Keep Valentine's Day precious, look for the hallmark

As Valentine’s Day approaches, consumers in Northern Ireland may find themselves buying jewellery for a loved one that has not been hallmarked.

That was one of the main findings of a survey of Northern Ireland retailers selling jewellery. The survey, carried out by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s Trading Standards Service (TSS), was aimed at determining the level of compliance by traders with the law on hallmarking.

A hallmark means that an item of jewellery has been independently tested and guarantees that it conforms to all legal standards of purity. Inspections by TSS officers covered a range of outlets in the Greater Belfast area, Newry, Ballymena, Newtownards, Armagh and Londonderry. The outlets included small gift shops, high street retailers and independent jewellers.

The Hallmarking Act 1973 makes it an offence to offer for sale any item which is described as wholly or partly made of gold, platinum or silver that has not been properly hallmarked.

The results of the survey show that one in four jewellery retailers were found to be selling items that were not hallmarked. TSS officers also found that one in five traders failed to display a compulsory hallmarking notice. Silver accounted for over three quarters of the jewellery examined that was not hallmarked.

In the worst example, every piece of jewellery that was randomly selected for inspection in one retailer's premises was not hallmarked.

Kerry McAuley from TSS said: “While these results show that the majority of traders visited are complying with the legislation, it is clear that there are still a considerable number attempting to flout the law.

“Hallmarked jewellery enables consumers to be certain that the item they are buying is accurately described. If you buy jewellery that does not bear a hallmark, then there is no guarantee that it will conform to its description.

“If retailers sell gold, silver or platinum jewellery, the onus is on them to take steps to ensure that these precious metals are properly hallmarked. It is important that customers are not deceived and that traders operate in an open and fair manner.

“As a result of our findings, we have issued warning letters to those traders who were found to have breached the law. We will also be carrying out follow-up visits and if it is found that any traders are still not complying with the law, those traders will be subject to further enforcement action.”

If consumers have a complaint about jewellery that has not been hallmarked or require further advice, they should contact Consumerline on tel: 0845 600 62 62 or tel: 028 9025 3900, or alternatively online at www.consumerline.org.

Notes to Editors:

1. The survey was conducted between November 2008 and January 2009.
2. The survey included visits to a range of premises in the Greater Belfast area, Newry, Ballymena, Newtownards, Armagh and Derry. In all, 57 premises were visited and it was found that in 14 of those premises, jewellery that was being offered for sale was not hallmarked.
3. Hallmarking involves the independent testing and marking of articles of precious metal to indicate they conform to legal standards of purity (fineness). These tests are carried out in the UK by Assay Offices in London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.
4. The Hallmarking Act 1973 makes it an offence for anyone in the course of business to sell or describe a precious metal article as gold, silver or platinum unless it is hallmarked, subject to certain exemptions including articles below statutorily prescribed weights. The Act is enforced by local trading standards departments. It was amended in January 1999 to bring it into line with European law.
5. It is an offence for a trader to fail to display, at all times, a hallmarking notice in a conspicuous position of his premises. This acts as a guide for the customer to determine what the hallmarks mean, in terms of fineness of the precious metal, the sponsor mark, and the assay office mark, all of which are compulsory. See link: http://www.britishhallmarkingcouncil.gov.uk/publications/hallmarksprecious2.pdf
6. For media enquiries please contact the DETI Press Office, telephone 028 9052 9297. Outside office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.