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IDENTIFICATION MARK FO R> "> - 

GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

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H E A R IN G

BEFORE A

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE 

COMM ITTEE ON

INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE 

S u f HOUSE of representatives

1S B 5 EIGH TY -SE VE NT H CONG RESS

2 m £ = = h FIRST SESSION

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A A BIL L TO FAC ILIT ATE THE PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS 

~ 5 0 F AR TICL ES OF MERCHANDISE COMPOSED IN WHOLE OR

IN PART OF GOLD OR SILVER FROM FRAUDULENT MISREPRESENTATION CONCERNING THE QUALITY THEREOF,

AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

AUGUST 17, 1961

Printed for the use of the 

Committee on In terstate and Fore ign Commerce

75552

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1961
r

COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE

OREN HARRIS, Arkansas, Chairman

JOH N BELL WILLIAMS, Mississippi

PE TE R F. MACK, Jr., Illinois

KENN ETH A. ROBERTS, Alabama

MORGAN M. MOU LDE R, Missouri

HARLE Y O. STAGGERS, West Virginia

WAL TER ROGERS, Texas

SAMUEL N. FR IEDE L, Maryland

JOHN J. FLYNT, Jr., Georgia

TORBERT H. MACDONALD, Massachusetts

GEORGE M. RHODES, Pennsylvania

JOH N JARM AN, Oklahoma

LEO W. O’BRIEN , New York

JOH N E. MOSS, California

JOH N D. DIN GELL, Michigan

JOE M. KILGOR E, Texas

PAUL G. ROGERS, Florida

ROB ERT W. HE MP HILL , South Carolina

DAN ROSTENKO WSKI, Illinois

JAMES C. HEA LEY , New York

JOH N B. BENN ETT, Michigan 

WILLIAM L. SPR ING ER, Illinois 

PAUL F. SCHENCK, Ohio 

J. ARTHUR YOUNGER, California 

HAROLD R. COLLIER , Illinois 

MIL TON W. GLENN, New Jersey 

SAMUEL L. DEVINE, Ohio 

AN CIIER NEL SEN , Minnesota 

HASTINGS KEITH , Massachusetts 

WILLARD S. CUR TIN , Pennsylvania 

ABN ER W. SIBAL, Connecticut 

VER NON W. THOMSON, Wisconsin 

PE TE R H. DOMINICK, Colorado

W. E. Williamson, Clerk

Kenneth J. Painter, Assistant Clerk

Andrew Stevenson

Kurt Borchardt

Professional Staff

Sam G. Spal

Martin W. Cunningham

Su b c o m m it tee on C om m erce and F in a n c e

PE TE R F. MACK, J r., Illinois, Chairman

JOH N D. DIN GELL, Michigan MIL TON W. GLENN, New Jersey

JOE M. KILGOR E, Texas HASTINGS KEITH , Massachusetts

ROB ERT W. HEMP HIL L, South Carolina WILLAR D S. CUR TIN , Pennsylvania 

JAMES C. HEALEY, New York

n
C O N T E N T S

Text of H.R . 5442___ ______ ____________ ______ ______ __________

Report of—

Bureau of the Budget_______________________________________ _

Commerce De partm ent_______________________________________

Federal T rade Commission____________________________________

Justice De pa rtm en t___________________________________________

Pos t Office D ep artm en t_______________________________________

Sta te Dep artm en t____________________________________________

Tre asury Departm ent_________________________________________

Sta tem ent of—

Grinberg, P. Irving, executive vice chairman, Jewelers Vigilance 

Com mittee ________________________________________________

Krementz, Rob ert M., Kremen tz & Co., Newark, N .J ____________

Additional information sub mitted for the record by—

Jewelers Vigilance Comm ittee, Inc.:

Foreign Service Despatc h, Jun e 24, 1960____________________

Le tte r from P. Irving Grinberg, executive vice chairm an, to Hon.

Brooks Hays, Assistan t Secretary of State_________________

Resume of m ost recent Germ an law relating to marking gold a nd 

silver ware____________________________________________

Manufacturin g Jewelers and Silversm iths of America, Inc., l ett er from 

George R. Frankovich, executive secretary _____________________

Optical Manufactu rers Association, letter from Charles F. Oddy, 

sec retary -tre asu rer_________________________________________

Retail Jewelers of America, Inc., le tte r from Jam es C. Lucas, executive 

vice pre sident______________________________________________

Sterling Silversmiths Guild of America, letter "from J ohn F. Ambrose, 

execu tive vice pre sident_____________________________________

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IDENTIFICATIO N MARK FOR GOLD AND SILV ER

ARTICLES

THURSDA Y, AUGUST 17, 1961

H ouse of R e p r e s e n t a t iv e s,

Subco m m it tee on C om mer ce an d F in a n c e of t h e

C o m m it tee on I n ter sta te an d F o reig n C o m m erce,

Washington, D.C.

Tlie subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pu rsuant to recess, in room 1334, 

New House Office Building, Hon. Peter F. Mack, Jr., presiding.

Mr. Mack. The committee will be in order.

The Subcommittee on Commerce and Finance of the House Committee on Inte rstate and Foreign Commerce is meeting this morning to 

hear testimony with respect to H.R. 5442, a bill which I introduced 

providing for an amendment to the act of June 13, 1906, entitled 

“ An Act forbidding the importation, exportation, or carriage in 

interstate commerce of falsely stamped articles of merchandise made 

of gold or silver or their alloys, and for other purposes.”

This act forbids the importation, exportation, or shipment in 

interstate commerce of gold or silver articles or their alloys which 

are falsely or spuriously stamped.

The bill would require tha t whenever a gold or silver article, made 

in the United States or imported and intended for sale or customarily 

sold as a complete product to consumers, is marked to indicate its 

quality, a trademark of the registered name of the manufacturer or 

importer must be applied to the article.

A copy of H.R. 5442 together with agency reports thereon will 

be made a pa rt of the record at this point.

(The bill and reports referred to follow:)

[H.R. 5442, 87th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BIL L To facilitate the protection of consumers of articles of merchandise composed in whole or in pa rt 

of gold or silver from frau dul ent misrepresentatio n concerning the qua lity thereof, a nd for other pu rpo ses

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives o f the United States of

America in Congress assembled, Th at (a) section 4 of the Act entitle d “An Act 

for bidding the imp orta tion, exportation, or carriage in intersta te commerce of 

falsely stamped artic les of merchandise made of gold or silver or the ir alloys, and 

for other purposes”, approved Jun e 13, 1906 (34 Sta t. 261; 15 U.S.C. 297), is 

amended by—

(1) inserting therein, immediately after the section number “Sec. 4.” , the subsection designatio n “ (a)” ; and

(2) adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

“ (b) Whenever any person, firm, corporation, or association—■

“ (1) applies or causes to be applied to any article of merchandise intend ed 

for sale or customarily sold as a complete pro duc t to consumers within the 

United States or any of its possessions, by stam ping, branding, engraving, 

or otherwise, any qua lity mark or stamp indic ating or purporting to indicate 

th at such article is made in whole or in pa rt of gold or silver or of a n alloy 

of either such metal; or

1
2 IDENT IFICA TION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

“ (2) imports into the United States or any of its possessions any such 

article of merchandise bearing any such quality mark or stamp which indicates or purports to indicate that such article is made in whole or in part of 

gold or or silver or of an alloy of either such metal,

such person, firm, corporation, or association shall before depositing such article 

in the United States mails or causing such article to be distributed within the 

United States or any of its possessions—

“ (A) apply or cause to be applied to that article a tradem ark of such 

person, firm, corporation, or association duly registered or applied for within 

thirty days after an article bearing the trademark is placed in commerce or 

imported under the laws of th e United States or the name of such person, 

firm, corporation, or association; and

“ (B) if such article of merchandise is composed of two or more parts which 

are complete in themselves but which are not identical in quality, and any 

one of such parts bears such a quality mark or stamp, apply or cause to be 

applied to each other part of th at article of merchandise a quality mark or 

stamp of like pattern and size disclosing the quality of that other part.

