Birmingham jewellers fined over unhallmarked gold

A Birmingham jewellery firm has been ordered to pay a total of £8,288 after it was found to be selling unhallmarked gold. 

Yousaf Jewellers, based in Coventry Road, Small Heath in Birmingham, was fined £500 for each offence (£6,500), ordered to pay costs of £1,738 and a £50 victim surcharge at Birmingham Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to 13 offences under the Hallmarking Act 1973.

Birmingham City Council brought the case against the jewellers after Trading Standards officers seized 15 pieces of jewellery during an inspection on February 4, 2014.

The items, which included five double rings and five bangles, were submitted for examination by the Birmingham Assay Office. Of the 15 items that had been recovered, 14 were not hallmarked.

Jacqui Kennedy, director of regulation and enforcement for Birmingham City Council, said: “People should be able to have confidence when they are buying valuable goods, like gold jewellery, that they are of the quality they purport to be.

“Of the 15 items sent to the assay office by our officers for verification, 14 were not hallmarked – this is why it’s important for Trading Standards to take action and bring cases like this to the public’s attention.”