[Jewelry making - Article 00471] - Re: [Orchid] Hallmarking and solder

[Ian W. Wright]

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Hi Helen,

    Otto Frei sells 'Plumb solders' but, as far as I can see, they only
    refer to gold solders which are a little different to silver
    solders. Gold solders are made to comply with the various carat
    standards by varying the alloy content. The following is from a
    jewellery FAQ on a website at ifsjewellery.com which may explain
    better.... 

          Plumb gold (KP): http://tinyurl.com/2fpum5 

          In general usage, it means gold that has the same purity as
          the mark stamped on it. Therefore, 14KP means gold jewelry
          which had been soldered could be stamped 14K. according to
          current US and Canadian law, the pure gold content must be
          within 3 parts per thousand of the stamped karat mark for
          unsoldered items and 7 parts per thousand for soldered items.
          This means that technically all marked gold sold now is plump
          gold. In reality, not all gold jewelry is. When jewelers
          describe their jewelry as plumb gold, they are emphasizing that
          they abide by the law. 

          In the US and Canada, gold solders have to comply with the
          plumb-gold laws. A 14K solder might range from 12 to 14K. If
          jewelers want specify that they want a solder which is actually
          14K they may request a plumb solder. _When you have repairs
          done you should ask if they will use a plumb solder! 

Best wishes,
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK
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