WOMEN SMUGGLERS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 26, 23 October 1937, Page 15

WOMEN SMUGGLERS

Dearly-Bought Bargains

(Jewellery smuggling by women is eausiug a good deal of anxiety to British jewellers, though the extent to which it exists seems to be a matter of .opinion. Apparently the average persons does not know that ther© is no barrier to the entry of unset gtonea into this country. Only when the jewels are in their setting do they become dutiabls as cnanufactured articles, and jewellers generally—- save in the case pf speeial design — prefer to import stone* "in th« saw** and have them made up in England. The woman therefore, who tries to pmuggle in rings, bangles, and pendants, and thereby depriving British craf tsmen of work, is pctually the loser in most cases,,and has been known to pay four times as much for an artiele in, say, Inptanbul as she .would have been called npon to pay in Regent street. Nevertheless, the position is a tan talising one for the British jewellery trade. "This form of smnggling presents a enrious psychologieal problem," a Spokesman of the trade said, "Women get away with it quite easily and even

openly, for others. have a mistaken sense of chivalry in not speaking out. It is in the interests of the nation that sometbing should be done about it st once. "All these women smugglora can save is the cost of manufacture, and that is generally much bigher abroad thaa here, So actually they lose, though at the same time they are depriving our workmen of money which should be circulating in this country. "We are advising women who go abroad to get from their jewellers a certiflcated list of their jewels from their insurance schedules to produce when they are returning through the Customs. Otherwise it is likeLy that the innocent might suffer with the guilty." Some concern has been expressed for the Englishwoman who has iived abroad for years, and is returning to settle at home. The law however, is clear. There are speeial provisions to cover all cases pf this description, and personal jewellery which has been in- the possession or use of the returned traveller for twelve months is exempt from •duty.