What is a Hallmark?

What is a Hallmark?

If you look at your precious jewellery, you should see the little symbols which make up the hallmark. You may have to squint to see it as the size of the hallmark is often adjusted to fit the size of the piece.

After I’d been making jewellery for a year or so, I felt ready to start selling it, but as silver and gold are regulated it’s not as simple as setting up a site and selling, as you risk the wrath of trading standards and a very hefty fine!

Legally, in the UK, silver jewellery weighing 7.78g or above must be hallmarked. Gold and palladium pieces must be hallmarked if over 1g and platinum pieces if they weigh over 0.5g. This is because it isn’t always possible to guarantee by looking at a piece of jewellery that it is in fact sterling silver or 18ct gold. The Assay office ‘assays’ (analyses) the piece to ascertain it is what you claim it is. Usually, x-rays are used to check the purity but occasionally a minute sample of the metal is removed.

The practice of hallmarking started in 1238 when Henry III made the first attempt at regulating the standard of gold and silver, and in 1327 a charter was passed. Goldsmiths Hall in London would ‘mark’ the metal to prove its provenance and finesse – hence ‘Hall Mark’

So, with a bit of trepidation, I applied for my sponsor’s mark. There are only four Assay offices in the UK; London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Sheffield, and every maker’s sponsor mark is unique for identification purposes.

A hallmark basically explains the ‘who, ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘when’. The five components represent: sponsors mark, traditional fineness mark, millesimal fineness mark, the Assay Office mark and the date mark.

My hallmark, above, identifies this bangle as being made my me (MTT in a shield), fabricated in sterling silver, with a fineness of 925/1000, hallmark applied at London Assay Office and struck in 2021.

Traditional fineness mark – from left, Sterling silver, Britannia silver, Gold, Palladium and Platinum

Millesimal fineness mark – this is used to tell you how fine, or what quality, the metal is, and the shape of the shield indicates the metal type. It shows the precious metal content expressed in parts per thousand.

So, sterling silver is 925/1000 (or 92.5%) pure silver and the remaining 75/1000 (7.5%) is an alloy or mix, usually mainly copper.

Assay Office mark - this identifies where the article was tested and marked; from left London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.

International Convention Marks

The Convention Hallmark can be applied to an item allowing it to be sold between countries who are members of the Convention, which removes the need to go through the Assay process again and allows sales of precious metal items within countries which are part of the Hallmarking Convention. A lesser-known consequence of Brexit is that since 1 January 2021, the UK’s obligations to recognise other EU countries hallmarks has ended, and likewise, EU members’ obligations to recognise UK hallmarks has ended.

Hallmarking in France:

France is credited for having the most complex system of hallmarks known to the world!

Date mark - not compulsory but is included in the traditional hallmark. Each year is identified by a letter within a shield and at the end of that year the stamp is ceremoniously destroyed. The letter for 2022 is X.

Historically, commemorative marks have been added to the regular hallmark to mark special events, such as the coronation and the Queen’s various jubilees. For the Platinum jubilee, an orb with her initials and 70 is used.

• French marks are based on symbolism using abstract forms of animals, people, insects and birds. All these symbols together indicate the fineness of the metal and the place of manufacturing.

• An eagle’s head indicates a gold purity of at least 18ct. French law requires all gold jewellery to have a minimum purity of 18ct, items that are intended for export may be marked with the pictorial marks for 9 and 14ct.

• The mark of the maker needs to be in a lozenge shield with the initials of the maker incorporated in it

• French sterling silver hallmarks and maker’s marks were not as systematic as their British counterparts, but they have quite an extensive history. When French silversmiths first began marking their pieces, they used “maison commune” marks, which indicated the product’s town of origin.

Michele Thorns, Silver by Michele