selling precious metals, why would the writers have needed to add the phrase "any person who, in the course of a trade or business" when they could have removed all ambiguity by simply stating "anyone selling"

Also, ff selling unhallmarked gold privately was illegal, why does just every scrap gold buying business in the UK purchase it and advertise that they will purchase it?
Wouldn't that be just like a business advertising to buy stolen or counterfeit goods?

The gold companies fully test the stuff that goes to them and pay out accordingly, they don't just take someone's word for it.

https://www.gold-traders.co.uk/faqs.asp#Hallmark

My gold isn't hallmarked.
We pay exactly the same rates, whether an item carries a British hallmark or not. Our testing methods allow us to very accutately determine the composition of all items. So, for example, if we receive an unhallmarked piece of 18ct gold, providing it contains 75% gold, that's what we pay out on. If, following our testing an item turns out to be of a lower purity, our prices are adjusted accordingly.

items going for scrap are not subject to the same rules as other sales.

again though I think we are going off topic on this as we are likely to be the only ones interested in this discussion.