Hallmarking, why bother?

All of the jewellery I make is hallmarked if it contains precious metals, why?

First a quick history lesson….

Hallmarking has been practiced for over a thousand years with items of Byzantine silverware being found to to have been found marked for purity around 400AD. In the UK the practice has been used since the 13th century, in 1238 Henry III passed an order to require assessing gold and silver for fineness.

In the 1300s a mark to show that the metals had been assessed was established - a leopards head, this was initially only marked in London at the Hall of the Goldsmiths, hence “hall-mark”, a makers mark was added later, as was one signifying the year of marking. These were applied using a punch similar to those above, shaped for ease of access to rings, etc.

A mark signifying fineness was added later - initially a symbol, but then a mark showing relative purity of the precious metal.

The other goldsmiths halls followed suit with each having a separate mark, Birmingham an anchor, Sheffield a Rose, Edinburgh a castle and Dublin, Hibernia, as their symbol - there were also offices in Chester and Exeter, both of which closed in the 20th century. The Edinburgh Assay Office where I have my pieces assayed was established in 1457 and has a three towered castle as its mark.

So why is this all important?

By Law in the UK (Hallmark Act 1973) all precious metal items made must be assessed for fineness depending on weight, for silver it is 7.78g, gold it is 1g and platinum 0.5g, the weights decided upon by their relative value at the time the Law was written.

But what is fineness?

Each precious metal is an alloy, ie. it is not pure but a mix of metals - 9ct gold is 37.5% gold and 62.5% other metals hence 375 gold on the hallmark, 18ct is 75.0% gold and 25% others - the Assay Office test for this.

Why is it important also to know what “other” metal is?

In the UK only certain metals are permitted, as some metals (e.g cadmium) are toxic and others (e.g nickel) can cause allergic reactions, if the metal has not been hallmarked it is not guaranteed that it contains only precious metals and permitted metals.

Please keep this in mind if you buy jewellery which seems very cheap (often from Etsy and Ebay) and only has a 925 (Sterling Silver) stamped on it - anyone can buy these stamps and there is no guarantee of quality.

So why bother?

Ultimately the only way to know that your jewellery has the right amount of precious metal and the correct types of metals in it is to have it assayed and hallmarked, this is why I hallmark everything - for a hallmark to be genuine it must have - a makers mark, an assay office mark and a fineness mark.

My makers mark

You can tell if something is made by me if the makers mark is three diamonds with the letters ISS in them, my initials, as shown below.

Other marks

In addition some other marks may be present:

• a date mark (a letter on its own, it changes each year).

• a symbol for fineness (Sterling Silver is a rampant lion in Scotland).

• the Platinum Jubilee mark - an orb containing the Queen’s sigil and the numbers 70, this is/was only marked in 2022 during the Queen’s platinum jubilee year.

All of these marks may be see in the image above: my makers mark; the (999) showing Fine Silver fineness; the castle of Edinburgh; the X for the year 22; the 375 showing 9ct gold (this piece has keumboo gold applied; and the Platinum Jubilee mark.