Each identifying trademark or name applied to any article of merchandise in 

compliance with clause (A) of this section shall be applied to that article by the 

same means as that used in applying the quality mark or stamp appearing thereon, 

in type or lettering at least as large as th at used in such quality mark or stamp, 

and in a position as close as possible to tha t quality mark or stamp.”

(b) The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the first day of the 

third month beginning after the date of enactment of this Act.

Executive Office of the President,

Bureau of the Budget, 

Washington, D.C., June 5, 1961,

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

My Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in reply to your letter of March 17, 1961, 

requesting the views of the Bureau of the Budget with respect to H.R. 5442, a 

bill to facilitate the protection of consumers of articles of merchandise composed 

in whole or in part of gold or silver from fraudulent misrepresentation, concerning 

the quality thereof, and for other purposes.

The requirements which would be imposed by the bill may be expected in some 

degree to increase protection to consumers against fraudulent and deceptive 

practices. On the other hand, the Federal Trade Commission and Department 

of State have questioned the reasonableness of the proposed requirements and 

their consistency, in certain cases, with the policies incorporated in article IX of 

the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

If additional measures to protect purchasers of gold and silver articles are found 

by your committee to be warranted and desirable, the Bureau of the Budget will 

have no objection to their enactment.

Sincerely yours,

Phillip S. Hughes,

Assistant Director for Legislative Reference.

Department of State,

June 21, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives.

Dear Mr. Chairman: This report on H.R. 5442, a bill to facilitate the protection of consumers of articles of merchandise composed in whole or in part of 

gold or silver from fraudulent misrepresentation concerning the quality thereof, 

and for other purposes, is submitted in response to your letter of March 17, 1961, 

which was acknowledged by my le tter of March 21, 1961.

This bill would require that articles of gold or silver, or alloys of those metals, 

bearing a quality mark, also carry either the trademark, duly registered or applied 

for in the United States, or the name of the person, firm, corporation, or association applying a quality mark to the article or importing the article bearing 

the quality mark.
IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES 3

Although the Departm ent is in sym pathy with the int en t of H.R . 5442 to 

pro tect purchasers of gold or silver articles from frau dul ent or deceptive use of 

quality marks, it questions the need for the additional marking requ irem ents 

containe d in this bill. It is the De partm ent’s und erstanding th at few cases arise 

involving fraudulent quality marks, a nd in those cases which do arise, the problem 

of identifying the person or firm a pplying the fra udulent mark has been negligible.

The De partm ent opposes unnecessary marking requirem ents which may act 

to hind er or limit internatio nal trade. This is in accord with the U.S. policy of 

seeking to prom ote and facilitate inte rnational trade thro ugh such means as the 

simplification of a dministrative requirem ents which may indirectly hinder trade. 

This policy has been implemented thro ugh such legislation as the Customs Simplication Acts of 1953, 1954, and 1956. Article IX(4) of the General Agreement 

on Tariffs and Tra de (GATT), to which the United States is a party , states th at 

marking requirem ents for impo rted prod ucts shall be such as to permit compliance withou t seriously damaging the products, or materially reducing their 

value, or unreasonably increasing their cost.

In certain cases, H .R. 5442 could be inconsistent with this policy. An importer 

buying readymade, quality-marked gold or silver articles abro ad would be required to apply a tradem ark or trade name to the article at an additional cost, 

making the imported article less competitiv e with domestic articles in price. In 

certain cases the application of a tradem ark, and still more the trade name of a 

person, firm, corporation, or association, in typ e or lette ring at least as large as 

th at used in the qua lity stamp might be impractical or impossible because of the 

size or n ature of th e article.

Further, i t would appear that u nder this bill a firm which only wanted to use a 

tradem ark and not a trade name on quality-marked articles would be prevented 

from distribu ting such articles if (1) it applied for registration of its tradem ark 

and the application were refused, or (2) after having obtained a trad emark registration, the registration was subsequently canceled or revoked by the Pa tent 

Office or the courts.

As the Department understands the bill, a U.S. importer of quality-marked 

articles would be required to apply its tradem ark or name to the article even 

though the tradem ark or name of the foreign manufacturer might already have 

been applied to the article. This appears to be a burdensome, unnecessary requireme nt which might also be considered inconsistent with article II I of the 

GAT T. Article II I (4) obligates the contracting parties to accord imp orted 

articles “treatm ent no less favorable than th at accorded to like pro duc ts of nation al origin in respe ct to all laws, regulations, and requirements affecting their 

inte rnal sale, offering for sale, purchase, transp ortation, distribution, or use.” 

It could be maintained th at the requirements of H.R . 5442 c onstitute less favorable tre atm ent for an imported article in view of the second identification which 

would be required in cases where a foreign manufacturer had applied an appropriate identification to the article.

The Department notes th at in paragraph (b) (A) of the bill, as drafted, it is not 

clear th at the phrase “un der the laws of the United Sta tes” applies to the registra tio n of or application for a tradem ark, and suggests the insertion of a comma 

after the word “for” in line 1 of page 3 and after the word “im ported” on line 3 

of page 3 in order to make this certain.

The Departme nt does not believe th at the legislation is either necessary or 

desirable bu t will not oppose its enactment.

The Bureau of th e Budget advises that, from the s tandpo int of the adm inistratio n’s program, there is no objection to the presentation of this report for the 

consideration of the committee.

Sincerely yours,

B rooks H ay s,

Assistant Secretary

(For the Secretary of Sta te).

F e d e r a l T ra de C o m m is si o n,

O f f ic e o f t h e C h a ir m a n ,

Washington, Jun e 6, 1961. Hon. O r e n H a r r is ,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

D e a r M r . C h a ir m a n : This is in response to you r requ est of March 17, 1961, 

for comment upon H.R . 5442, 87th Congress, 1st session, a bill to facilita te the
4 IDENTIFIC ATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

protection of consumers of articles of merchandise composed in whole or in pa rt 

of gold or silver from fraud ulent misrepresentation concerning the qu ality thereof, 

and for other purposes.

The bill would amend the National Stamping Act (15 U.S.C. 294-300), to 

require (1) th at any person who applies a qua lity mark to any article or gold or 

silver composition, or who imports into the United States any article bearing 

such a mark, must apply also to the article eith er his tradema rk duly registered 

or applied for, or his name, and (2) th at if an article is composed of two or more 

pa rts which are complete in themselves, bu t which are no t identica l in quality, a nd 

any one of th e parts bears a qua lity mark, the oth er pa rt or parts must also contain a mark or stam p of like patte rn and size disclosing the qua lity of the other 

pa rt or parts.

