UK Silver Hallmarks Explained: How to Read the Marks on Your Jewellery
Turn a British silver bangle over and you will often find a row of tiny stamps struck into the metal. That row is a hallmark, and it is one of the oldest consumer protection systems in the world: an independent Assay Office has tested the metal and guarantees what it is. Here is how to read one, which pieces legally need one, and why only my heaviest bangles carry one.
What a hallmark actually is
A hallmark is not something a maker stamps on themselves. The piece goes to one of the four UK Assay Offices, the metal is tested, and the office strikes the marks. Since 1973 the rules have come from the Hallmarking Act: it is an offence to describe an item as silver, gold, platinum or palladium unless it is hallmarked or falls under a weight exemption. The marks are your proof that the word "silver" means what it says.
The three compulsory marks
Every full UK hallmark has at least these three parts.
- The sponsor's mark, also called the maker's mark. The initials of the person or company responsible for the piece, inside a shield shape unique to them. Mine is registered at the Assay Office and is the mark you will find on my hallmarked chunky bangles.
- The fineness mark. A number giving the purity in parts per thousand. For sterling silver that is 925, meaning 92.5% pure silver. You may also see 800 or 835 on continental pieces, and 958 for Britannia silver.
- The Assay Office mark. A symbol for the office that tested the piece: a leopard's head for London, an anchor for Birmingham, a rose for Sheffield and a castle for Edinburgh.
The optional marks
- The date letter. A letter in a shield that tells you the year the piece was hallmarked. It was compulsory until 1999 and is now optional, so a modern piece without one is not suspicious.
- The traditional fineness symbol. For sterling silver this is the lion passant, the walking lion you may recognise from old cutlery. Makers can ask for it alongside the 925.
- Commemorative marks. Special marks issued for events such as a coronation or a jubilee, only in the year concerned.
Which jewellery has to be hallmarked
Silver items weighing more than 7.78 grams must be hallmarked before they can be sold as silver in the UK. Below that weight the piece is exempt, though it can still be hallmarked voluntarily. This is why a tiny stud earring almost never carries a full hallmark: a pair of my tiny stars weighs a fraction of that. It does not mean the studs are not sterling. It means the law does not require the test on something so light.
Almost everything I make is designed to sit under that weight, so on my pieces you will find one of three things:
- A full hallmark on some of my chunky bangles, the only pieces heavy enough to need one, struck by the Assay Office: my sponsor's mark, 925 and the office symbol. Look on the inner face of the bangle.
- A 925 stamp on many of the rest. That is my own fineness stamp, applied in the studio, confirming the metal is sterling silver.
- No stamp at all on the very smallest pieces. A 6 mm stud or a slim threader has nowhere to take one without spoiling it. They are the same recycled sterling silver as everything else.
Is a 925 stamp on its own a hallmark?
No. A 925 stamp is a fineness mark that anyone can apply, including the maker. It tells you what the metal is meant to be. A hallmark tells you an independent office has checked. On lightweight pieces a 925 stamp, or no stamp at all, is what you should expect, and from a maker you trust that is fine. On a heavy piece sold as silver with no hallmark at all, ask questions.
How to read the hallmark on your own piece
Find the row of marks, usually inside a ring or on the inner face of a bangle, and use a phone camera on zoom. Read left to right: the initials in a shield are the maker; the number is the purity; the animal or building is the Assay Office; a single letter is the year. The Assay Offices publish date-letter tables if you want to pin down the year of an older piece.
Why it matters to me
Hallmarking is a centuries-old craft tradition and I rather love being part of it. When a batch of chunky bangles comes back from the Assay Office with my mark struck into them, that is the moment they feel finished. It also means you never have to take my word for it: someone independent has already checked. If you would like to know more about the 925 number itself, What Does 925 Mean on Silver? covers it.
Anna x