A Guide To Hallmarking
Our handy guide to hallmarking; the assessing and stamping of precious jewellery made from silver, gold, platinum and palladium.
What Is A Hallmark?
Hallmarking is a process of independently assessing and officially stamping pieces of jewellery made from silver, gold, platinum or palladium.
In the UK, it is the law that each item of precious metal jewellery that is to be sold has been officially hallmarked by an Assay Office.
The hallmark shows the purchaser the metal, its quality or fineness, where it has been authenticated, and the year in which it was stamped.
Nowhere else in the world are consumers more highly protected than in the UK. The UK is one of only a few countries in the world that have compulsory statutory hallmarking.
Elements Of A Hallmark
Compulsory
Since 1998, three symbols remain compulsory as part of the form hallmark. The symbols give the following information:
The Sponsors Mark: who made the article
The Standard Mark: what is its guaranteed standard of fineness, ie purity of the precious metal content
The Assay Office stamp: which UK Office the article was tested and marked
Optional
Date Letter: denotes the year in which the item was assessed and marked
Traditional Marks: such as the Orb for Platinum or Crown for Gold
Commemorative marks: released on special years including Millenium, Jubilee and even more relevantly 2023 sees the release of the Kings Coronation mark
What Needs To Be Hallmarked?
The weight of the piece is measured on the metal content and excludes stones.
Metals over the following weight must be hallmarked:
Gold: 1.0 grams
Silver: 7.78 grams (includes metal clay)
Platinum: 0.5 grams
Palladium: 1.0 grams
What Are The Assay Offices?
Assay Offices test the purity of precious metals, to protect people from buying fake items. If an item conforms with the legal requirements for purity, the Assay Office marks it with the appropriate hallmark.
There are currently Assay Offices in:
London
Birmingham
Sheffield
Edinburgh
Dublin (Ireland)
However, throughout history there has been various offices up and down the UK, and older jewellery may bear a mark from a now-closed office such as Chester, which closed in 1962, or Exeter, which closed in 1883.