Hallmarking

 If you are buying silver items over 7.78 grams, gold over 1 gram, platinum or other precious metal jewellery, then it is a legal requirement in the UK to hallmark the pieces.

A hallmark is a series of stamps that are put on your jewellery by one of the assay offices to prove that it is real silver or gold etc. It is the mark of an independent valuation to clarify that the metal it is made from is genuine and that you are not simply claiming that it is silver when it is not.

Makers can stamp it with 925 or similar stamps which are allowed but this is not a hallmark. The requirements are as per below guide.

 You may have noticed the figure 925 written on your silver jewellery, this is part of a hallmark for sterling silver jewellery. It means that to every 1000 parts 925 are silver, the remainder are other alloys such as copper and zinc, which make the metal harder and easier to work with.

 Other alloy marks (also referred to as purity marks) are below:

PURITY MARK          METAL TYPE

925                            Sterling Silver

999                            Fine Silver (as in most metal clays)

375                            9ct Gold

585                            14ct Gold

750                            18ct Gold

 A complete hallmark consists of three punch marks:

•  Sponsor's mark (your mark or the manufacturers mark)
• Metal and fineness (purity) mark
• Assay office mark (London, Birmingham, Sheffield or Edinburgh)