Case finds errant jewellers in random test

From Business Times

Some overcharged in the consumer association's survey

IN a survey of 30 jewellery retailers here, the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) has found five that failed its test for gold fineness and eight that overcharged customers.

The body said yesterday that it had randomly bought a piece of gold jewellery from each retailer, about half of which are located in Little India and Chinatown and the other half, mostly in the heartlands.

The gold jewellery included rings, bangles and pendants.

'All 30 test items were 22K or 916 gold articles, and hence it meant that the gold articles should contain at least 91.6 per cent by weight of gold,' said Case.

The articles were tested by the Singapore Assay Office for their fineness standard, using fire assay cupellation.

Five fell short, with gold content ranging from just 85.94 per cent to 91.04 per cent.

In the other test to see if retailers charge more than the actual value of the gold jewellery based on the weight and price at the point of purchase, eight were found to have overcharged.

Ho Nai Cheun, president of Singapore Jewellers' Association, said in Case's report that Singapore has developed a reputation as one of the best places worldwide to buy gold jewellery, because members of the trade uphold standards of reliability, quality and integrity.

Errant or unscrupulous jewellers who sell gold jewellery below the specified fineness tarnish the hard-earned reputation of the trade and they should be taken to task and dealt with by the authorities, he added