The N ation al S tamping Act is in the form of a criminal statute enforcible by the 

De par tment of Justice and prescribes the maximum allowable variation s of gold 

or silver content perm itted in the case of persons who represent the gold or silver 

qua lity of th eir merchandise.

The Federal Trade Commission, although it does no t enforce the National 

Stam ping Act, has proceeded adm inistratively, und er its general autho rity over 

unfair methods of competition and unfair and decep tive acts and practices, with 

regard to representations as to the qua lity of gold and silver prod ucts a nd has, in 

such m atte rs, applied the tolerances expressed in the National Stam ping Act.

The Commission believes, in connection with the first require ment of th is bill, 

th at the presence on a product of the trade mark or name of the person responsible 

for representations as to gold and silver qua lity of the pro duct would be useful 

from an investigative sta ndpoint to furnish a ready means of identifying such 

person. It might also have the effect of deterring some persons who otherwise 

would be disposed to misbranding such articles.

The second requirement, th at of stamping different parts of the article with 

the quality mark, may preven t persons from being deceived into the belief th at 

the mark carries over to, or is descriptive of, ano ther pa rt of the merchandise 

which differs in quality. Thus, it is consistent with a Commission objec tive 

under section 5 of the Federal Tra de Commission Act of preve nting deception.

We suggest th at there may be questions concerning the reasonableness of the 

proposed requirements on such points as to whether the articles involved are 

always of sufficient size to enable the vendor to place his name thereon and 

whether the description of the quality of each complete component pa rt of a 

pro duc t can, as a practica l m atter, be applied to t ha t p ar t by stamp of like pa tte rn 

and size as the qua lity mark appe aring on any other part.

As already noted, however, the National Stamping Act is enforcible by the 

De partm ent of Justice. The Commission, therefore, defers to the judg men t of 

th at Depar tment as to the desirability of the proposed legislation and with 

respect to the form of th e proposal.

By direction of th e Commission:

Paul Rand Dixon, Chairman.

N.B .—Purs uan t to regulations, this r epo rt was sub mitted to the Bureau of the 

Budget on May 5, 1961, and on June 5, 1961, the Bureau of th e Budget advised 

th at there is no objection from the standpoint of the administration to the 

submission of th e proposed report.

Joseph W. Shea, Secretary.

Treasury Department,

Jun e 16, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Cha irman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

Hou se of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman: Reference is made to your letter of March 17, 1961, 

requesting t he views of this Depar tment on H.R . 5442, to facilitate the p rotection 

of consumers of articles of merchandise composed in whole or in part of gold or 

silver from fraudu lent misrepresentation concerning the qua lity thereof, and for 

oth er purposes.

The proposed legislation would amend section 4 of the act entitled, “An act 

forbidding the importation, exportation, or carriage in intersta te commerce of 

falsely stam ped articles of merchandise made of gold or silver or the ir alloys, 

and for other purposes,” approved Jun e 13, 1906 (34 S tat . 261; 15 U.S.C. 297), 

to impose additional marking requirements on dealers in articles composed in 

whole or pa rt of gold or silver or their alloys.
IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES 5

The new requirements which the bill would impose do not appear to arise in 

connection with the importation of such articles or affect other matters directly 

within this Department’s jurisdiction. However, to the extent that this Department may be called upon to participate in th e enforcement of the bill, if enacted, 

no unusual administrative difficulties are anticipated.

The Department has been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that there is 

no objection from the standpoint of the administration’s program to the submission of this report to your committee.

Sincerely yours,

Robert H. Knight, General Counsel.

The Secretary of Commerce,

Washington, D.C., June SO, 1961. Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman: This letter is in reply to your request dated March 17, 

1961, for the views of this Department with respect to H.R. 5442, a bill to facilitate the protection of consumers of articles of merchandise composed in whole or 

in pa rt of gold or silver from fraudulent misrepresentation concerning the quality 

thereof, and for other purposes.

H.R. 5442 would amend the National Stamping Act of 1906 (15 U.S.C. 297, 

sec. 4) to require tha t jewelry and similar articles in interstate commerce, when 

stamped, branded, engraved, etc., with a quality mark indicating the fineness of 

gold or silver content, shall also carry a similar identification of the tradem ark of 

the party affixing the quality mark. The requirement would apply to both 

domestic and imported articles.

The Department of Commerce would interpose no objection to favorable 

consideration of H.R. 5442.

It is common practice with domestic manufacturers of these types of articles 

to indelibly stamp or engrave quality marks, and a large percentage of manufacturers now identify their products either with trademarks or company name. It 

would not appear to impose substantial hardship for the companies tha t do not 

do so now, to identify themselves along with the quality mark in the future, as 

proposed.

In the import trade, jewelry and articles having a high gold or silver content are 

usually made up on a special order basis, and it would appear that the name or 

trademark of the United States importer or distributor could be stamped or 

affixed to th e article abroad in the course of manufacture.

There may be certain situations in which the method proposed, of identifying 

the originator of the quality mark, would not be practicable. No doubt, hearings 

on the bill would indicate if there are any such instances which might warrant 

special consideration.

The Bureau of the Budget advised there would be no objection to the submission 

of this report from the standpoint of the administration’s program.

Sincerely yours,

Edward Gudeman,

Under Secretary of Commerce.

U.S. Department of J ustice,

Office of the Deputy Attorney General,

Washington, D.C., June 13, 1961. Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman: This is in response to your request for the views of the 

Department of Justice on H.R. 5442, a bill to facilitate the protection of consumers of articles of merchandise composed in whole or in part of gold or silver 

from fraudulent misrepresentation concerning the quality thereof, and for other 

purposes.

The bill would amend section 4 of the act of July 13, 1906 (34 Stat. 261; 15 

U.S.C. 297), which in substance prohibits the importation, exportation, or participation in interstate transportation of falsely stamped articles or merchandise made 

of gold or silver, or alloys of either. It would require that whenever a gold- or 

75552—01----- 2
6 IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

silver-containing article made domestically or imported into the United States or 

its possessions and intended for sale or customarily sold as a complete product to 

consumers is marked to indicate quality, the trademark, duly registered or to be 

applied for, or the registered name of the manufacturer or importer thereof must 

be applied to the article. Such application must be by the same means as tha t 

used in applying the quality mark, in type or lettering at least as large as tha t 

used in the quality mark, and in a position as close as possible to the quality mark. 

Also, if such an article is composed of two or more parts which are complete in 

themselves but which are not identical in quality, and any one of such parts bears 

a quality mark, each other part of tha t article must contain a quality mark and 

the trademark or name of the manufacturer.

The Department does not have any objection to enactment of legislation of 

this type. However, attention is directed to certain features of the bill.

It is assumed t hat the “quality mark or stamp” referred to in section 4 of the 

act as proposed to be amended by II.It. 5442 is intended to mean the same thing 

as th e type of mark referred to in section 1 of the act (15 U.S.C. 294); th at is, a 

mark or word indicating tha t the gold or silver or alloy of either of the metals in 

an article is of a certain degree of fineness. If this assumption is correct, it would 

be preferable to use the same or similar language in both sections, or to refer to 

section 1 in the amendatory language.

