Will my jewellery be hallmarked?
A hallmark is a guarantee of the quality of metal, and is struck on silver, palladium, gold, and platinum. It indicates that the article has been independently tested at an Assay Office, and guarantees that it conforms to the legal standards of precious metal content, also known as the fineness.
As our sterling silver jewellery is so light and delicate, many items weigh below the legal threshold of 7.78 grams, and are therefore exempt from hallmarking.
Some of our pieces exceed this, and those that do are hallmarked at the Birmingham Assay Office. The marks we use include: our registered Sponsor's Mark (RM), Fineness Mark (925 sterling silver), and the Assay Office Mark.
Changes to hallmarking practice
If it is your desire to purchase jewellery made exclusively in the UK, and authentically imbued with the heritage that comes with that, you may wish to read on about changes to hallmarking practice.
The Legislative Reform (Hallmarking) Order 2013 was passed, enabling the 4 UK assay offices (Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Sheffield) to strike hallmarks outside the UK at offshore sub-offices. This means that a UK assay office mark struck on an article is now not necessarily a full guarantee of the piece having been made by a UK maker. Therefore, always enquire before you buy.