Hallmarking
The Hallmarking Act
When manufacturing jewellery and silverware, precious metals are not used in their purest form — they are alloyed with other metals to improve durability and workability. It is impossible to determine the precious metal content of an alloy by sight or touch alone.
That's why all our customers can shop with confidence, knowing that our products carry a guarantee of precious metal content through the 700-year-old practice of independent third-party hallmarking. The 1973 Hallmarking Act makes it unlawful to describe an item over a certain weight as gold, silver, platinum, or palladium without an independently applied hallmark.
Hallmarking Thresholds
The following weight thresholds apply under UK law:
- Silver: articles weighing more than 7.78 grams must be hallmarked
- Gold: articles weighing more than 1 gram must be hallmarked
- Platinum: articles weighing more than 0.5 grams must be hallmarked
- Palladium: articles weighing more than 1 gram must be hallmarked
Articles below these weight thresholds may be described as gold, silver, palladium, or platinum without the need for a hallmark.
Further Information
For more detail on UK hallmarking legislation, please visit the Assay Office Dealers Notice.