All About Hallmarking
About Hallmarking
We love the history of British hallmarks
A hallmark is applied to articles of precious metals (gold, silver etc) – to prove the item has been independently tested and conforms to legal standards of fineness (purity).
In the UK it’s illegal to supply items for sale made from precious metals above specific weights without a hallmark.
Our pieces are marked at the London Assay Office. And all our pieces are made of 100% recycled precious metals.
A full traditional UK hallmark consists of :
- A sponsors mark (who made it it)
- Traditional fineness symbol (the type of precious metal)
- Millesimal fineness mark (how fine the metal is)
- Assay Office Mark (we use the London Assay Office which uses the leopard’s head as it’s mark) Did you spot the leopard in the image of the pendant below?
- Date Mark ( a specific letter, font and shield that changes every January 1st to indicate the year the piece is hallmarked, all date punches are destroyed at the end of the year)
Celebrating the hallmark
The UK hallmarking system is considered the gold standard (no pun intended, honest) in the world, as every piece must be physically sent to one of the assay offices to be tested and marked. There are other territories which allow jewellers to apply these marks themselves.
Another reason the system is so renowned is because it’s one of the oldest forms of consumer protection. Dating back to 1300, Edward I introduced the testing and hallmarking of items made from silver and gold.
‘no goldsmith… shall from henceforth make or cause to be made any manner of vessel, jewel or any other thing of gold or silver except it be of the true alloy […] and that no manner of vessel of silver depart out of the hands of the workers, until further, that it be marked with the leopard’s head’.
Statute of Edward I in 1300 (28 Edw. I c.20)
From the London Assay office website…
“The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office is where hallmarking began, and we have been testing and hallmarking precious metals for over 700 years.
We have been responsible for guaranteeing the purity of items made of precious metals since 1300, when the hallmarking statute was passed. We became the official ‘home of hallmarking’ in 1478, establishing the country’s first Assay Office at Goldsmiths’ Hall London, which still operates today.
Our hallmark and our trade depend on integrity and trust, which underpin all our work and what we stand for.”
Take a break…
Lessons over – time for a break. Watch us meticulously polish up these gorgeous fluorite earrings, can you spot the hallmark. On a pair of earrings, both pieces must be hallmarked.
