Hallmarking
Hallmarking is a cornerstone of the UK jewellery trade, ensuring the authenticity and quality of precious metal items through independent verification. For jewellers, manufacturers, and suppliers, staying up to date with hallmarking legislation, standards, and practices is essential to maintaining compliance and consumer trust. Jewellery Focus provides expert coverage on hallmarking, including updates from the UK’s assay offices, regulatory changes, innovations in testing, and insights into the role hallmarking plays in supporting the trade.
-
Jul- 2014 -8 JulyCurrent Affairs
London borough of Southwark wins Touchstone Award 2014
The British Hallmark Council and the four Assay Offices of the UK have announced the London borough of Southwark is the winner of the Touchstone Award 2014. In its third annual presentation, the Touchstone Award recognises innovative initiatives undertaken in relation to hallmarking legislation. Southwark’s initiative was prompted by a…
Read More » -
May- 2014 -20 MayEditor's Blog
That dodgy jeweller’s hallmarking comeuppance sends a useful message
The news that a Birmingham jeweller who flouted hallmarking rules and has been fined £25,000 as a result, is a useful bit of promotion for the scrupulous majority in the industry. Amjad Mahmood Yousif, trading as Crown Jewellers at 39 Formans Road, Sparkhill, was ordered to pay £11,281 in costs,…
Read More » -
15 MayEconomy
April hallmarking figures up by a fifth, 9ct gold up almost 50%
Figures released by The Birmingham Assay Office have revealed that the total number of articles hallmarked for April increased by 20.3 per cent on last year. The figures, which reflect the flows through four UK assay offices, showed the strongest performing metal category was once again 9 carat gold, which…
Read More » -
15 MayRetailers
Birmingham jeweller fined £25,000 for breach of Hallmarking Act
A Birmingham jeweller was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment earlier this week, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay a total of £25,000 after pleading guilty to 17 offences, under the Hallmarking Act 1973. Amjad Mahmood Yousif, trading as Crown Jewellers at 39 Formans Road, Sparkhill, was ordered to…
Read More » -
7 MayTrade Organisations
Ground broken on new Birmingham Assay Office site
Birmingham Assay Office bosses joined members of their building project team to begin work on the site of the new building at Icknield Street last week. The Assay Office has been at its current home in Newhall Street since 1877, and says that the move within the Jewellery Quarter “demonstrates…
Read More » -
2 MayAnalysis
FEATURE: The End of the Gold Rush
The gold price has stabilised, and the slump in gold hallmarking has bottomed out. And now that the commodity traders are losing interest, MICHAEL NORTHCOTT asks whether the scrap-buying craze has caused any lasting change to the market. Two very significant trends have appeared that will likely have a profound…
Read More » -
Apr- 2014 -8 AprilEditor's Blog
The buying begins
It now seems that the upward trend for hallmarking figures is gaining strength. Across the four major assay offices in the UK, the total number of items hallmarked in the first quarter of this year was up by 23 per cent, compared with the same period the previous year. The…
Read More » -
7 AprilEconomy
Q1 hallmarking figures rise 23%, gold jewellery on the up-and-up
The number of articles hallmarked across the four UK assay offices rose by 23 per cent in the first three months of 2014 compared with the same period the previous year, according to the latest figures. In a statement, the Birmingham Assay Office revealed that the best performers were 9ct…
Read More » -
Mar- 2014 -14 MarchEconomy
Hallmarking figures for 9ct gold rise more than 33%
Figures released today by the Birmingham Assay Office show that the number of 9ct gold items hallmarked across all four UK assay offices rose more than 33% in February, compared with the same period the previous year. After 9ct gold, the next best performing category was sterling silver, which is…
Read More » -
5 MarchCurrent Affairs
Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office named ‘apprenticeship trailblazer’
The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office has been named by the government’s apprenticeships scheme as an ‘Apprenticeship Trailblazer’ for the craft sector. The announcement was made during the start of National Apprenticeship Week which began on March 3. The Goldsmiths’ Company Apprenticeship Programme currently enables individuals to train as hallmarkers in…
Read More »
