UK Assay Offices
UK Assay Offices play a vital role in maintaining trust and integrity within the jewellery industry, ensuring precious metal items meet legal standards through hallmarking. For jewellers, manufacturers, wholesalers and designers, their work is central to compliance and consumer confidence. Jewellery Focus covers developments at the UK’s Assay Offices, including regulatory updates, technological advancements in testing, and changes impacting the trade. Our reporting also explores how these institutions support the industry with guidance, innovation, and services that affect daily operations for professionals across the jewellery supply chain.
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Jul- 2015 -14 JulyEconomy
June hallmarking jumps 12.3%
The total number of hallmarked items surged 12.3% in June, an increase of 94,023 articles when compared with the same month in 2014. This is according to data released today by the four UK assay offices – and compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office – which found the total number…
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Apr- 2015 -14 AprilEconomy
18ct gold grows 12% in Q1 hallmarking figures
The total number of articles hallmarked fell across all categories except platinum in March, according to figures compiled from all four UK assay offices, however 18ct gold stole a march for the Q1 period, taking up some of the slack. After a strong February – hallmarking figures were 7.9% up…
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Feb- 2015 -12 FebruaryEconomy
Hallmarking figures drop in January
After a strong year of growth for hallmarking figures in 2014 the total number of articles hallmarked was down 7.6% in January 2015 compared to the same time last year. According to data from the four UK assay offices and compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office, there was a total…
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Dec- 2014 -8 DecemberEconomy
Hallmarking set to top 10m items for first time in three years
The total number of hallmarked items is set to top 10 million for the first time since 2011, the latest data from the four UK assay offices suggests. Overall hallmarking figures, collated by the Assay Office Birmingham, dropped by 7.8% in November compared with the same period last year, mainly…
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Nov- 2014 -12 NovemberEconomy
HALLMARKING: Gold keeps climbing, silver lets the side down
Gold continued its upward trajectory in the month of October with a 22.1% rise in the number of articles hallmarked, totalling 115,815 overall. The figures, released by the Birmingham Assay Office using data collated from the four UK assay offices, showed that 9ct remained the strongest performer of all metal…
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Sep- 2014 -8 SeptemberManufacturers
Upward hallmarking trajectory continues in August
The positive trend for UK hallmarking figures continued in August, according to the latest figures compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office. The total number of articles marked rose by 12.5% compared with August last year. Particularly strong performers were 9ct gold (which rose 10.2%) and silver (which rose 18.2%), which…
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Jul- 2014 -17 JulyEconomy
14ct gold surges 60% in June hallmarking figures
Rising hallmarking figures showed no signs of slowing in June with the four UK assay offices reporting a 60.1% rise in the number of 14ct articles hallmarked, and a 17.1% rise for gold overall, compared with June 2013. But whilst the total number of articles hallmarked across all categories rose…
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May- 2014 -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…
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Apr- 2014 -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…
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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…
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