The scope of coverage of H.R. 5442, where transactions within the United 

States not involving the use of the mails are concerned, is not certain. Though 

the constitutional basis for the legislation (other than the postal power) is apparently the commerce clause, II.R. 5442 merely refers to articles “intended for 

sale or customarily sold * * * to consumers within the United States. * * *” 

It would appear that, as set forth in section 1 of the act, it would be desirable to 

spell out the intended scope of the legislation in terms of relation to interstate 

commerce.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised tha t there is no objection to the submission of this report from the stan dpoint of the administration’s program. 

Sincerely yours,

Byron R. White,

Deputy Attorney General.

Office of the Postmaster General,

Washington, D.C., Ju ne 8, 1D61.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman: We reply to your request for a report on H.R. 5442 

which concerns the transporting by mail of falsely stamped articles of merchandise 

made of gold or silver, or their alloys.

H.R. 5442 would change present law (15 U.S.C. 297) to require placement of a 

trade or quality mark on such merchandise before mailing. At the present time, 

the Department is not required by law to see whether proper quality mark stamping has been made before accepting the merchandise for mailing purposes, and the 

proposed amendment does not suggest such a requirement. It is presumed, 

however, than on complaint by a recipient of improperly marked merchandise, the 

Department would present the complaint an d supporting evidence to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution under section 5 of the act of June 13, 1906 

(15 U.S.C. 298).

For reason th at the measure will have no substantial effect on the operation of 

the postal service, th e Department has no suggestion or recommendation to make 

concerning its enactment.

We have been advised by the Bureau of the Budget that from the standpoint 

of the administration’s program there is no objection to the presentation of this 

report to the committee.

Sincerely yours,

J. Edward Day,

Postmaster General.

Mr. Mack. Our witness this morning is Mr. Irving Grinberg, 

executive vice chairman of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, 15 West 

44th Street, New York City.
IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES 7

He is accompanied by Mr. Robert Krementz of Krementz <fe Co., 

New Jersey.

Mr. Grinberg, yon may proceed.

STATEMENT OF P. IRVING GRINBERG, EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIR -

MAN, JEWELERS VIGILANCE COMMITTEE, NEW YORK CITY ;

ACCOMPANIED BY ROBERT M. KREMENTZ OF KREMENTZ &

CO., NEWARK, N.J .

Mr. Grinberg. My name is P. Irving Grinberg.

My position is that of executive vice chairman of the Jewelers 

Vigilance Committee, with offices at 15 West 44th Street, New York 

City.

1 am appearing in behalf of H.R. 5442 which was introduced hv 

Hon. Peter F. Mack, Jr.

Accompanying me is Mr. Robert M. Krementz of Krementz & Co., 

Newark, N.J., one of our important jewelry manufacturers which also 

exports and imports items affected by the proposed legislation. He is 

a director of the Manufacturers A Silversmiths Association. Mr. 

Krementz will he glad to answer any quest ions.

The committee, which was founded in 1913, represents the entire 

jewelry industry, including manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, and 

retailers throughout the country who produce and deal in all types of 

jewelry, watches, silverware, et cetera, and their component parts.

One of its most important functions is to protect the buying public 

by endeavoring to keep representations as to merchandise true and not 

misleading.

In its efforts to accomplish this end, Ihe Jewelers Vigilance Committee works closely with the Federal Trade Commission. Comments of the various Government agencies have interposed no objection to the proposed amendment; those immediately concerned have 

expressed approval.

This petition is being presented in behalf of the Jewelers Vigilance 

Committee and is joined specifically by the Manufacturing Jewelers 

and Silversmiths of America, Retail Jewelers of America, National 

Wholesale Jewelers’ Association, American Gem Society, and the 

Sterling Silversmiths’ Guild, the leading naiional associations in the 

jewelry industry.

My remarks are directed to United States Code, title 15, chapter 8, 

sections 294-300, which became effective on June 13, 1906, commercially known as the Federal stamping law.

This law pertains to the stamping of quality marks on articles made 

of gold and silver, and states the required percentages of the precious 

metals and corresponding descriptive terms, et cetera.

The law does not require tha t articles must be stamped with a 

quality mark nor does it require tha t if a quality mark is applied, it 

must be accompanied by a trademark or other identification of the 

manufacturer or distributor responsible for the stated quality.

It is requested that the law be amended to require tha t whenever 

a quality mark is applied or affixed to an article now covered by the 

Federal stamping law, such quality mark must be accompanied by 

the trademark or other means of identification of the domestic manufacturer or distributor.
8 IDENTIFIC AT ION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ART ICLES

This amendment would he constructive and helpful in identifying 

those responsible for placing quality marks on such items, thus giving 

the buying public greater protection against misrepresentation. The 

requirement of identification should also act as a deterrent to unscrupulous manufacturers and distributors, some of whom do not 

hesitate under the law as presently in effect to stamp jewelry falsely 

(indicating far finer quality, such as greater gold content than the 

article actually contains).

Stamping accompanied by proper identification would aid in eliminating the capacity and tendency of promoting confusion and deception, and also protect the reputable jeweler from unfair competition.

The Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths of America and the 

Jewelers Vigilance Committee have frequently been faced with serious 

and baffling problems in identifying the manufacturer or distributor 

of items which on being tested have been found to be under the 

quality stamped on the article.

The administration of such an amendment would entail little, if 

any, expense; to the contrary, it would simplify tracing those responsible for falsely stamped, underqualitv merchandise, and should tend 

to cause unscrupulous manufacturers or dealers to hesitate to place a 

false stamp on such products.

In view of the above facts, the plea is earnestly made tha t in order 

to further fair competition and guard against unscrupulous acts, and, 

even more important, to protect the buying public, this amendment 

be adopted at the earliest possible moment.

It is requested that a letter of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee 

dated July 24, 1961, addressed to Hon. Brooks Hays, Assistant Secretary of the Department of State, commenting on certain statements 

contained in the report of that Department relative to S. 1186, an 

identical bill with H.R. 5442, be placed on the record, notwithstanding the fact that the report of tbe State Department concluded as 

follows:

The D ep art m en t do es not be lie ve th a t th e legi slatio n is ei th er ne ce ssary or 

de sira bl e b u t will not op po se its en ac tm ent.

And we ask that in addition to the letter and its atte nda nt information, there be inserted in the record the copy of the Foreign Service 

dispatch, dated June 24, 1960, from Rome to the D epartment of State, 

the first paragraph of which reads:

For ei gn go ldware is re quir ed to be m ar ke d by th e loc al im port er to show th e 

id en tify in g m ar k of th e im port er an d th e de gree of fin eness of th e go ld. The 

id en tify in g m ar k of th e im port er is co mpo se d of a m ar k an d pr og re ssiv e nu m be r 

as sign ed by e ac h It ali an p ro vi nc e— th ere a re 90 p ro vi nc es in It aly — to each m an ufa ctu re r an d im po rter of go ldwar e w ith in its ju risd ic tion .

Also, we ask tha t the resume of the German law pertaining to 

marking be made part of the record. The reason for this request is 

tha t the Department of State raised certain questions as to the requirements in foreign countries and we, in our reply, have covered 

Great Britain, Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, France; to show tha t 

in all of these countries the requirements for shipping items of this 

character into those countries are more stringent, if anything, than 

the present suggested requirement here.

