From when it was made, to the materials used and who owned it, every piece of jewelry tells a story. An important part of those stories are the hallmarks, tiny marks stamped into the precious metal on some pieces of jewelry. Hallmarks are a guarantee of metal fineness as tested by an official governmental agency. While not every country hallmarks its precious metals, those that do are generally required, by law, to have most, or all, precious metal items tested by an independent agency before any item is allowed to be sold to the public.
Each hallmarking country has its own unique set of hallmarks, hallmarking styles, and fineness standards that vary from nation to nation. For the purposes of this blog we will focus on two countries, France and the United Kingdom (UK). The UK currently includes England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Prior to 1922, the UK also included what is now the Republic of Ireland.
Early Hallmarks
The earliest hallmarks, used sporadically, date back to the Byzantine Empire in the early 600s, when silver pieces were marked by the Imperial Treasury to guarantee their metal fineness. In France, hallmarking began under King Louis IX, with the Goldsmiths Statute of 1290. England followed closely with its own system of hallmarking in the 1300’s. By the mid 1500’s hallmarks became more organized in both England and France; at the time many small towns had their own assay office. “Hallmarking established an independent third-party recognition of metal content,” explains Danusia Niklewicz, co-founding director with William Whetstone and Lindy Matula, of the Hallmark Research Institute. This trio of experts also co-authored the books “World Hallmarks, Volume 1: Europe 19th to 21st Centuries” and “World Hallmarks, Volume 2: Asia, Middle East, Africa”, with additional sections on the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Australia.
Assay Marks
Before a precious metal item can be hallmarked, the metal’s purity must be tested in an assay office. In order to pass the assay test, the metal content must be equal to, or better than, what the maker claims it is as well as being in compliance with the current laws of the time in the country where the metal is being tested. When an item of precious metal passes the assay test, then it is stamped with a hallmark that denotes the metal content. Additional marks may be added to indicate the location of the assay office, the country of origin, the year the item was hallmarked, or possibly a mark that indicates the actual weight of the piece.
There are various ways of testing for metal purity -- touchstone and cupellation. The touchstone method is initially used to indicate if further testing is required. Touchstone involves taking a piece of metal and rubbing it on a slate stone. The streaks of metal are then tested for their reaction to specific acids. If it passes “the acid test”, the piece is hallmarked.
If there is any doubt about the metal content, the piece will go for cupellation, a more precise testing, which exposes a tiny sample of the metal to high heat that separates the precious metal from the alloys. An accurate measure of the metal’s weight before and after cupellation will determine the actual percentage of the precious metal fineness. In the past few decades, a more modern system for testing metal purity has been used. “Today, many assay offices are using XRF x-ray machines,” says Niklewicz. “It’s faster, easier, and streamlines the testing process.”
Whetstone emphasizes the importance of accuracy in the assaying process. “An assay is a legal guarantee meant to protect consumers, with financial penalties for assay marking errors. An assay office will not stamp an item unless it has met the exact amount of precious metal fineness. There was a time that in some hallmarking countries, if an item was under karated, the assay office smashed it before returning the item to the maker,” reveals Whetstone.
Karat versus Millesimal
There are two ways to mark metal purity on jewelry, by karats or by millesimal, both are used to standardize content. In the karat system, which is exclusively used for gold, there are 24 parts to the metal. If a piece is marked 18-karat gold, it means that it is 18 parts gold and 6 parts alloy. The millesimal system, universally applied for all precious metals, uses 1000 parts as a representation of 100 percent pure metal. If a piece is 18-karat gold, it would be marked 750. “If you see both a karat and a millesimal mark, that means the maker intended the item’s fineness marks to be universally recognized by any country to which it is exported,” says Niklewicz.
Using the millesimal system, sterling silver, which is stamped 925, has a purity of 925/1000 parts of silver, and the remainder is of other metals. You may sometimes see silver stamped 950. Do not confuse this with 950 platinum. Both metals are similar in precious metal color, but silver is whiter and softer, while platinum is gray and harder.
Important French Marks
Minerva Head – Used since the 1830s and still in use today, the Minerva head, wearing an ancient Greek helmet, is a French hallmark for silver. In France there used to be two standards for silver. The first was 950, and the second was 800. If the Minerva head hallmark has a number “one” in front of the face, within a cut-corner rectangular frame shape, it indicates the first standard, 950. A “two” in front of the face in a barrel frame shape means that the item is the second standard, 800. “There have been some modifications in style, but these hallmarks have been pretty consistent for 185 years,” says Whetstone.
