14KP
Denise
Can someone please clarify what 14KP stamped inside a gold ring means (I
know it's 14k but what about the P?)
thanks
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DeWaun Simmons
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DeWaun Simmons
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Opals & Gemstones by DeWaun
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Peter W. Rowe
<dew...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>14KP could this mean 14K GOLD PLATED???
>>
>>---
>>
>>DeWaun Simmons
No DeWaun. It does not mean gold plated.
The P stands for "plumb".
The old standard for karat gold marking in the U.S. allowed a tolerance of a
full half karat, presumably to allow for solder in fabricated work, as back then
solders were virtually always of lower karat than the gold they were used on
(They often still are, with repair grade or lower melting ones). So that meant
that manufacturers who were casting their wares, and thus not using solder,
didn't need to cast actual 14K, but could make it in 13.5K, and mark it 14K.
When those laws changed (I forget the date. Early eighties, if I recall), the
new law required much closer standards, in essesnce almost exact karat. But
allowing for the fact that manufacturers and retailers had great amounts of
already manufactured goods in 13.5K, There were several years where selling off
the old stock was still allowed. Manufacturers therefor took to marking goods
that met the new standards as "plumb", meaning the 14K gold was truely 14K, and
the 18K was truely 18K, etc. The mark used was the P appended to the Karat
mark. Some manufacturers still use that stamp, though at this point, long past
the time when 13.5K can still be sold (at retail, new) marked 14K, the stamp is
not very meaningful. But you still see it, especially on used jewelry that
dates from that time.
Peter