In fact, in England you cannot stamp yours, you must send the 

article to the assay office where they stamp it. They stamp the 

quality on and assay it themselves.
IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES 9

He re, as you know, it is the priv ileg e of an y man uf ac turer to pu t 

on the mark as he sees it.

Mr. M ack. W ith ou t objection, the m at te r referred to will be included at thi s po int in the record.

(Th e mate ria l referred to follow s:)

J e w e l e r s Vig il a n c e C o m m it t e e, I n c.,

Neiv York, N.Y., Ju ly 2J+, 1961.

Hon. B ro ok s H ays,

Assistant Secretary, Department of State,

Washington, D.C.

Si r : Your attentio n is called to certain statem ents contained in the rep ort of 

the Department of State, dated July 12, 1961, concerning S. 1186 and iden tical 

bill H.R . 5442.

Paragraph 3.— Both the Manufacturing Jewelers and Silversmiths of America 

and the Jewelers Vigilance Committe e (one of whose important functions is to 

pro tect the buying public) have been faced with numerous baffling problems in 

connection with identifying the man ufacturer or distrib uto r of items which when 

tested have been found to be under the qua lity stam ped on the article. Close 

cooperation is maintained with the Federal Trad e Commission, which states in its 

report on these bills, dated April 28, 1961:

"Th e Commission believes * * * th at the presence on a prod uct of the tra de ­

mark or name of the person responsible for represen tations as to gold and silver 

qua lity of the product, would be useful from an investigation standp oin t to 

furnish a ready means of identifying such person. It might also have the effect 

of dete rring some persons who otherwise would be disposed to misbranding of 

such articles.”

Paragraph 4-— The requirem ents of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, 

Canada, and Mexico are respectfully brought to your a ttention (attached hereto). 

Also herewith is statem ent of Mr. II. D. Simpson of Krem entz & Co. (large

S

welry manufacturers) who with other jewelers recently visited a num ber of 

uropean markets. Please note th at in all cases the requirements on imports 

into those countries are more stringe nt than those contained in the proposed 

amendment.

In addition to the above statem ent with regard to paragraph 3, it should be 

noted th at in no way do the provisions of the proposed amendment diffe rentiate 

between foreign and domestically produced articles. Quoting from report on 

these bills by the Departme nt of Commerce, dated June 23, 1961:

"It is the common practice with domestic manufac turers of these types of articles to indelibly stam p or engrave quality marks, and a large percentage of manufac turers now identify their products either with tradem arks or company name. 

It would not appear to impose sub stantial hard ship for th e companies t ha t do not 

do so now, to identify themselves along with the qua lity mark in the futu re, as 

proposed.

"In the imp ort trade, jewelry and articles having a high gold or silver content 

are usually made up on a special order basis, and it would appear th at the name 

or tradema rk of the U.S. imp orter or distrib uto r could be stam ped or affixed to 

the article abroad in the course of manufacture.”

Paragraph 5.— Referring to the impracticab ility of stamping trademark, etc., 

"because of the size or nature of the article”—

“As to ‘these requ irem ents may impose a sub stan tial burden on importers 

* * * ,’ the Man ufacturing Jewelers & Silversmiths of America states: ‘The association recognizes t ha t, in rare instances, the size a nd form of some articles will 

make them difficult, but not impossible, to stam p. We recognize that, because 

of some merchandizing practices within the industry, new arrangements must be 

made between the maker and distrib utor in regard to stam ped identification ; in 

rare instances this may involve some inconvenience. It is the considered judgment of the association, after close examination of the proposed ame ndment and 

its practic ality, th at the benefits far outweigh the rare instances of slight inconvenience and expense th at a few manufacturers, importers, or distributors may 

incur.’

"T ha t proposed requirements would not ‘impose an unreasonable burde n’ on 

the imp orte r nor would it give the domestic manufacturer any advanta ge. The 

buying public should be as fully protecte d as possible. The present opp ortuni ty 

for fraud should be minimized, and res traint should be pu t upon those firms who 

now mark their merchandise with higher gold or silver con tent than the articles 

actually contain.”
10 IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

Paragraph 6.— To preven t p rotection of th e buying public because a trademark 

may be refused or canceled (assuming refusal or cancellation was for good and 

sufficient reason) seems to be lending aid to possibility of fraud.

Paragraph 7.—See comments relative to paragraph 4.

If the trad emark or other means of identification on articles stam ped with a 

qua lity mark is that of a foreign manufacturer or distributor, there would be no 

redress. Again, in order to protect the buying public, the responsibility for 

stam ping must be placed on a manufacturer or importer of the United State s.

It is appreciated th at while the State “ Department does not believe th at the 

legislation is either necessary or desirable” it “will not oppose its enactme nt.” 

Sincerely,

P. Irving Grinberg, 

Executive Vice Chairman.

UN ITED KINGDOM

Following is taken from pam phlet of the World Trade Information Service, 

U.S. Depar tment of Commerce, entitled “Marking and Labeling Requirements 

of the United Kingdom,” which was prepared by Deane M. Black, British Commonw ealth Division, Office of Economic Affairs, d ated July 1957:

“Articles of gold and silver.—A large num ber of goods made of gold and silver 

are requ ired by law to be assayed and hallmarked on imp orta tion, and a considerable num ber of other gold and silver articles are by custom sent to the assay offices 

voluntarily in order to establish and main tain a reputation for high qua lity.”

SWITZERLAND

Following is statem ent furnished by the Depar tment of Commerce, Bureau of 

Foreign Commerce, Euro pean Division, dated May 5, 1960:

“Swiss law requires th at imported precious metal produc ts meet the legal 

precious meta l content standard applicable to the sale of the same products on 

the dom estic market. Precious metals must carry an indic ation of the proportion 

of the metal to the alloy and must be hallm arked by the ‘Bureau Federate de 

Matieres d’Or d ’Argent,’ Bern.”

FRANCE

Following is statem ent furnished by Department of Commerce, Bureau of 

Foreign Commerce, Euro pean Division, dated July 1, 1960:

“The French Customs Code indicates th at articles of gold and silver may be 

imported into France only when they meet the legal requ irem ents of standard 

con tent required for similar articles of French man ufacture intended for domestic 

use. The proportion of gold metal to alloy must be 920, 840, or 750 (tolerance: 

3 milliemes); for silver 950 and 800 milliemes (tolerance: 10 milliemes). Following custom s clearance, such articles must be sent under seal and bond to the 

‘Service de la Guarantie des Matieres d’Or, de Platine et d’Argent,’ 14 rue Peree, 

Paris, to be assayed and stam ped. Upon pay ment of the assay fees the articles 

are then turned over to the importer.”

CANADA

Excerpt from letter of Department of Trad e and Commerce, Canada, dated 

February 19, 1959, addressed to Man ufacturing Jewelers & Silversmiths of 

America, Providence, R.I.:

“We are very inte rested in the proposed amendmen t to the National Stam ping 

Act as the principle involved is one of the main bases of our own act. I enclose a 

copy of this and dire ct y our atten tion to section 6(3).

“As you will read, all quality marks must be accompanied by a tradem ark 

which is registered, or applied for, in Canada. This places the responsibility for 

the sta ted quality upon the p arty who is registered as the owner of the trade mark. 

