Having played about for a few weeks with experimenting in my lovely new workshop, I’ve discovered the existence of hallmarking! Quite honestly, as a newbie to jewellery making, I had no idea that silver (and gold) jewellery needs to be hallmarked as proof of quality of the metal. In the UK, items made of sterling silver that weight more than 7.78g need to be hallmarked. It’s a legal requirement!
The Assay Office
In the UK (where I’m based), the Assay Office sets and stamps items made from precious metals. There are five Assay Offices in the UK – London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Dublin.
To Hallmark or Not To Hallmark, That is the Question!
Right now, I’m only playing around with silver for my own amusement. I’m not in any way, shape or form ready to sell my jewellery. So getting a sponsor’s mark registered with the Assay Office and arranging to get items hallmarked seems a little excessive. But once again, my all-knowing husband convinced me otherwise – with some semi-persuasive arguments!
- If you’re going to sell your jewellery at some point, you should get registered for a hallmark sooner rather than later.
- Your jewellery will have a nice, professional stamp on it.
- You can learn about the full end-to-end process of getting things to a quality that can be hallmarked and sold.
- It’ll be fun!
Registering with the Assay Office
Some Facts About Hallmarking
- Dates back to the 1300s.
- Protects consumers from fraud and traders against unfair competition (still wildly important today!)
- Confirms the percentages of precious metals contained within the metal, as many precious metals are alloyed with other metals to make them easier to work with and more durable.
- There are four marks which are stamped onto the item – a sponsor’s mark, which tells you who made it; a standard mark, which shows how pure the metal is (sterling silver is stamped 925, which indicates 92.5% of it is silver and the rest a mixture of other metals); the Assay Office’s mark (for the Goldsmith’s office in London, this is a leopard); and a date letter to tell you when the item was hallmarked.
