Buying jewellery findings and craft components from China: a guide for UK makers

Specify by measurement, not by photograph

A finding is a small working part, and whether it works is decided by a dimension you often cannot see in a listing photograph. A cord end has to take your cord; a jump ring has to close; a bead has to pass over your thread or wire. The size that matters is frequently an internal one: an inside diameter, a hole, the opening a cord or chain passes through.

Write those dimensions into the order, each with the tolerance you can live with, rather than pointing at a catalogue listing. A listed size is a nominal size, and two suppliers can mean different things by it: ask which dimension each number refers to and how it was measured. If one dimension must not be exceeded, say so in those words, because "8mm" and "no more than 8mm" are different instructions.

Then approve a physical sample and keep it. It becomes the standard the delivery is measured against, which is the point of a golden sample, and for components it settles arguments that a written size alone cannot.

Base metal and plating are two separate choices

"Silver-plated brass" describes two things: the metal the part is made of, and the coating on top. The base metal decides the weight, how strong the part is and what shows when the plating wears; the plating decides the colour. Ask for both in writing, together with whether any protective anti-tarnish coating is applied, because that is what the next order will be checked against.

If plating durability matters for how your pieces are used, say so and ask the supplier how they specify and measure the plating. A colour name is not a specification.

Describe what you sell as what it is. A silver-plated brass part is not silver, and the hallmarking rules that govern silver articles do not apply to it; calling it silver does not make them apply, it makes the description false. The jewellery guide covers hallmarking for pieces that really are precious metal.

The chemical limits apply to components, not only to finished jewellery

UK REACH restricts three metals in jewellery, and two of the restrictions name components expressly. Cadmium (entry 23 of Annex XVII) may not exceed 0.01% by weight of the metal in "metal beads and other metal components for jewellery making", as well as in metal parts of finished jewellery. Lead (entry 63) may not reach 0.05% by weight in any individual part of a jewellery article, and the rule defines an individual part to include the materials the jewellery is made from and its individual components.

Nickel (entry 27) is limited by how much a part releases, not by how much it contains: no more than 0.5 micrograms per square centimetre per week for articles in prolonged contact with the skin, and less than 0.2 for post assemblies inserted into pierced parts of the body. That matters for ear wires, clasps and anything else that sits against skin.

As the business bringing the parts into Great Britain, these limits are yours to meet. Ask the supplier for a laboratory test report for cadmium, lead and, for skin-contact parts, nickel release, and check that it names your part, in your base metal and plating, rather than a different item from the same catalogue.

Small quantities: stock parts and made-to-order parts

A standard finding in a standard size and finish is usually made in volume and held in stock, and buying it in hundreds or a few thousand is the easy case: you are buying from a shelf. A size that is not standard, or a finish the supplier does not stock, means a production or plating run, and runs carry minimums of their own. The small orders guide explains why those minimums are real and how to work around them.

Check the unit before you compare prices. Findings are quoted per piece, per pack of a stated count, or by weight, and two quotes in different units can look far apart when they are close, or the other way round. Put the count per pack and the number of packs in the order.

Import duty: which heading applies

Heading 8308 of the UK tariff covers clasps, hooks, eyes and similar parts of base metal "of a kind used for" items that include jewellery, and it names beads and spangles of base metal. On 19 September 2026 its commodity 8308900090 carried a 2% third-country rate, the rate for goods from China. Finished imitation jewellery sits in heading 7117, where commodity 7117190090 carried 4%.

Which heading a particular finding falls under is a classification decision, and the importer is responsible for it. If you are unsure, check the official entries or apply to HMRC for an Advance Tariff Ruling, which gives a legally binding decision on the commodity code. The import duty calculator works out the duty and import VAT once you have the rate.

Checking the delivery

Measure a handful of pieces from different packs against the dimensions in your order, and test them with the cord, chain or wire you will actually use. Compare the colour of the plating with your approved sample, count the packs, and check the pieces per pack on a few of them.

Do this as soon as the goods arrive rather than when you next need them. What you can still do about a wrong delivery depends partly on how quickly you act, which the guide on goods that arrive wrong explains.