It should be noted t hat a firm name (unless registered as a tra dem ark) is not sufficient identification because of the possibility of confusing similar firm names th at 

may be found in various parts of the country.

“This provision has not placed any particular difficulty or hard ship upon the 

Canadian manufacturer, bu t has been of great benefit to the ethical firms by 

assuring the maintenance of the quality as s tam ped .”
IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES 11

Excerpts from Canadian stamping law

Chapte r 215. An Act respecting the Marking of Articles containing Gold, Silver, 

or Platinum, 1946.

3. (1) This Act applies to gold articles, silver articles, platinum articles, palla ­

dium articles and plated articles made or sold in Can ada or imported or otherw ise brou ght into Canada by dealers.

Chapter 22. An Act to amend the Precious Metals Marking Act, 1955.

1. Subsection (3) or section 6 of the Precious Metals Marking Act, chapter 

215 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, is repealed and the following subs tituted 

therefor:

“ (3) A gold article, silver article, platinu m article or palladium artic le th at has 

applied to it a quality mark shall also have applied to it a tradema rk registered 

under the Unfair Competition Act or registered under the Trade Marks Act, or a 

tradem ark in respe ct of which application for registration has been made und er 

eith er of the said Acts, and, where the qua lity mark is stam ped, branded, engraved or imp rinted upon the article, such trad emark shall also be stamped, 

branded, engrave d or imp rinted upon the arti cle.”

MEXICO

Statem ent contained in June 15, 1960, issue of The Jewelers’ Outlook (a trade 

publication): “The Mexican Ministry of Ind ustry & Commerce appointed a 

comm ittee in 1959 to adm inister a decree which had been issued to regulate production and enforce tradema rk regulations for silver articles. One objec tive of 

this decree: to preven t articles of doubtful quality from being offered on the 

ma rke t.”

F o r eig n Se r v ic e D espatch

Despatc h No. 1238. 

Date: Jun e 24, 1960.

From: Rome.

To: The Departm ent of State, Washington, for Commerce.

Reference: Depar tment of S tate Ins truction A-326, May 12, 1960.

Subject: Italia n hallm arking requirements.

Foreign goldware is requ ired to be marked by the local importer to show the 

identifying mark of the importer and the degree of fineness of the gold. The 

identifying m ark of the impo rter is composed of the mark and progressive number 

assigned by each Ital ian Province (there are 90 Provinces in Italy ) to each manufacturer and imp orte r of goldware within its jurisdiction.

The figure indic ating the degree of fineness is expressed in thousandths of pure 

gold. Italia n legal stan dar ds which are required to be used in marking gold of 

any color are 750, 585, 500, and 333 representing, respectively, 75%oon, 5s) iom , 

5t% oo , and 33^ooo of pure gold. Allowed tolerance is %ooo less tha n the indicate d degree 

of fineness. Goldware with a degree of fineness greater than 7%>oo is allowed to 

be marked with the figure indicating the actual degree of fineness.

Italian law prohibits markings of the degree of fineness as indicated above on 

other than precious metals, even if th ey are gold plated or gold filled. This prohibition applies also to goldware inside of which there is lead or “m astice” (a 

pasty cement).

The identifying mark which is required to be shown on goldware is assigned 

upon application by the inte rested imp orte r to Officio Metrico e del Saggio e 

Marchi di Metalli Preziosi (Office of Measure and Weights and for Assaying and 

Marking of Precious Metals) of the Province having jurisdiction over the place 

where such imp orter is domiciled. The sta mp allowed for mark ing goldware as 

above is solely th at which is made and furnished by the Sta te Mint. The State 

Mint keeps the matrix of each stamp so th at replicas of such a stamp can be 

obtained at any time.

There are no other special regulations governing the advertisin g or description 

of gold-bearing prod ucts except general principles of Italian law prohibiting 

frau dulent descriptions and markings of merchandise.

Sources for the above inform ation were: Officio Metrico e del Saggioe e 

Marchio del Metalli Preziosi, Rome; Law No. 306 of Feb ruary 5, 1954; Decree-
12 IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

Law No. 2393 of December 27, 1934; and Articles 515 and 517 of the Italian 

Penal Code.

For the Ambassador.

George T. Filiman,

Commercial Attach^.

Approved.

Vincent M. Barnett, Jr., 

Counselor of Embassy for Economic Affairs.

R£ sum£ of the Most Recent German Law Relating to Marking Gold

and Silver Ware, Dated J uly 16, 1884 (Reichsgesetzblatt I 1884, P. 120)

Section I. 1. Gold and silver ware may be manufactured or offered for sale 

in any degree of fineness, only as indicated according to the following conditions:

2. The degree of fineness of gold articles must be at leas t 585 p arts per tho usand (equal to U.S. 14 kt.). The degree of fineness of silver articles must be at 

least 800 parts per thousand (U.S. sterling silver has 925, coin silver 900).

Section I I. Refers to permitted tolerances, allowing 5 parts per thousand in th e 

case of goldware and 8 pa rts per tho usand in the case of silverware.

Section III. The indicatio n of the degree of fineness of gold and silver articles 

shall be made with a stamp showing the fineness in tho usa ndths and the firm 

name of the concern for which the stamping has been effected. The form of the 

stamp shall be decided by the Federal Council. (This Federal stamp is akin to 

nation al stamps used in a number of countries such as Gre at Britain an d Canada.)

Section IV . Requires th at the stam ping of gold and silver watch cases shall 

conform to the requirem ents of sections II and II I (above).

Section V. Refers to orname nts of gold and silver whose fineness shall be indicate d in thousandths. The tolerances allowed for these articles are 10 parts per 

thou sand, and because of this greater tolerance the Federal stamp referred to in 

sectio n II I (above) may not be used.

Section VI. Refers to gold a nd silver articles imported from foreign countrie s 

and provides that these articles m ust have a st amp corresponding to the provisions 

of this law.

Section VII. Provides th at the seller or the person or business for whom the 

stam ping is performed shall be responsible and liable for the fineness as so 

indic ated.

Section V II I. States th at the degree of fineness shall not be indicated on goldfilled items, nor those made of gold or silver which are reinforced by other metals. 

In determining the degree of fineness, all metals differ in appe arance from th at 

to be stam ped shall be disregarded.

Section IX . Contains the penal provisions.

Mr. Grinberg. Now, may I state that we concur with the suggestions for clarification contained in report on H.R. 5542 of the Dep artment of Justice, and request that to carry out these suggestions the 

following minor changes which do not affect the in tent of the proposed 

amendm ent be made.

On page 2, the words, “intended for sale or customarily sold as a 

complete product to consumers within the United States or any of its 

possessions,” be deleted and tha t there be inserted the following which 

is taken verbatim from the code:

To be im ported or exported or caused to be impo rted into or exported from the 

United States for the purpose of selling or disposing of t he same or to deposit or 

cause to be deposited in the United States mails for transmission thereby, or to 

deliver or cause to be delivered to any common carrier for transp ortation from 

one State, territo ry, or possession of the United States or the D istrict of Columbia 

to any other State, territo ry, or possession of the United States or to said Distric t 

in in tersta te commerce or to tra nsport or cause to be tran spo rted from one State, 

territo ry, or possession of t he United States or from the District of Columbia to 

any other State, territo ry, or possession of the United Sta tes or to said District in 

int ers tat e commerce.
IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES 13

It was the feeling of the Department of Justice that there might be 

some confusion in the short sentence which was originally put into the 

act and it is their suggestion tha t this be replaced.

