ALL ABOUT HALLMARKING
ALL ABOUT
HALLMA Words by D A N M O R R I S
While admiring your favourite jewellery pieces, have you ever spotted a tiny row of intricate symbols stamped into the metalwork? This is a hallmark, and whenever you buy anything that’s been crafted from precious metal in the UK, it is legally required to be hallmarked. But when and why did the need for hallmarking first arise, and what do the symbols mean? Let’s take a closer look.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF HALLMARKING Hallmarking is one of the oldest forms of
little way of knowing whether or not they were
consumer protection in history, and it has
buying the real thing.
been part of the precious metal industry in the UK for over 700 years. It was formally
After the passing of the statute, silver had to
introduced in the year 1300 with the passing
meet a standard of 92.5% purity (now known
of a statute by King Edward I of England, which
as sterling silver) and gold had to be at least
set forth the requirement of a stamp or ‘mark’
83.4% pure, which is 20 karat. Workers known
to be made on all pieces of silver, though this
as ‘guardians of the craft’, who were initially
was later extended to include gold too. It was
chosen by the mayor of London, would visit
a necessary introduction for two reasons.
the silver and goldsmiths of the city, test the
Firstly, it significantly cut down on fraud, as
purity of the metalwork, and if it met the
it stopped dishonest traders from mixing
standard the piece would be stamped with a
their gold and silver with more common and
leopard’s head mark. This was the first ever
inexpensive metals and selling the resulting
hallmark, and would later become the fineness
wares as pure. Secondly, it protected honest
mark numeral that is still in use today.
traders from unfair competition. Before the change, consumers of the day would have had 32
GEMOLOGY — SPRING 2022
