QuestionI was wondering about a ring marking...
If it is a maker's mark, I apologize in advance for asking, I just don't know.
The ring says PLATINUM and has a TW inside a little oval/box...
I just wanted to check out the purity of the metal if there was any way to do it without seeing it.
There is probably no way of determining if it is 90 or 95% pure or even what it has been mixed with, I'm assuming...
I just want to clarify that everything about the metal is copacetic.
Thanks for your help!
(I'll leave a rating!)
AnswerDrew, the meaning of markings vary from country to country. Your ring is marked as would be suited to regulations in the Gold and Silver Marking Act for the USA. While the metal quality does not have to be stamped by law, a manufacturer would be rather foolish to try and sell jewelry without a metal stamp. If the metal quality mark is there, as in your ring, then by law the maker must put its mark on the jewelry near the other mark. The maker's mark is like a signature, a statement of who is responsible for the accuracy of the metal quality indicated. I believe the TW is the maker's mark.
In the USA, most platinum jewelry is either 95% pure or 90% pure. (Some alloys are being made of lesser platinum content.) For an item to be marked PLATINUM, PT or perhaps PLAT, the metal MUST by law be the 95% or higher alloy. I suspect your ring is 95%. If the alloy is less than 95%, the percent of platinum must be indicated, generally as in "parts pure metal per thousand parts". In other words, a 90% mark is generally shown as 900 PT or PT900. Sometimes the alloy metal is shown by percent, leaving the rest to be pure platinum: 10% Irid Plat is an example of a 900 platinum which is 10% iridium, the 90% being the platinum.
Drew, that is the answer. I do hope this is helpful. To know more about the ring would likely take quite specialized testing.
God Bless and Peace. Thomas.