I say it is their suggestion in their letter, in their report on the bill. 

They make the suggestion there. And furthermore, on page 2 of the 

bill, line 11, page 2, line 17, and on page 3, line 9, in each instance, 

after the word, “stamp”, there shall be added the words, “as defined 

in section 1 of this Act.”

We feel tha t these proposed amendments will satisfy the suggestions 

made by the Department of Justice.

Gentlemen, I thank you very much.

Mr. Mack. Your amendments are only to clarify the bill?

Mr. Grinberg. Tha t is all. They change no inten t whatsoever. 

It is simply almost what one would call a play on words. The report 

of the Department of Justice raised the question t ha t there might be 

some ambiguity as to what is being covered as far as interstate commerce is concerned and it was their suggestion th at the words as used 

in the code be inserted in the bill in place of the short sentence.

But there is no change at all of the inten t or of the statement 

contained in the bill as proposed.

Mr. Mack. Do these articles carry any kind of a stamp or trademark in England?

Mr. Grinberg. In England—Bob, do you want to answer that as 

to what the rules are there?

Mr. Krementz. Mr. Chairman, the rule in England is t ha t articles 

made of gold shall carry three marks; one is called the King’s m ark 

which came into being somewhere in the 1100’s.

Mr. Curtin. The what mark?

Mr. Krementz. The King’s mark, which gives the date, roughly, 

of the King’s reign at which time this particular piece was made.

The second mark is a so-called hallmark of the actual jeweler or 

goldsmith making that piece.

The third mark is the assay ma rk which is the parts per thousands 

of fine gold in the piece, and, in some cases, there is even a fourth mark 

which indicates the province or locality in England where this piece 

was made.

This hallmarking system dates back to the 1100’s and goes up into 

the 1800’s. It is rather interesting, historical background but, as Mr. 

Grinberg stated, there is a further requirement tha t any piece th at is 

stamped with a hallmark must, before it is finished, be sent to the 

Assay Office, the Government Assay Office.

They will determine the fineness of the article and will place their 

stamp of fineness on the piece, return it to the manufacturer and he 

will finish his work on the piece and then offer it for sale.

Now, in the case—-—■

Mr. Mack. Could I interrup t you there? Is tha t each individual 

piece?

Mr. Krementz. Yes. Now, they might not in a lot of, say a 

hundred pieces assay every one. They might spotcheck through. 

They stam p every one. Every one is stamped.

Now, in the case of articles imported into Great Britain, this same 

process must be gone through.

Mr. Mack. We have no similar procedure here, do we?
14 IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

Mr. Krementz. No, we do not. Our system is very much easier. 

The manufacturer puts his c arat mark on it and up until now th at is 

all t hat has been required.

We ask here that tha t manufacturer who has put the stamp on, 

identify himself.

Mr. Mack. Any questions?

Mr. Hemphill. Would this help the domestic trade, do you feel?

Mr. Krementz. Will this help domestic trade?

Mr. Hemphill. Yes.

Mr. Krementz. Infinitely. I feel tha t it will make everyone 

aware tha t the carat gold of an article is stood behind by the manufacturer or distributor of that article, and that the purchaser has 

recourse to the person who has caused that stamp to be applied to the 

article; tha t if a man is proud of what he makes, he should be willing 

to stand up and be counted.

Mr. Hemphill. I would hope that the purchaser would be proud 

to purchase in America. Th at is something I was thinking about because I have a textile situation in which through the policies of the 

State Department downtown here my people are suffering, and I 

wondered if you would suffer the same way from the State Department policies. Maybe you do not want to say.

Mr. Krementz. Our State Department, as far as trade itself is 

concerned—this is getting a little far afield—would enter, perhaps, 

into the GATT situation, b ut I think that is apa rt from the stamping 

of the trademarks.

We are asking for nothing here tha t is not asked for by countries 

from whom we import. Most of the gold jewelry imported into 

America comes from Italy. As a matter of fact, my company, 

for quite a few years, has imported some jewelry from Italy.

From a point of view of getting designs, getting consumer acceptance, perhaps trying to rejuvenate some of our design practices, 

it has been somewhat successful; but in each instance we have gone 

beyond the scope of our stamping law and have voluntarily instructed 

our seller of orders in Italy tha t they must apply our trademark to 

the pieces that we offer for sale in this country.

In other words, we are willing to stand behind something that we 

even buy as a product because we know what it is. We have it 

assayed before it is sold. But as far as asking for something that is 

not done by other countries, we are not.

As Mr. Grinberg stated in the first sentence of the Italian regulation, they do even more than we are asking to do to limit their products coming into their country and to main tain the quality.

Mr. Hemphill. Thank you very much.

Mr. Mack. Any other questions? Mr. Glenn.

Mr. Glenn. You mentioned tha t there are four kinds of marks th at 

are used in England. Which is the one that is legally required?

Mr. Krementz. All three are required. The first three are required; the fourth, I believe, is optional.

The first is the King’s mark, the second the hallmark, the third the 

assay mark, the quality mark. But the manufacturer, you see, by 

the hallmark is identified with the quality m ark of the piece.

Mr. Glenn. Do we have any such requirement, legal requirements, in this country?
IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES 15

Mr. Krementz. No, sir. At present, we only have the requirement that if a kar at mark, which is quality mark, is applied to a piece, 

that piece shall fall within certain limited tolerances of fineness of 

gold. That is where the law stops.

Now, this request tha t we make is to extend this law to apply the 

hallmark as well as the quality mark.

Mr. Grinberg. The hallmark being the identification mark of the 

manufacturer or distributor.

Mr. Glenn. Do our manufacturers in some instances do th at now?

Mr. Krementz. We do it on every piece we make. We do it 

voluntarily.

Mr. Mack. Under this proposal, if the quality mark is used, then 

you would also have to use the trademark?

Mr. Krementz. Yes.

Mr. Mack. All you are doing is you are identifying the person who 

is classifying the material?

Mr. Krementz. Correct, sir.

Mr. Mack. Mr. Curtain.

Mr. Curtin. On w hat grades of jewelry is the quality mark presently required?

Mr. Krementz. The quality mark is not required to be stamped 

on any grade of jewelry.

Mr. Curtin. Under the present state of the law, is there any kind 

of mark required to be placed on jewelry?

Mr. Krementz. No, sir.

Mr. Grinberg. The manufacturer has the choice but a man ufacturer who produces an article in carat gold has an advantage to 

stamp it carat gold because otherwise it would be offered without 

any indication of the quality. The same thing applies to sterling. 

Most people, when they go into the store to buy a piece of silver, look 

for the mark “Sterling” because it gives them confidence that the 

piece is of a certain quality.

The m anufacturer who produces a piece of silver which is 925 parts 

in a thousand silver, which is the requirement for sterling, he naturally 

would p ut the “Sterling” on it because it assists him in the sale of it; 

bu t our request goes one step further, that where a manufacturer 

might stamp a thing “Sterling” and it would n ot be up to the required 

stan dard , with the amendment passed he would have to identify 

himself and in that way could be easily traced.

