Returning a ring that's not hallmarked properly

pandaleah

Hi. My husband bought me a sterling silver ring from an independent jeweller. It sent my finger blue/grey within 24 hours. The hallmark is just the numbers 925. He went to return it and they would only give a credit note. We went back together and the manager said that low value items don't need proper hallmarks.  It cost £60. Is this correct? Is there any way to get our money back? 

MyRealNameToo

pandaleah said:

Hi. My husband bought me a sterling silver ring from an independent jeweller. It sent my finger blue/grey within 24 hours. The hallmark is just the numbers 925. He went to return it and they would only give a credit note. We went back together and the manager said that low value items don't need proper hallmarks.  It cost £60. Is this correct? Is there any way to get our money back? 

Silver needs to be hallmarked if over 7.78g but there are other exemptions particularly if it's vintage. A ring may weigh less than this.

There should be three hallmarks, 925 in a oval, one of the 4 assay office stamps and the sponsor;s stamp (the one that asked it to be assayed) 

Aylesbury_Duck

pandaleah said:

Hi. My husband bought me a sterling silver ring from an independent jeweller. It sent my finger blue/grey within 24 hours. The hallmark is just the numbers 925. He went to return it and they would only give a credit note. We went back together and the manager said that low value items don't need proper hallmarks.  It cost £60. Is this correct? Is there any way to get our money back? 

How did your husband pay for it?   

I'm guessing that the retailer hasn't accepted it's faulty and therefore is issuing a credit note as goodwill or as per their own customer returns policy.  If it really is faulty then the refund should be in the same form as the original payment, so if your husband paid by voucher or credit note, then a credit note is the correct form of refund.   If your husband paid by other means (cash, card) then a refund should be to that same method.

When you say it sent your finger blue/grey, is that because it was too tight or are you suggesting some sort of dermatological reaction to the metal?

Alderbank

Sterling silver is an alloy which includes metals like copper and nickel. The 925 mark tells you it contains 92.5% silver, the rest other metals. This is correct for sterling silver. Most people are fine with that but some people's skin react to the base metals and turns grey, green, even black.

You might want to hint to your husband that silver jewellery for you needs to be 100% silver (called 'fine silver' in the jewellery trade).

If it was sold as sterling silver and is indeed 92.5% silver then it's not faulty.
How exactly did the salesman describe it to your husband? If he said sterling silver is guaranteed not to cause a skin reaction or if he said the ring was 100% silver then he might have grounds for a claim.

MyRealNameToo

Technically fine silver can be 99.9% silver so still 0.1% non-silver and will be hallmarked 999 if it's heavy enough to need hallmarking or they've decided to hallmark it irrespective of weight. You won't find many options though because pure silver is a very soft metal, softer than gold, so damages easily which is why silver is normally mixed with copper to make Stirling silver which makes it stronger. 

There is the middle ground of Britannia silver with is 95.8% which you will find more jewellery in but its still notably an alloy so some can have issues with the other base metals that have been mixed in. 

Pollycat

pandaleah said:

Hi. My husband bought me a sterling silver ring from an independent jeweller. It sent my finger blue/grey within 24 hours. The hallmark is just the numbers 925. He went to return it and they would only give a credit note. We went back together and the manager said that low value items don't need proper hallmarks.  It cost £60. Is this correct? Is there any way to get our money back? 

I have lots of silver that does not have a UK hallmark as like this

MyRealNameToo said:

pandaleah said:

Hi. My husband bought me a sterling silver ring from an independent jeweller. It sent my finger blue/grey within 24 hours. The hallmark is just the numbers 925. He went to return it and they would only give a credit note. We went back together and the manager said that low value items don't need proper hallmarks.  It cost £60. Is this correct? Is there any way to get our money back? 

There should be three hallmarks, 925 in a oval, one of the 4 assay office stamps and the sponsor;s stamp (the one that asked it to be assayed) 

but are marked 925 - including items I've bought from India, Indonesia, Europe, New Zealand and Mexico.

You would only get the hallmarks above if the item had been assayed in the UK.

It doesn't mean it isn't silver.

None of my silver turns my skin blue/grey.

Alderbank said:

You might want to hint to your husband that silver jewellery for you needs to be 100% silver (called 'fine silver' in the jewellery trade).

I'm not sure that 'fine silver' would be suitable for a ring - it's a very soft metal.