[Jewelry making - Article 00023] - [Orchid] Handmade and Hallmarks

[Jewelryartschool]

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    The "handmade vs machine-made" controversy regarding wax modeling
    and casting is going on again on another thread. 

    I've made my choice - which is to call any one-of-a-kind casting
    that is produced from a hand carved wax - handmade. If the wax is
    made on a mill, lathe, or reproduced in a rubber mold - it is no
    longer handmade. This is my opinion, and if the government thinks
    otherwise, I am willing to spend some time and a bit of money trying
    to prove my point to them. Y'all can make your own choices, and
    that's not the point of this post. 

    The FTC has a lot of very vague and antiquated
    standards/regulations/laws - However, other than the karat content
    in the products of large manufacturers - I have never seen nor heard
    of them enforcing a mislabeled "Handmade" or a missing or
    unregistered hallmark on ANY jewelry made in small studio shops. This
    has been my experience in 38 years in the trade. 

    Here is what I want to know. Has ANYONE ever seen a Fed walking
    through a craft show or even a trade show, snatching samples to
    analyze or checking to see if they are properly marked/hallmarked?
    Invading private studios to check these things? Contacting you and
    questioning you on your product? 

    All I've ever seen are the Weights and Measures from local
    government, and they are only checking to see if the scales you are
    using have been tested and sealed... 

Brian


 
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