| Are you fascinated by Antique Jewellery and vintage | | | | iron, platinum and aluminium. The colour of the gold |
| jewellery or just want to buy a piece as a special gift | | | | can be altered using different metals in the blend, for |
| or heirloom? If so you you need to know that the | | | | example rose gold is produced by having a high level |
| piece you are buying is a genuine antique and not a | | | | of copper in the mix. 15 carat gold can theoretically |
| modern copy. There are many things to check and | | | | be any colour that gold can be made in but normally |
| look out for such as the materials the piece is made | | | | you will find it as yellow or rose gold |
| from, the way the jewellery is made and the shape | | | | How can i Identify 15 carat gold? |
| of the catches and hinges. All of these factors are | | | | British antique jewellery which is made of 15 carat |
| just guidelines but with British Antique Jewellery you | | | | gold will be hallmarked with the number 15 and.625. If |
| can sometimes tell the exact date of a piece from | | | | the piece of jewellery is quite light weight it may just |
| its hallmarks. | | | | be stamped 15ct. If there are the full hallmarks you |
| Hallmarking law is complex, it varied from city to city | | | | would also expect to find a town mark, a date letter |
| and has changed many times over the years since it | | | | and the gold standard mark for the town which |
| was introduced in the middle ages. It takes a set of | | | | would help to give an exact date. |
| tables to work out the exact age of a piece but | | | | When was 15 carat gold used? |
| there are certain pieces of antique jewellery that it is | | | | It was only a legal standard of gold in British jewellery |
| easy to work out the age of. One of these is British | | | | between 1854 and 1931. During this time 12 carat (.5 |
| antique jewellery made from 15 carat gold. | | | | or 500 parts per thousand) was also used. These |
| What is 15 carat Gold? | | | | two standards were replaced by 14 carat in 1932. |
| 15 carat gold is gold of.625 purity, that is 625 parts of | | | | Neither 12 or 15 carat gold were legal standards |
| pure gold per 1000 parts. Pure gold is very expensive | | | | before 1854. This means tat any piece of antique |
| and also quite soft so it is mixed with other materials | | | | gold jewellery from Britain with the 15 carat hallmark |
| to give a harder and cheaper material that is more | | | | dates somewhere between 1854 and 1931 and you |
| suitable and longer lasting than pure gold for use in | | | | have a genuine piece of antique or vintage jewellery. |
| jewellery. The other materials include copper, silver, | | | | |