Guide to hallmarks
These tiny marks struck into the metal state the fineness of a piece, and sometimes who made it and when. Every country has its own system: here is how to read them.
France · United Kingdom · Switzerland · Germany · Italy · Spain and Portugal · Netherlands and Belgium · Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland · Russia · United States and Canada · India · China and Japan · Gulf and Middle East · The international hallmark (Vienna Convention)
France
Regime : State control, compulsory
gold 750 (18 carat)
gold 585 (14 carat)
gold 375 (9 carat)
silver 925, struck since 1838
platinum 950
second-hand or imported gold of unguaranteed origin
second-hand or imported silver
maker's mark, the manufacturer's initials
The maker's lozenge and the fineness mark come as a pair: a French piece normally carries both. Under 3 g, gold may legally go unmarked.
United Kingdom
Regime : State control, compulsory
sponsor's mark, two to five letters
750, 925, 950: the fineness, compulsory since 1999
London Assay Office
Birmingham
Sheffield
Edinburgh
sterling silver, traditional mark, now optional
year of hallmarking, optional since 1999
Three marks are compulsory: the sponsor, the millesimal fineness and the assay office. The lion and the date letter, the most telling for dating a piece, became optional. Exemption weights: 1 g for gold, 7.78 g for silver, 0.5 g for platinum.
Switzerland
Regime : State control, compulsory for gold and platinum
gold, official guarantee mark
silver and watches
platinum
750, 585, 925, 950
Precious metal watch cases are controlled like jewellery: look on the back of the case.
Germany
Regime : Free marking, under the maker's responsibility
gold 8, 14 and 18 carat
silver, 800 is very common on older silverware
imperial state mark, from 1888
free, often initials or a logo
No assay office: the maker carries the liability. The crescent and crown date a piece to before 1945 without ambiguity.
Italy
Regime : Compulsory registration of the maker
opens the maker's mark
the maker's registration, e.g. 123 AR for Arezzo
the fineness, struck beside it
The province number traces back to the maker in the national register: the most traceable system in Europe without an assay office.
Spain and Portugal
Regime : Compulsory control in Portugal, regulated marking in Spain
the fineness, in both countries
Portugal, depending on office and period
letters in a shield
Portugal runs a long-standing state control, with regional marks (Lisbon, Porto) that help with dating.
Netherlands and Belgium
Regime : State control in the Netherlands, free marking in Belgium
silver, 925 and 835
Dutch gold, by fineness
Belgium, most often 750 or 925
A Belgian piece may carry nothing but a number: that is not a fault, it is the country's regime.
Russia
Regime : State control, compulsory
profile of a woman in the traditional headdress, since 1908
the fineness, beside the kokoshnik
a letter for the office
Before 1908, Russian fineness was given in zolotniks: 56 means 583, 84 means 875. That is the first thing to know in front of old Russian silver.
United States and Canada
Regime : No assay office: free marking, framed by law
fineness in karats, American style
silver
required alongside a quality claim, in the United States
often a logo rather than initials
The key point: in the United States no independent body verifies the fineness. The law requires whoever stamps a quality mark to stamp their own mark too, and so answer for it, but the piece was never assayed by a third party.
India
Regime : Gold hallmarking compulsory, rolled out district by district
the triangle of the Bureau of Indian Standards
22K916, 18K750, 14K585
six alphanumeric characters, a unique identifier for the piece
The HUID is India's distinctive feature: every hallmarked piece carries a unique code, checkable in the official BIS Care app. A modern Indian piece with no HUID deserves a question.
China and Japan
Regime : Regulated marking in China, optional in Japan
China, a very legible standardised notation
China, so-called pure gold, 990 and above
Japan
Japan, optional, a balance in a circle
The Chinese notation Au750 is the most explicit in the world: the chemical symbol, then the fineness. In Japan, the absence of a state mark is normal.
