The Jewellery UK-Directory Search Engine - Hallmarks and their meanings

Jewellery hallmarks... Hallmarked in by the London office. Hallmarked in by the Birmingham office. Hallmarked in by the Sheffield office. Hallmarked in by the Edinburgh office. The number refers to the purity or millesimal fineness - (part per thousand). So a millesimal fineness of 833 is equivalent to 83.3%. 24 carat (millesimal fineness 999) 22 carat (millesimal fineness 916) 20 carat (millesimal fineness 833) 18 carat (millesimal fineness 750) 16 carat (millesimal fineness 625) 14 carat (millesimal fineness 585) 10 carat (millesimal fineness 417) 9 carat (millesimal fineness 375) How much? Deciding how much you should pay is crucial. We were wondering how much most people interested in Jewellery pay for their jewellery - so we thought the best way to find out was to ask our readers. How much is the most you have ever spent on a single piece of jewellery? Email jewellery@uk-directory.co.uk we'll let you know what our survey reveals... Shop-around... It sounds obvious but you really should shop around - from the comfort of your home or office, add this page to your favourites and you can visit all the main UK Jewellers from here. List of UK Jewellery Links Here's our list of the main UK Jewellers, these jewellers may have several different links to them, so we are compiling the following quick list for your reference - saving you time and, hopefully, money: Quck list of Jewellers StrictlyGold.com (http://www.strictlygold.com) Source: The UK-Directory Search. Are you a Jeweller? Add yourself to our quick list by emailing your details to jewellery@uk-directory.co.uk More UK Jewellery; Jewellery home page... Jewellery allergy... Jewellery Hallmarks and their meanings... Diamond Jewellery Gemstones... Find a local Jeweller in your area; The Jewellery UK-Directory for Jewellers: There are so many types of jewellery available to buy or sell in the UK. Here is a list of some of the most popular items; White Gold 9ct white gold, 14ct white gold and 18ct white gold - sometimes expressed as 9k white gold, 14k white gold, 18k white gold - or simply 9ct, 14ct or 18ct. The ct is short for carat - i.e. 18ct white gold is 18 carat white gold. There is a full description of White Gold here: Your Jewellery questions answered: White Gold. Common types of jewellery that are made from white gold are: white gold bands, white gold bangles, white gold bracelets, white gold celtic jewellery, white gold chains, white gold charms, white gold crosses, white gold cufflinks, white gold earrings, white gold engagement rings, white gold peridot, white gold eternity rings, white gold heart pendants, white gold hoop earrings, white gold lockets, white gold necklaces, white gold pendants, white gold rings, white gold solitaire rings, white gold watches, white gold wedding bands, white gold wedding rings. We plan to provide selected information about each and everyone of these types of white gold jewellery - please add this page to your favourites and visit us again soon for developments.		The Jewellery UK-Directory has some basic information about hallmarks below but you may also want to try searching The Jewellery UK-Directory in the top red bar or you can search Google from here: Your Jewellery questions answered One question we are often asked is What are the meanings behind UK Jewellery hallmarks? These marks have been used in the UK since the 1300's and each mark has a specific meaning. A good place to continue your research would be this excellent website: The Goldsmiths' Company. More of your questions answered later - we hope these answers are useful. Send your question to jewellery@uk-directory.co.uk A hallmark is intended to be a way of marking a piece of precious metal to validate its quality. The hallmark is indented on precious metal. Hallmarks are applied to gold, silver and platinum. Hallmarks are sometimes called a hall, assay or standard mark. It is applied after an accurate independent test carried out by an assay office. In the United Kingdom, there are four Assay offices which are empowered legally to test precious metal, and to apply a hallmark to them according to the results of those tests. These Assay offices are in London, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Edinburgh. Hallmarking is the world's first known instance of consumer trading standards, in the UK it dates back to about 1300 AD. The Hallmark Act 1973, as modified by The Hallmarking (Hallmarking Act Amendment) Regulations 1998, and The Hallmarking (Hallmarking Act Amendment) Order 1998. The latest UK regulations and standards became effective from The 1st of January 1999. A UK hallmark should contain at least three symbols, the sponsor's mark, which is often called a maker's mark, a number indicating the fineness in parts per thousand, and an Assay office mark. There may also be additional marks, a date letter, a fineness symbol and a common control mark. Subject to rare exemptions, it is actually a criminal offence in the UK to describe hallmarkable articles as being made of gold, silver or platinum without a legitimate hallmark. For gold, the current fineness standards are 375, 585, 750, 990, 916, and 999 parts per 1000. 9ct gold is 375, 14ct gold is 585, 18ct gold is 750, 22ct gold is 916 and 24ct gold is 999. For silver, the current standards are 800, 925, 958, and 999 parts per 1000. Sterling Silver is 925, Britannia Silver is 958. For platinum, the current standards are now 850, 900, 950, and 999 parts per 1000. You may be interested to know that in the USA standards are not quite as strict. Jewellers in the USA are legally permitted a tolerance of half a carat. So a 9ct piece of jewellery made in the USA would not be legally recognised as gold jewellery in the UK - because it would contain less than 37% gold - which fails the UK minimum standard.

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