Your Guide to Hallmarking for Sterling Silver Jewellery
Ever wondered what those little marks on your jewellery mean – or why yours doesn’t have them? Whether it’s Sterling Silver jewellery or Gold Vermeil, the hallmarking process still applies. I’ve created this guide to help you understand what it all means.
What Is A Hallmark?
The term ‘Hallmark’ refers to a set of marks which guarantee the purity of a precious metal, so they’re vital in protecting you by ensuring that your jewellery is genuine.
They tell us who made the item, where it was hallmarked, what the item is made from and its quality (or ‘finesse’). It can also tell us when it was made- but this isn’t compulsory. They can only be applied at one of the four British Assay Offices, and each office has its own unique mark.
Hallmarks are a British legal requirement for any articles made of precious metal, but the requirement has some exceptions. Whether or not a hallmark is needed is based on the weight of an item. Any Sterling Silver jewellery items over 7.78g must have a hallmark, it's over 1g for Solid Gold and 0.5g for Platinum. For more information, you can take a look at my Dealers Notice here.
Black Octopus Jewellery: My Handcrafted Identity
All of my Sterling Silver Jewellery pieces over 7.78g are hallmarked. That's actually quite heavy so it means a lot of my jewellery won't be.
I take (or send) all of my pieces to the Birmingham Assay Office (hence the anchor) and I have my unique makers mark of 'BOJ' in a pentagon. My silver items are all marked as '925' which refers to Sterling Silver with 92.5% purity.
My Gold Vermeil jewellery pieces are hallmarked as silver before being plated, as Sterling Silver is the base metal. Find out more about Gold Vermeil Jewellery here.