The box

Designing a box that cannot go wrong

On this page11

The problem is stock, not intent So buy the generic box generic Put the metal claim on the card instead And the card can be swapped Keep plated and solid stock physically apart Watch what a supplier prints by default Remember the wrapper counts too And so does the listing, under a different regime Decide the claim once, per line Which is cheaper before the print run References

The safest presentation box makes no claim at all.

The problem is stock, not intent

Nobody sets out to put "sterling" on a plated piece. It happens because one box design was bought in bulk and gets used for everything.

So buy the generic box generic

Your name, your mark, a colour, nothing about metal. A box that makes no fineness claim cannot make a wrong one, whatever ends up inside it.

Put the metal claim on the card instead

Which is also named in the statute, so it carries the same duty, and it is cheap and line-specific. Printing a hundred cards per line costs less than printing a hundred boxes.

And the card can be swapped

A line that changes metal, or a piece that goes out plated instead of solid, needs a different card and the same box. That is the flexibility the box cannot give you once it is printed.

Keep plated and solid stock physically apart

Different shelf, different colour box if you like, but separated. The failure is a hand reaching for the nearest box on a busy day.

Watch what a supplier prints by default

Generic jewelry boxes are sometimes sold pre-printed with metal words because they are meant for a sterling line. Those boxes are a liability sitting in a stockroom.

Remember the wrapper counts too

The list is box, package, cover and wrapper. Tissue, a printed sleeve and an outer mailer are all surfaces the prohibition reaches.

And so does the listing, under a different regime

How you describe a piece in advertising is the FTC Jewelry Guides at 16 CFR part 23, a separate body of rules this property does not summarize. The box and the listing are two different questions.

Decide the claim once, per line

Metal, fineness, qualifier if plated, and who is making the claim. Write it down once and let the card, the stamp and the listing all come from that one decision.

Which is cheaper before the print run

Reprinting a thousand boxes costs more than thinking about it for ten minutes, and it is the same order of saving as every other front-loaded decision in this library.

References

15 U.S.C. 297(a), National Gold and Silver Stamping Act. On a plated article, "no such article, nor any tag, card, or label attached thereto, nor any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed, shall be stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted with the word 'sterling' or the word 'coin'". The section also prohibits marking a plated article with a fineness indication unless accompanied by wording identifying it as rolled gold plate, gold plate, gold electroplate or gold filled. law.cornell.edu

15 U.S.C. 297(b). A person applying a quality mark indicating gold or silver content must also apply a trademark "which has been duly registered or applied for registration under the laws of the United States within thirty days after an article bearing the trademark is placed in commerce or imported into the United States, or the name of such person". Parts of a multi-part article must be marked with quality indications matching in pattern and size, in lettering at least as large as the quality mark. The provisions reach articles deposited in the United States mails or transported between states. law.cornell.edu

Written from 15 U.S.C. 295 and 297, and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. Silver tolerances at 15 U.S.C. 296 were not read for this property and are not summarized. The FTC Jewelry Guides at 16 CFR part 23 govern how jewelry is described and are a separate body of rules. Pickle and patina chemistry is a safety data sheet question and no handling advice is given here.