Marking of jewelry produced from a 14 karat gold sheet laminated upon sterling

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ADVISORY OPI;-IONS 651

ADVISORY OPINIONS Marking of jewelry produced from a 14 karat gold sheet laminated upon sterling (File No. 773 7004).

Opnion Letter February 18, 1977

Dear Mr. Goldberg:

This is in response to your request for an advisory opinion concerning the marking of articles of jewelry produced from a 14 karat gold sheet laminated upon sterling, the gold sheet constituting at least 1120th of the weight of each jewelry item s metal content. The items of jewelry contemplated for manufacture include bracelets, necklaces and earrings. You propose marking such articles "Sterling and 14K" or Sterling + 14K " on the premise that such markings are permitted by Section 4 of Commercial Standard CS51- Marking Articles Made of Silver in Combination with Gold. " 1 In the Commission s opinion, the use of either marking would have the tendency and capacity to mislead consumers and thus be in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 D. C. 45.

The sample of the laminated metals submitted to the Commission might be described as having an obverse side of ye110w gold and a reverse side of silver. The different metals in the sample provided arc clearly distinguishable , but casual inspection cannot determine the relative thicknesses of the gold layer and the silver. The 1:20 ratio you have specified , however , does no more than meet the minimum requirements for " gold fi11 gold plate " or "gold overlay. " See 16 R. 23.22( c)(2).

The markings "Sterling and 14K" or " Sterling + 14K " in the Commission s view, could suggest to consumers that thc amounts of gold and silver in the articles of jewelry so marked arc approximately equal or, at least, would suggest morc than five percent 14K gold. Such markings, accordingly, would have the capacity to mislead consumers. The Commission does not construc Commercial Standard CS 51-35 to justify a different conclusion. In the circumstances presented, a marking must be used which makes clear to consumers the relative

, The Standard, a volunta guide devclope by industry members with the coperation of the ationlll Bureu of StandllrU wlIs recntly reesig-at.d MPS6876 ..

89 F.

proportion of yelJow gold to silver, either by use of a "gold plate designation (or related designations set forth in the Trade Practice Rules for the Jewelry Industry, 16 C. R. 23.22(c)(2)) or by preceding the gold fineness designation with a fraction consisting of the ratio of the weight of the 14K gold to the weight of the metal in the entire article, a marking clearly not inconsistent with the Commercial Standard.

This opinion is limited to the circumstances presented by your sample where silver is combined with yellow gold and hoth the gold and silver surfaces arc equa11y visible in jewelry made from the laminates. Assuming that the sterling and 14K yelJow gold meet the designated quality standards and that the 14K gold is at least 1/20th the weight of the metal in any finished article of jewelry, the folJowing markings , in the Commission s opinion, would comply with Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act:

Sterling and (or + J 14K Gold Plate"

14K Gold Plate on Sterling

Sterling and (or + J 1/20th (or other fractionJ 14K Gold Gold Filled Gold Overlay, " or "RoJled Gold or their abbreviations set out in 16 C. R. S 23.22cX2), may be used if they are appropriate for the laminating process.

By direction of the Commission.

Letter of Requ€st

15 April , 1976 Dear Mr. Tobin:

My company has been in business three years and we manufacture jewelry for the finest retail stores in the United States. We have developed a new process whereby we laminate, by mechanical means, a sheet of 14 karat gold directly upon sterling silver. We enclose a small sample of our product. Please note, the gold is easily distinguishable from the sterling.

The purpose of this letter is to request a formal advisory opinion under the Federal Trade Commission Act to determine whether or not this item of jewelry made from 14 karat gold and sterling can he stamped 14 karat gold plus sterling in accordance with Commercial Standard CS