Hallmarking

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Any item of sterling silver sold in the UK weighing more than 7.78g needs to be marked in accordance with the Hallmarking Act 1973.

Hallmarks not only guarantee the authenticity of the purity of British silver but also provide information about its place and date of manufacture and the identity of its maker.

These marks are:

  • The sterling mark: Tells you the quality of the metal. For sterling silver this is 925 and the traditional symbol of a lion passant (a walking lion with right foot raised).
  • The maker’s mark: This identifies the maker or manufacturer who made the piece – in this case “GH”
  • The assay office mark: Shows which assay office has authenticated the purity of the piece. Gill Howard jewellery is guaranteed by the Birmingham Office – an anchor mark.
  • A date mark: A letter of the alphabet is used to denote the year in which the piece was made. For Birmingham assay office: 2017 = s, 2018 = t, 2019 = u.

All of my silver jewellery weighing over 7.78g is hallmarked at the Birmingham Assay Office - Anchor mark and given my unique maker's mark - GH. It is your assurance of the quality and purity of the silver used.

Where items are sold as sterling silver that are under 7.78g, and not required by law to be hallmarked, you can be assured that they will be made from exactly the same highest quality 925 silver. You can request an 'underweight' item to be hallmarked. This can be done for an additional cost.

Any other metals used will always be stated in the item description.