Dog’s Head – From 1912 through 1994, the dog’s head (shown with no frame) was used in France to indicate a minimum platinum standard of 950 fineness. The fineness of the metal is indicated by the shape of the frame around the dog’s head. A dog’s head in a hexagon with a number three indicates 800 platinum; a barrel frame shape with a number two represents 900 platinum, and a cut-corner rectangular frame shape with a number one indicates 950 platinum.
Eagle’s Head – The Eagle’s Head denotes 18-karat gold, the minimum gold standard used in France until 1995. If there is no frame around the eagle’s head that means the assay office used the touchstone method to test the metal. If there is a hexagonal frame around the eagle’s head, it means that the piece has gone through the full assay process of cupellation.
Seashell – In France, if a piece was made of 14-karat gold after 1994, it was meant for export and was hallmarked with a St. Jacques Shell. A three-leaf clover is used to mark 9-karat gold. In 2005 France lowered its minimum 18-karat gold standard, so now pieces made of 14-karat or 9-karat gold can be sold in France.
“When a piece is made in one country and meant to be exported to another country, then the marks are often different from those used domestically,” reveals Niklewicz, who also noted that it is a requirement for every hallmarked precious metal item, made in France, to have a maker’s mark. The frame shapes around the maker’s marks are also significant. A lozenge shape means that the item was meant to be sold within France, a bullet frame shape means the item was made for export, and a domed-top frame shape means that the item was imported.
Hallmarks from Great Britain
The modern United Kingdom (UK) has a sequence of hallmarks that are used in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Unlike France, where a single hallmark can define the precious metal content and region, in the UK a sequential series of hallmarks represents part of the ongoing history that changes throughout the years.
The Crown – In 1844, a domed Crown hallmark was introduced to be gold specific, so that both gold and silver precious metals could be recognized individually. At the time a 22-karat gold item was hallmarked with a crown and a 22-karat mark, if it was made in England.
Lion Passant – The royal mark of the Lion Passant, a lion walking left, is an important English hallmark for both gold and sterling silver. Introduced in 1544, this mark was stamped on 22-karat gold up until 1844, and it is currently used to indicate sterling silver.
The national mark for Ireland, both before and after independence in December 1921, is the hallmark of Hibernia - a seated woman with a sword. It was also adopted as the Dublin Assay Office mark. In 1923, the New Republic of Ireland began using the head of a unicorn as the hallmark for 18-karat gold, while a Crowned Harp hallmark was used for domestically made sterling silver pieces. The Rampant, or upright Lion is the symbol for sterling silver in Scotland.
Date Letter – Until 1975 it was mandatory for the UK assay offices to add a letter to the sequence of hallmarks. The letter had to have a unique font style that represented the year the item was assayed. After 1975, date hallmarks became voluntary and were only added by request.
Responsibility Mark – In both the UK and France the sponsor, or maker, that made the piece is required to add their unique registered trademark to the series of hallmarks. Unlike France, there are numerous frame shape outlines that are allowed in the UK for makers to create their own trademark stamp.
“Hallmarks can tell someone doing research a lot about the history of a piece. Through hallmarks, an item can be accurately dated. You can identify the maker and then do some research to find out when that maker had a workshop, so that the assay year can be confirmed,” says Whetstone.
Often hidden on the shank of a ring, the clasp, the back or the edge of a piece of jewelry, hallmarks add another layer of meaning and authenticity. Hallmarks act as clues that can reveal the back story of a piece of jewelry, giving us more insight into its age, materials, country of origin, and sometimes even more.
“Hallmarks tell us a story and give us some fascinating information about an item,” concludes Niklewicz.
“World Hallmarks, Volume 1: Europe 19th to 21st Centuries” and “World Hallmarks, Volume 2: Asia, Middle East, Africa”, with additional sections on United States, Canada, Mexico, and Australia are available for purchase on the website: www.hallmarkresearch.com
Top of Page: Paul Storr hallmarks, English, left to right: maker's mark, lion passant (sterling silver), London town mark, date letter (1835), duty mark (William IV), image by Rauantiuqes, courtesy Unsplash.
Minerva Head, French; Dog’s Head, French; Eagle Head, French; Seashell, French; Sequence of hallmarks, UK, courtesy of Hallmark Research Institute.
Authored by Amber Michelle