QuestionI have been buying silver jewelry from China. The latest source has been stamped 925. I would like to know if I can trust the stamping. How strict are the laws on exporting fake silver? Can just anyone stamp 925 on the jewelry? Does the government regulate these things?And is the nitric acid test the best way for me to test whether it is truly silver? Thank you very much for your time and patience. Kindest Regards, Mona
AnswerHello Mona,
1) Absolutely NOT- you can't trust anything from China stamped with any fineness /assay mark- i.e.- much Tiffany & Co. NY "sterling" jewelry counterfeited in China (and largely sold on eBay) looks and seems like the real thing right down to the fineness stampings- however it is plated ( in most cases you can get a 100% refund if you ask for it as the counterfieters would rather return the money than get reported ( again!)to EBAY and loose the right to sell on the site as most buyers ( even wholesale buyers) don't catch the fraud until putting the merch. under an XRF tester or other precious metal detector/assay piece by piece.
2)Yes, anyone can buy a $10.00 stamp - or in the case of Chinese manufacturing cast the fineness into the wax or a CAD/CAM model.Same is true for karat gold stamps
3) the Chinese government does little to enforce what few laws are on the books, always finding in favour of Chinese businesses- unless it is over , say, a multi-million in fraudulent/counterfeited sales and an inescapable lawsuit is imminent! They are not concerned with enforcing fraud laws unless they can't get around it as in the case of multi-national companies ( like General Electric,Auto makers, Large fashion/design houses etc. where the publicity would get into the mainstream- at which point they may shut a counterfieter down a few weeks or months at best, and though they may order funds to be returned there is almost never an actual cheque cut to the unsuspecting buyer that wised up!
4) While acid testing is reliable once practiced, you may know a local "gold buyer" with instant read electronic equipment that will let you use it at the store.XRF guns are the absolute best method though cost prohibitive on a small scale.XRF testing gives one an analysis of all the metals in a piece of "x" in 10 seconds or less. Barring electronics, testing stones and acid are still reliable method for testing all precious metals. You will quickly leanr to use it with success if you get a good set of test needles and fresh acids that you then transfer into acid proof bottles ( available from many sources quite inexpensively as it is not good to leave the acid in the plastic bottles it is ordinarily shipped in as it does not only, degrade the acid as the plastic dissolves but when the plastic dropper bottles "melt down you will have dangerous if not explosive or inflammable hazard where stored.Keeping the acids in glass stoppered glass bottles is ideal and then storing them in a metal ( fireproof) box is optimal although any location out of direct sunlight and perhaps on a plate of glass between a wood shelf and the bottles will do.Some companies sell wood boxes for storage but remember when opening the box not to position your head directly over it as you never know if a leak or spill has occurred and any test acids will potentially react with others and form " deadly-ish "compounds in a closed container.Definitely don't store the plastic dropper bottles in a closed wooden box.
Oh, apologies for the lateness of response.My mum is in hospital having had open heart surgery last week and doing poorly at 84 with complications so I have been ( exhausted) and running back and forth to the facility.
Best Regards, Ari
