British Hallmarking

The origin of hallmarking can be traced back to the fourth century AD and is perhaps the oldest known form of consumer protection. Initially a hallmark was imprinted on silver, but of course today, hallmarks can be found on all precious metals including platinum, yellow gold, white gold and palladium.

Hallmarks are an official mark of guaranteed metal content and in the UK can only be legitimately issued and applied by the Birmingham or Scotland assay office. The presence of a recognised hallmark guarantees a certain level of purity or fineness of metal as determined by formal metal (assay) testing.

Why is hallmarking important?

Today, the use of hallmarks is universally recognised as a means of ensuring that jewellery is exactly what it purports to be. Because precious metals are too soft to be used in their pure form to make items of jewellery, they are alloyed with copper or other metals to create a stronger and more durable alloy.

Because gold, silver and platinum are costly metals, there is always a risk that unscrupulous manufacturers may reduce the precious metal content of an alloy by substituting the precious metal content with a cheaper alloy.

For example, base metal jewellery plated with a thin layer of gold will initially look exactly the same as jewellery made using the accepted ratio of precious metal. However, when the metal wears, the plating rubs off and the cheaper alloy is revealed.

With high volume manufacturing, significant profits can be made from just a small reduction in the amount of precious metal used. So it is never worth the risk of buying jewellery that doesn't bear a UK Hallmark symbol, even if it seems like good value. Remember, the hallmark is there to protect you.

The UK Hallmarking system has been in place for over 700 years and is your guarantee that your yellow gold, white gold, platinum or palladium is genuine and meets the required purity determined by UK hallmarking standards.

The hallmarking process

When Steven Stone sends a piece of diamond jewellery to the assay office the following procedure is followed:

• Firstly it is sampled. This involves removing a tiny piece of the precious metal for testing - this does not affect the finished piece of jewellery in any way.
• The ring, necklace, diamond earrings or bracelet then undergoes the assaying process to determine whether the precious metal content of the alloy meets the required standard.
• Finally, the hallmark is applied to the jewellery item.

What does a hallmark look like?

A hallmark is a series of marks or an official stamp that you will find on all items of jewellery made from precious metals that meet UK hallmarking standards.

At Steven Stone, every piece of diamond jewellery we produce is sent to either the Scotland or Birmingham assay office to receive its hallmark.