http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8460723 ... -tape.html


Hardly red tape. It has been used for 700 years and would have never lasted as long if it were simply red tape. I sometimes wonder how much wanton damage this coalition will do the country.

Haven't they considered the damage this will do to the 2151 series of Antiques Roadshow?

At the moment it is a listening exercise.

Yes but when has this gopvernment actually listened? They might delay and carry on regardless.

So if its been used for a long time then it must be good and must be preserved. It must not be discussed and any change must be a bad thing.

Do you honestly think that the complete deregulation of the quality of precious metal markets will be a good thing? There will be countless claims against jewelers for misrepresentation of the gold that they sell. Trading standards will be inundated with complaints over people getting 9 carat gold when they think that they have paid for 24 carat gold. Then what they have bought will have to be assessed every single time. So please tell me how the world will be better without hallmarks?

All that money saved on greeting cards.

Now that I can agree with.

That was my first thought when I saw the title

Surely those in the precious metal / jewellery industry will want some kind of quality mark to ensure that the metal they are selling is the grade that they say it is.

Ratners would have had a field day!

Yes they seem to be against the idea. It would open the market to con men without such a system.

TBH I can see it going the same way as a lot of other regulatory functions - a self-funded system, with other firms able to compete to hallmark items.

A good example is the markings on glasses (Half Pint/Pint etc), there are a lot of qualified bodies from all across the EU that can "stamp" them as suitable for use in the UK.