Mr. Curtin. How m any types of mark are you recommending?

Mr. Grinberg. One. It is a simple recommendation. If a manufacturer puts a quality mark on an article and he is not required to do 

so if he does not wisli to do so, then he must accompany that quality 

mark by a trademark or other means of identification.

Th at is all. And there is no hardship in doing it because if he 

stam ps it with one stamp, the other stamp can be applied immediately.

Mr. Glenn. Th at is all.

Mr. Mack. Any other questions?

Thank you very much.

Mr. Grinberg. We thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Mack. Th at concludes the hearing on H.R. 5442.
16 IDENTIFICATION MARK FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARTICLES

(The following correspondenc e was su bm itted for the re co rd :)

Retail J ewelers of America, I nc.,

Washington, D.C., April 5, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

House of Representatives,

House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

Dear M r. Harris: We would like you to know th at R etail Jewelers of America» 

a national trade association having members in all 50 States, earnestly favors 

H.R . 5442 now pending before the House Committee on In terstate and Foreign 

Commerce.

H.R. 5442, which was introduced by Hon. Peter F. Mack, Jr., proposes an 

amend ment to the Nation al Stam ping Act which is intended to afford much 

needed prote ctio n to consumers of m erchandise composed of gold or silver.

We join with the Jewelers Vigilance Committe e, the Man ufac turing Jewelers & 

Silversmiths of America, th e National Wholesale Jewelers Association, the Sterling 

Silversmiths’ Guild of America, and the American Gem Society in support of 

H.R . 5442 an d its counterpart in the Senate, S. 1186.

We are confident the retail jewelers in your Sta te will apprecia te your support 

of these measures.

Cordially,

J ames C. Lucas, 

Executive Vice President.

Sterling Silversmiths Guild of America,

New York, April 27, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. H arris: I am writing you in th e capacity of executive vice president 

of the Sterling Silversmiths Guild of America, a trade association whose member 

companies are:

The Alvin Corp., Providence, R.I.

The Gorham Co., Providence, R.I .

The Inte rna tional Silver Co., Meriden, Conn.

Samuel Kirk & Sons, Inc., Baltimore, Md.

Lunt Silversmiths, Greenfield, Mass.

Oneida Silversm iths, Oneida, N.Y.

Reed & Barton, Tau nton, Mass.

The Towle Silversmiths, Newburyport, Mass.

Wallace Silversmiths, Inc., Lancaster, Pa.

At a recent meeting, the Sterling Silversm iths Guild of America members voted 

unanimously to support House bill H.R . 5442 requiring the qua lity mark on 

articles of gold or silver to be accompanied by a name or trad emark . Guild 

members believe th at the amendment to the Federal stam ping law, which would 

result from the passage of H.R . 5442, would go a long way toward eliminating 

misleading or misbranding practices and would be a hea lthy and encouraging 

force to the silver industry, as well as a stron g protection to the consumer who 

purchases articles of gold or silver.

We, therefore, strongly urge the support of you and your comm ittee for H.R . 

5442.

Sincerely,

J ohn F. Ambrose, 

Executive Vice President.

Manufacturing J ewelers & 

Silversmiths of America, I nc.,

Providence, R. I., August 21, 1961.

Hon. Oren H arris,

Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee,

U.S. House of Representatives,

Washington, D.C.

My Dear Congressman Harris: We wish to urge your support of House bill 

H.R. 5442, a bill to help t he jewelry in dus try curb deceptive practices in the marking of its gold and silver produc ts. Specifically, this bill would require th at a
IDEN TIF ICA TIO N' MA RK FOR GOLD AND SIL VE R AR TICL ES 17

trade name or mark of th e person responsible for the q uality of a piece of jewelry 

also be stam ped on th at piece of merchandise. We feel such a bill will enable th e 

industry to assure consumers of jewelry pro ducts th at the quality indicated is 

tru thful and nondeceptive.

We urge your sup port of this bill, both on the ind ustry ’s behalf and on behalf 

of th e consumers of our products.

Very sincerely,

George R. Frankovich, Executive Secretary.

Optical Manufacturers Association,

New York, N .Y ., M ay 8, 1961.

Hon. Oren Harris,

Chairman, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce,

House of Representatives, Was hington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Chairman : I am writing a t the direction of our executive co mmittee 

to place the Optical Manufactu rers Association on record as strongly favoring 

the ena ctm ent of H.R . 5442, entitled “A bill to facilitate the protection of consumers of articles of merchandise composed in whole or in pa rt of gold or silver 

from fraudu lent misrepresen tation concerning the qua lity thereof, and for other 

purposes.”

This association consists of 45 regular members who are manufacturers of 

spectacle frames and mountings and 25 associate members who are suppliers of 

materials used in the manufacture of such products.

H.R . 5442 would amend the Federal stamping law of 1906 entitled “An act 

forbidding the imp orta tion , exportation or carriage in int ers tat e commerce of 

falsely stam ped articles of m erchandise made of gold or silver or their alloys, and 

for other purposes” (15 U.S.C. 297). The existing law has to do with quality 

standa rds or articles made in whole or in pa rt of gold or silver. The proposed 

ame ndment would add to the law the require ment th at any person who applies 

a quality mark to such an article or who imports an article bearing such qua lity 

mark must apply, or cause to be applied, to such article the tradem ark or name 

of such person. In addition it would provide th at if such an artic le is composed 

of two or more parts which are not identical in qua lity a nd any one of such parts 

bears a qua lity mark or stamp the other pa rt or parts shall also be stamp ed to 

indicate its or their quality.

The prim ary purpose of the bill is to requ ire disclosure of the ide ntity of the 

person, firm, or corp oration responsible for the qua lity mark on such an article. 

Gold and silver are precious metals having intrinsic value and the greater the 

precious metal con tent of an article, the greater its cost and its value. The 

public is entitle d to know the quality of the articles it buys and the ide ntity of 

the person who stam ps an article with a qua lity mark indicating its precious 

meta l content. Th at is what this ame ndm ent is intend ed to accomplish.

No one who stamps an honest qua lity mark on any such artic le can be in any 

way prejudiced by this amendment. A sub stantial num ber of optical manufacturers make spectacle frames and mountings of gold-filled material and these are 

stam ped with a prop er qua lity mark. For many years it has been the sta ndard 

prac tice of these man ufacturers to accompany each such qua lity mark with the 

manuf acturer’s name or trad emark. Our association conducts a continuing 

program of periodically assaying a gold-filled produc t of each optical manu fac turer 

to insure th at i t is of the qua lity indicated by the mark stam ped th ereo n. From 

time to time a pro duc t will be found under qua lity and steps are tak en to insure 

th at this condition will be remedied. In the case of articles in this and other 

indu strie s making precious meta l prod ucts which bear no name or tradema rk it 

is difficult and often impossible to identify the man ufacturer or oth er person 

responsible for an improper and unlawful qua lity mark. The proposed amendment would eliminate this difficulty and would give the buying public greater 

protection in purchasing articles made in whole or in pa rt of gold or silver.

This association respectfully urges th at H.R. 5442 be enacted into law. 

Respectfully yours,

Charles F. Oddt, Secretary- Treasurer.

(Whereupon, at 10:30 a.m., the subcommittee adjourned.)

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