Assay and Hallmarking
What you need to know about hallmarking......
Hallmarking is our very oldest form of consumer protection, with a rich history dating back to the 1300's.
Precious metals used in jewellery making are almost always mixed with other metals, to make an alloy. This gives it the necessary strength and flexibility, to make durable jewellery.
Sterling silver is an alloy of 92.5% by weight pure silver, and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper.
Yellow gold is gold alloyed with silver and copper and sometimes zinc, and white gold is gold alloyed with silver and palladium. 9 carat gold contains 37.5% by weight pure gold, and 18 carat gold contains 75% by weight pure gold.
Detecting the precious metal content of an alloy by sight or touch is nearly impossible. As a result, it's a legal requirement to hallmark items made of these metals if they are to be labelled as such. However, there are specific weight thresholds for hallmarking, including 1 gram for gold, and 7.78 grams for silver.
It's important to note that manufacturers or importers cannon apply hallmarks themselves. Goods must be submitted to one of the four UK Assay Offices.
Did you know that cheap imported jewellery, when tested, is very often found to contain nasties such as lead, nickel and cadmium?
This jewellery is often marked "925" - but, quite frankly, that on its own means diddly squat.
Assaying determines whether the precious metal content of the alloy meets the required standard.
Hallmarking is the confirmation that the required standard has been met.
In other words, a full hallmark is your guarantee that your jewellery contains all of the good stuff, and none of the bad stuff.
I'M a registered maker with Assay Office Birmingham, and items of Storm & Grace jewellery are fully hallmarked in accordance with current UK legislation.
In fact, I have all of my work hallmarked, regardless of weight. The only exception to this is for very small items such as stud earrings, where there isn't physically room to place a hallmark.
For more information regarding assaying and hallmarking visit www.theassayoffice.co.uk