The What.

Have you ever wondered what those little symbols and numbers on the inside of a ring actually mean? To put it simply - they are a code! I’ll break it down for you.

This is an example of what my hallmark might look like (it will vary depending on the item I’m having marked);

From left to right it reads; Sponsors Mark (WHO) / Fineness Marks (WHAT) / Assay Office Mark (WHERE) / Date Mark (WHEN)

Sponsors Mark - This first part is my unique mark! Mine is my initials, which is pretty common although sometimes people use the first letters of their business. When registering for a hallmark a company (or sole trader) has to choose a unique combination of two / three letters and a shape.

Fineness Mark - This tells you what the piece is made of. Each set of 3 numbers & the shape surrounding them represents a different metal. (More on this below.)

Traditional Fineness Mark - This is a traditional mark that represents the metal as an image rather than a number. (Optional)

Assay Office Mark - This shows what Assay Office tested and hallmarked the piece. There are 4 in the Uk. London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh - where I get my pieces hallmarked. The Edinburgh hallmark is an image of a castle (for obvious reasons!) The first Assay office opened in London in 1327 (almost 700 years ago!!) and is still operating in the same spot at Goldsmiths Hall today. There also used to be an Assay Office in Glasgow which was open between 1819 to 1964.

Date Mark - A letter represents the year a piece was hallmarked. The year 2021 is represented by a ‘w’, 2022 will be an ‘x’ etc. (Optional)

A hallmark must consist of at least three compulsory marks; a Sponsor’s mark (Maker’s mark), a Metal Fineness mark, and an Assay Office town mark. The date mark & traditional marks are optional and there are some other optional marks you may see too including convention marks and Fairtrade marks.

When I look at my hallmark above I can read that it was made by me (who) in 18ct Gold (what) and hallmarked in Edinburgh (where) in 2021 (when).

Wedding Rings with hallmark and engraving visible on the inside of the band.

The Why.

The simplest reason is because it’s illegal to sell certain types of jewellery without a hallmark. Without a hallmark how do you know what you are buying? I can’t hallmark my own jewellery - I have to send it away so it can be independently tested to make sure it is what I say it is. This protects the buyer.

Legally pieces can’t be sold as ‘silver’ in the UK without a hallmark if the piece is over 7.78 grams. Palladium and Gold has to be hallmarked over 1g and Platinum must be hallmarked from 0.5g. (Other countries can have different laws which is part of the reason Brexit is causing so much difficulty for jewellers.) The fineness mark applied by the assay office will be based on the metal type and purity.

The metals used for jewellery aren’t pure but made up of a mix of metals called an alloy. There are a few reasons for this - mainly cost and durability (pure gold for example is pretty soft). The shape of the fineness mark represents the type of metal and the numbers inside represent the parts per thousand of the pure precious metal - so for example a 925 Sterling Silver ring is 92.5% pure silver and the remaining 7.5% is made up of other metals. If you find you own a pair of gold earrings that irritate your ears and another that doesn’t it’s probably because of the other metals in the piece. If you have an allergen or have a question about the other metals in a specific piece of jewellery I make please get in touch.

This also explains why Rose Gold and Yellow Gold look different but can have the same hallmark (i.e. 18ct Rose Gold & 18ct Yellow Gold) - the hallmark shows the amount of pure gold and it’s the other metals in the alloy will affect the colour. Gold is naturally yellow so Rose Gold has a higher copper content, which makes it appear pink. Both the fineness mark in my example above and the one in the centre of the drawing below are for gold (as the outside shape is the same) however the 750 above indicated 18ct whereas the 375 below would be found on 9ct Gold.

Fineness Marks representing (left to right); Sterling Silver - 9ct Gold - Platinum

Why wouldn’t I get a piece hallmarked?

7.78g might not sound like much but most of my silver rings and studs are under that weight. Because I have to send pieces to an independent body to be hallmarked there is a fee involved and it takes time. There is a minimum charge plus postage costs both ways. If I send 2 gold wedding rings to be hallmarked it could cost me around £50 (or more if they are different carats). This doesn’t seem too bad for a pair of rings costing £1000 but it could easily double the price of a simple silver ring. Sending large batches of pieces to the Assay office will reduce the cost per piece but most of my work is made in small batches or to order. I like this aspect of my business and think it sets me apart form ‘high street’ jewellers (and I also don’t want to pass on unnecessary costs to my customers) so I only hallmark pieces over the required weight. I hope by being transparent with my business practices it shows I’m trustworthy with my materials but if you have any questions please do get in touch. You can also request any item I make to be hallmarked (although there may be a small delay or extra fee.)

I think that is everything you need to know about the basics of hallmarking! If you have any other questions though or are trying to find out any more information on a particular hallmark feel free to get in touch.

Thanks so much for reading!

Ailsa

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Edinburgh Assay Office Logo.

What is Hallmarking and why is it important?