Gulf and Middle East
Regime : Compulsory control in the UAE, variable elsewhere
Gulf gold often runs to 21 or 24 carat
UAE, Saudi Arabia
the seller, often in Arabic
21 carat gold (875) is the Gulf standard, where Europe sells 18. A souk piece is not poorer, it is made for another market.
The international hallmark (Vienna Convention)
Regime : Recognised by the signatory states
the Common Control Mark, or CCM
the guaranteed fineness
struck beside it
Signed in Vienna in 1972 and in force since 1975, the Convention lets a piece hallmarked in one member state travel to the others without a fresh control. It is the only truly international hallmark.
Where to look
They are small, often under a millimetre, and hidden: inside the band of a ring, on the clasp of a necklace or bracelet, on the bail of a pendant, on the post of an earring, on the back of the case of a watch. A 10x loupe is essential, and raking light helps a great deal: a worn mark shows better at an angle than head on.
Two families of countries, and why it changes everything
The world divides in two. On one side, countries with state control: an independent assay office tests the metal and strikes the mark itself. France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, India for gold. There, the hallmark is a public guarantee, and forging it is a serious offence.
On the other, countries with free marking: the maker strikes the fineness and carries the liability. Germany, Belgium, the United States, Japan, much of the world. Marking there is no less serious, but nobody verified the piece before it reached your hands.
The practical consequence: a German « 750 » and a French eagle head do not say the same thing. The first is a declaration, the second a verification. In front of a piece from a free-marking country, the maker's reputation is what counts, and a touchstone test at a jeweller's is worth the cost on an expensive item.
Reading a fineness: millesimals, karats, zolotniks
Three notations coexist. Millesimals, the most widespread: 750 means 750 grams of pure gold per kilo of alloy, or 75%. Gold karats, Anglo-Saxon style, in twenty-fourths: 18K is 750, 14K is 585, 10K is 417. Not to be confused with the carat of gemstones, which is a weight of 0.2 gram.
The Chinese notation is the clearest: Au750, the chemical symbol followed by the fineness. The old Russian notation is the most disconcerting: before 1908 fineness was given in zolotniks out of 96, so an « 84 » struck on a teapot means 875, and a « 56 » on a ring means 583.
Finally, regional standards surprise without hiding anything: Scandinavian silver at 830, German silverware at 800, Gulf gold at 875 or 916. None is a deception, all are legal at home.
Forged marks, and what gives them away
A hallmark can be forged, and it is the simplest fraud in the trade. Three signals. The soft drawing first: an official mark is struck cold from finely engraved steel, its edges are crisp and its ground is clean; a fake cast along with the piece has rounded, blurred outlines.
Coherence next: an eagle head with no maker's mark beside it is suspect, as is a Minerva on an obviously modern import. Official systems nearly always strike several marks, and it is the set that has to hold together.
The metal last, which has the final word. A neodymium magnet does not stick to gold or silver. Density often settles it alone: 18 carat gold weighs about 15.5 g/cm³, silver 10.4, gilt brass 8.5. And on a significant purchase, a touchstone test at a jeweller's costs a few euros.
And when there is no hallmark at all?
This is the question that comes up most, and the answer is simple: no hallmark most often means the metal is not declared. Not that it is fake, not that it is good: that nobody guarantees it. The seller has committed to nothing, and you have no recourse based on the mark.
There are legitimate exceptions, and they are well known. Very light pieces: in France gold under 3 g may go unmarked, in the United Kingdom the threshold is 1 g for gold and 7.78 g for silver. Older jewellery made before the requirement, or whose mark vanished under over-generous polishing or a ring resizing. Pieces from free-marking countries, which sometimes carry only a number, or nothing. And artisan pieces sold directly, in countries where that remains allowed below the threshold.
The bargain-hunter's rule fits in one sentence: with no hallmark, pay the price of unknown metal, not the price of gold. If the seller states a fineness, ask for it in writing on the invoice: a written statement commits them, and it is that, not their word, that will protect you.
The precious metals guide covers the alloys, their colours and how they age.