[Jewelry making - Article 01272] - Re: [Orchid] Hallmarking Keum boo

[James Binnion]

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>        Thank you to all who wrote in their technical help on Keum boo.
>      One more question.  What is the correct way to stamp a keum boo
>     piece? 

    If you are referring to a quality mark like "22K " or "sterling"
    then in the US there is no legal way to indicate the metals in the
    piece. The Stamping Act and the FTC Guides just never took into
    consideration a multi-metal piece.  To use something like  "22K and
    sterling" in combination is not ok because the requirement for using
    the quality mark is that the piece could be melted down and assayed
    and it would assay to at least 22k or Sterling and obviously if you
    have combined the two then it will not assay as either 22k or
    Sterling.  I am sure some people will write in saying that they have
    seen someone else use the combinations of stamps. And yes I have
    even seen it misused on Tiffany pieces (marked Platinum and 18K) 
    however that still does not make it correct or legal. You can stamp
    each individual part with its quality mark (sterling on the sterling
    parts and karat stamps on the karat bits) but that is not generally
    a pleasant design element. 

    But you are unlikely to be given a hard time over this unless
    someone can make a case that you are trying to be deceptive then the
    FTC or some prosecutor that nothing better to do could give you a
    bad time about it. 

    You can however mark it "Keum boo"  and not use any of the legal
    names like gold, silver, 14k etc. and then tell people what you use
    to make it in your promotional information. 

    Jim Binnion James Binnion Metal Arts Phone (360) 756-6550 Toll Free
    (877) 408 7287 Fax (360) 756-2160 http://www.mokume-gane.com
    jbin AT mokume-gane.com Member of the Better Business Bureau


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