Hallmarking Guide

Precious metals are usually alloyed with other metals than used in their purest form.  This makes the metals easier to work with, more durable and improves their wearability.  An item’s precious metal content cannot be determined by sight or touch, so it is a legal requirement for an Assay Office to hallmark items containing precious metals if they are stated as such.

Under 1973 Hallmarking Act it is a legal requirement for silver articles over 7.78g, gold and palladium articles over 1g, and platinum articles over 0.5g to have a UK recognised hallmark.  Each piece of our jewellery is made from sterling silver (925), fine silver (999), 9 carat yellow gold (375) or copper.  For items where the amount of silver in the piece weighs under 7.78 grams (this is excluding stones or non-metal materials), no hallmark by the Assay Office is required.  Chamarel Designs hallmarks every piece of jewellery made as we are proud of each item and feel a sense of achievement knowing that they all bear our Sponsor’s Mark and approved UK hallmark.

Hallmarks are marks applied to precious metals to indicate the amount of pure metal in the alloy.  Each hallmark starts with a Sponsor's (or Maker’s) Mark, this is made up of the initial of the person or company who submitted the item for hallmarking.  Chamarel Designs is registered with the London Assay Office and our Sponsor’s Mark is NT (Nadia Thomas) as below.

It is worth noting that anyone can apply a 925 stamp to a piece of metal.  This does not mean that an item is hallmarked.  A full legal hallmark applied by an Assay Office carries provenance and guarantees the item is precious metal.

Please view the following Dealers Notice which provides you with a detailed explanation of the hallmark and the series of marks applied.

For further information about hallmarking you can visit the London Assay Office website.