-->Hallo Herr Deutsch & Co!
Nachdem ich weiss dass sie Silberfreaks sind und alle anderen auch Silvereagle etc... erlaube ich mir einen lustigen artikel hier hereinzustellen.
Wer von den Silverfreaks das Problem hat dass seine Barren zu rosten anfangen oder magentische Eigenschaften aufweist sollte den Artikel unten lesen!!
es darf gelacht werden!! viel spass!!
Beste Grüsse vom
Nachtportier (der sich wünscht auch mal wegen einem guten Artikel lobend erwähnt zu werden)
Silver swindle!
By: Tim Wood
Posted: 2002/09/16 Mon 21:24 | © Miningweb 1997-2002
NEW YORK -- Earlier this month it came to my attention that hallmarked Sterling silver jewellery (925 fineness) being hawked at major US retail outlets and even prominent jewellers is probably little better than stainless steel.
Newsletter publisher Bob Chapman ran a simple magnetic test on Sterling products in Texas earlier this month and reported that nearly everything clung to his magnet for dear life. Sterling silver doesn't do that. He reported the fraud to the managements of the stores who promised to take action, but were still selling counterfeit stuff days later. Evidently the stores think this is not a problem or their communication is really that bad. They're going to get an expensive surprise.
To my wife's misguided delight, I suggested we browse the wares at the local jewellery stores in one of those cheerless, windowless shrines to consumerism (Quaker Bridge Mall, Princeton). Suffice it to say she was less than impressed at my interest in silver and less so that it was for its magnetic rather than aesthetic qualities. In short, most of the stuff was magnetic.
Nearly every outlet was running a 50% off special on the Sterling products (the correct price?). Lord & Taylor had a sizeable pyramid of boxed goodies priced at around $50 (before the discount) and all from"Italy". The second item - a bracelet - we picked up snapped onto the magnet. A quick test on nearby items indicated that well over half of them were debased.
JC Penny staff was gob smacked at the demonstration and it is worth saying that they were the only sales crew who actually cared to do something. We tested a variety of chains, rings, charms and earrings and almost all of them were magnetic, stamped as products of Italy or Thailand. A range of higher quality, but not much more expensive products all passed the informal test (a chemical test is required to be absolutely sure because the crooks will plate nickel and brass as well).
A $130 chain proved particularly interesting - only certain links were magnetic. This suggests that"good" runs are being mingled with tainted ones; probably deliberately. In every single instance at every outlet, clasps proved not to be Sterling silver, which is an absolute no-no because one never mixes metals or fineness on jewellery. Also, every single thin chain tested was highly magnetic, as were cheap rings with settings.
We left JC Penny having bought a $20 ring marked down to $10.60 and which is very fond of magnets. It is on its way to Los Angeles for an assay test, hopefully it won't rust before it gets there.
A kiosk run by an Indian immigrant had a good selection of silver that he was very proud of. There was no snapping effect with his chains, but when they were held up a majority swayed lovingly toward the magnet. He was not amused.
Macy's was an experience. The sales lady was disbelieving, but having seen one chain snap on and another not, she knew the explanation immediately - the anti tarnish coating. So we tried strictly uncoated trinkets and it was as bad. She still knew the answer - Columbian and Peruvian silver is 925, Mexican 900 and Italy's is, well, trash. Needless to say she was neither Mexican nor Italian, but almost certainly a patriotic Columbian. Therefore, the bad stuff was just bad silver…
Fortunately for Macy's, it had the least proportion of tainted material although some items were so bad they could be attracted through a thick Perspex display case. Again, some links were magnetic and others not, or one earring of a pair glued itself to the magnet while the other did not.
Kay's Jewellers was not especially helpful and refused to let me handle a batch of chains without head office authorization. The store manager did the test himself and the clasp clamped on immediately and there was some"sway". He said there had been a problem some years back with gold caratage (be sure, this is not just a silver problem) and believed it could not recur, although he agreed that the clasp should be Sterling silver, especially since it was stamped as such. He believed the anti-tarnish coating,"apparently rhodium", would cause magnetism.
Sears was appalling. A rack of cheapies levitated toward the magnet and when this was revealed to the sales lady, her response was"So?" She was so unperturbed that she thought it best if I called the supervisor the next day - no offer of a store manager or a hint of concern.
At least JC Penny brought along plenty of people to look things over and promised concrete action. The store previously dealt directly with suppliers, but the function has been centralised in recent months. Indeed, there was not a single outlet that knew who its suppliers were - everything is lost in a head office miasma. From what I have pieced together informally, it seems there are not much more than a dozen national wholesalers to the big chains. Those middlemen also buy from a relatively small pool of manufacturers that will, in due course, be identified.
The problem is massive and widespread, also affecting Wal-Mart which is one of the largest jewellery retailers by any measure, and the implications are sure to be devastating. Luxury chain Tiffany has so far come up clean.
Given the evidence pouring in from around the country, this impacts tens of millions of ounces of silver. Duped customers are going to want their money back or the real thing. The stores, fearing litigation, will swiftly turn on their suppliers, who will turn on the manufacturers to get back the money or 925 silver. Either way, it looks very positive for silver producers and anyone else long silver because this is not a problem to be solved quietly. However, the danger is that a large chunk of people will be put off buying jewellery altogether since there is no way to be sure you're getting what is promised.
Miningweb will be following up with the buying units of the various stores throughout this week.
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