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All Containers›Shop by use case›Jewelry metalwork›The mark›The tolerance, and why solder is in itShop all metalwork →
The mark

The tolerance, and why solder is in it

By Dwight Davis, Founder

On this page11
The statute does the arithmetic for joints. Which is why one of these leaves is solder.

The tolerance for the article

The actual fineness of a gold article "shall not be less by more than three one-thousandth parts" than the fineness marked on it.

Which is tight

Three parts in a thousand is a small divergence, and it means a quality mark is a measurable claim rather than an approximation.

And a wider one once solder counts

For the entire article including solder, the divergence may "not be less by more than three one-thousandth parts" for watchcases and flatware, and "not be less by more than seven one-thousandth parts" for other articles.

Why solder gets an allowance

Because solder is lower in fineness than the metal it joins. Every joint pulls the assay of the whole piece down, and a ring with four joints is measurably different from the stock it was made from.

Which makes solder a quantity decision, not just a technique

More solder means more dilution. A bench habit of flooding a joint rather than fitting it well is a habit with an arithmetic consequence.

And it is why solder comes in grades

Hard, medium, easy, with different melting points and different gold content. The ones that flow easiest are usually the ones lowest in fineness.

Watchcases and flatware get the tighter number

Three rather than seven thousandths even including solder. Those are traditionally heavier articles where the solder is a smaller proportion of the whole.

So the rule is proportional in effect

A tiny piece with a big joint diverges more than a heavy piece with the same joint, and the statute accommodates that with two numbers rather than one.

Keep the solder sorted and labelled

Which is where this becomes a container question. Hard, medium and easy solder look identical and behave differently, and using the wrong one changes both the joint and the assay.

Small containers, clearly marked

12 containers at 30 mL or under on this shelf. Solder is kept in snippets and a bench needs several very small labelled containers rather than one large one.

References

15 U.S.C. 295. For a gold article, the actual fineness "shall not be less by more than three one-thousandth parts" than the marked fineness. For the entire article including solder, the divergence shall "not be less by more than three one-thousandth parts" for watchcases and flatware and "not be less by more than seven one-thousandth parts" for other articles. Silver tolerances are at 15 U.S.C. 296 and were not read for this property. law.cornell.edu
The Davis Pack Supply catalog, measured 19 October 2026. The jewelry metalwork shelf is 617 rows: 286 containers and 331 closures. 15 mL to 9,464 mL with a median of 237; 12 containers at 30 mL or under, 104 at 120 or under, 214 at a pint or under. 117 PET, 80 PP, 50 glass, 38 HDPE. 224 jars, 41 bottles, 19 tubs and pails, 1 jug, 1 tube. 89 clear, 74 white, 39 natural, 30 amber, 26 black. Closures: 248 continuous thread, 22 dome lids, 18 lug and twist, 12 child resistant, 10 round tubs, 9 liners and sealing discs, 5 phenolic, 5 specialty.
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.