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 Post subject: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:23 am 
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This is a really dumb newbe question.

I have been faceting stones for a while, and recently polished some nice pieces of opal. I am making some pendants from Argentium silver and am just starting. the first few pieces are for family.

I will probably try to sell some to get some of the money back and be able to buy more rough.

So the question is, should I spend the money to buy the hallmark stamps and which ones? The flying uniform one is $64, and a sterling stamp is another 20.

I plan to keep this a hobby, but it would be nice to get some money back.

IF I get the unicorn stamp, do I also need a sterling one?

I know that these are dumb newbe questions, so I appreciate your commets.

I guess the question are:

1) Does having he hallmark on an item them make them easier to sell?
2) what is the right way to mark Argentium silver? both the unicorn and sterling?

Thanks


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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 12:35 pm 
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Hallmarks are often confused with "trademarks" or "maker's mark".
Hallmarks are not the mark of a manufacturer to distinguish their products from other manufacturers’ products. In other-words, the Stuller "S" or the "Tiffany&Co," stamp is not a hallmark it is a Maker's Mark.

A fineness or quality stamp would be "14K", "750", 10% IRID PLAT" again, not a hallmark.

To be a true hallmark, it must be the guarantee of an independent body or authority that the contents are as marked. These marks are customarily issued by an assay office.
Example
Quote:
Image
The assay office marks – from left to right, the leopard's head of London, the anchor of Birmingham, the Yorkshire rose of Sheffield, and the castle of Edinburgh.


Most countries have hallmarking standards and laws. The United States does not.


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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 1:05 pm 
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So, given that info, we'll rephrase your question as "is it worth it to get the SS/Argentium quality stamps?"

If you want to mark it as Argentium, you should use both the flying unicorn (or horned pegasus, lol) and a Sterling stamp. Is it worth it? I'm not sure--I work mostly with Argentium, so I went ahead and bought both the bent and straight Argentium stamps. I would use both because that's what the Argentium folks recommend, and because most people won't recognize just the flying unicorn logo.

Note that according to US trade laws, if you put a quality mark on it, you also need to put a maker's mark on it. Not that I have ever heard of that being enforced on a small artisan, mind you. I'll get an actual stamp made one of these days, but so far I just use my cursive initials. According to the Code, a maker's mark is either a registered trade mark or the maker's name.

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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 1:36 pm 
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Thanks, I jusgt dug up the FTC rules, and hey do say makers name or registered trademark. I am now looking to see how much of the name is needed, just to be legal.

Itg sounds like I can put on the unicorn logo by itself. From what I read, yoou only have to put your name add sterling to it.

So legally I can do 935 and the uniorn logo.... but if I add the word sgerling, I need my name or registered trade mark.....

I may look into a stamp with sterling and my name..... to be fully legal.


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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 3:26 pm 
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I use a .925 stamp. The Argentium mark will tell a discerning customer (or you can tell the others) that it's actually .935. "Sterling" and ".925" are functionally equivalent--using either one makes it count as a quality stamp. The Argentium mark is just gravy (well, branding). Since Argentium is a proprietary Sterling alloy, the rules don't require you to use the Argentium mark. So, if you want to skip a stamp, skip the flying unicorn.

--Eric

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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 7:33 am 
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I'm outside of this one being over the pond. But I have a couple of questions. Is the Argentium metal well known by you potential customers? Would they recognise the Pegasus with a horn? If you put a sterling stamp on it, you would be underselling your metal wouldn't you (925/935)? Why not get a 935 stamp made? Then explain the benefits after, have some Argentium leaflets or something on hand.

Barbra is quite right with the hallmark definition, speaking as someone who HAS to comply with the most strict assay system. There are huge penalties for not hallmarking when required or misrepresenting metal. If I were to sell an item I said was sterling and it weighed over 7.78 grams, but wasn't hallmarked, I could face a fine of up to £10,000/offence (3 items/ 3x £10,000).

Just some additional info for fun.

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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:16 am 
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gemsmithuk wrote:
I'm outside of this one being over the pond. But I have a couple of questions. Is the Argentium metal well known by you potential customers? Would they recognise the Pegasus with a horn? If you put a sterling stamp on it, you would be underselling your metal wouldn't you (925/935)? Why not get a 935 stamp made? Then explain the benefits after, have some Argentium leaflets or something on hand.


In the sense that Argentium is .935, I can see where you'd think it's a mild undersell. In the end, though, it's "Argentium Sterling silver". So, while you'd be better served using a Sterling stamp instead of a .925 stamp, they both mean the same thing. Horsey = Argentium, but they probably need to be told that it's Sterling as well, since I doubt most consumers know what the heck that unicorn is for.

.935 is not a standard in any country or culture that I know of, and the Argentium folks don't suggest you try to make it one either (they have a branding guide). Plus, you'd have to do it with either a custom stamp or 4 wee numeric stamps ;) I think the extra 1% is to reinforce their marketing that it's a premium alloy, but their main selling point is the added germanium.

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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 8:01 pm 
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After re-reading the rules, if I put either 925, 935, or sterling on it you also need to include either the makers name or registered trademark. The FTC site does say that the makers initials are acceptable as a name. So, I will probably get a sterling stamp and a stamp with my initials. I will probably skip the unicorm stamp for now.

Thanks for the comments.


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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 4:42 am 
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Thanks Upcyclist. This material is available in the UK, but few are using it. I am going to get some and have a play.

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 Post subject: Re: Newbe dumb question, worth it buying the hallmark stamps
PostPosted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:51 am 
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gemsmithuk wrote:
Thanks Upcyclist. This material is available in the UK, but few are using it. I am going to get some and have a play.


I really like working with it, but not everyone does.

- When casting, my stuff comes out white, not black with firescale as regular sterling does.
- When fabricating, you can fuse it instead of soldering it if you wish
- It is brittle when it's still pink-hot, though, so be careful when soldering/fusing/annealing
- It really does resist tarnish well

Obviously, I love it, and use it as my primary silver alloy. Switching over wholesale, though, takes some thought since you probably have a large stock of Sterling sheet, wire, bezel, etc. I just lucked out and took my first casting class in Argentium, and have been using it ever since.

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Select Gem LLP
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