Marking standards by country
Marking law varies more than the secondary web admits. The United States, for instance, has no minimum karat for gold under the current FTC Guides — a fact widely misreported as a 10-karat floor.
5 entries
All cited
SortedA–Z
| Name | Minimum fineness to sell as "gold" | Minimum for "sterling silver" | Minimum for unqualified "platinum" | Hallmarking compulsory | Vienna Convention (CCM) member | Lab-grown diamond disclosure rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | 375 thousandths (9 carat). The loi du 4 janvier 1994 maintained the high-title… | — | — | Yes | No | — |
| Germany | NONE for jewellery. § 1 permits gold and silver wares to be manufactured and s… | On silver Geräte the fineness may be stated only at 800 or more thousandths (§… | — | No | — | — |
| Italy | 375 thousandths. The legal gold titles are 750, 585 and 375. | 800 thousandths is a legal silver title; 925 is the other. Only these two. | 850 thousandths. The legal platinum titles are 950, 900 and 850. | Yes | Yes | — |
 United Kingdom | 375 parts per thousand (9 carat) is the lowest legal standard. The recognised … | 800 is a legal silver standard in its own right; sterling is 925. Recognised s… | 850 is the lowest legal platinum standard. Recognised standards are 850, 900, … | Yes | Yes | — |
| United States | NONE. Unqualified "Gold" requires an article composed throughout of fine (24 k… | 925/1,000ths pure silver for "Sterling"; 900/1,000ths for "coin silver". | 950 parts per thousand pure platinum for unqualified "Platinum". | No | No | — |
Showing all 5Every figure traces to a named source with a pinpoint locator. Values we could not source are left blank rather than estimated.