A Guide to UK Jewellery Hallmarking.

What Is a Hallmark?

In the UK, all precious metals (Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium) above a certain weight are legally required as per the Hallmarking Act 1973, to bear a set of compulsory marks. This not only guarantees the purity of the metal via independent testing, it also protects the consumers from fraud, ensuring the metal is exactly as described.

• Silver articles weighing more than 7.78 grams
• Gold articles weighing more that 1 gram
• Platinum articles weighing more than 0.5 grams
• Palladium articles weighing more than 1 gram

Example of a UK hallmark:

1. Who submitted the article for hallmarking (sponsor’s mark) - VO = Voeme
2. What the final metal is made of (Metal fineness mark) - Lion & 925 = Sterling Silver
3. Where the article was hallmarked (Assay office town mark) - Lion Head = London
4. When the article was hallmarked (date letter) is optional - B = 2026

Compulsory Marks:

• Sponsor’s Mark also known as Maker’s Mark, this depicts the person or company responsible for sending the article to the Assay Office. In the UK this mark is at least 2 letters, all marks are unique. Our sponsor mark which is registered at the London Assay Office is V O which represents Voeme. All threshold gold and silver pieces will have this mark along with the other important marks explained below.

• Assay Office Mark of which there are 4 in the UK, each with their own Assay Office Location Maker’s Mark.

London (Leopards Head) | Edinburgh (3 Tier Castle) | Birmingham (Anchor) | Sheffield (Tudor Rose)

Did you know: Hallmarking is one of the strongest consumer protections in British jewellery.

• Metal and Fineness Mark this mark shows the precious metal content in the item, recorded in parts per thousand. This means that the number tells you the proportion of precious metal content in the alloy. For example, the fineness mark of 9 carat gold is 375. This tells us that the alloy must have at least 375 parts gold per 1,000.

• A traditional fineness symbol this traditional fineness symbol depicts the metal purity that is in the article.

• A date letter (optional) indicates the year when the item was hallmarked, for example ‘U’ indicates 2019. It changes on the 1st January each year. This year, 2026 is represented as ‘B’.

If you have any concerns, always ask to see their dealers notice.