Consumers
Protecting consumers for over 500 years
If you are buying jewellery or silver in a store or online, always ask to see the hallmark—it’s your guarantee. The Assay Office exists primarily to protect consumers. If you have a concern about an item you’ve purchased or would like to find out more about hallmarking requirements, please view our FAQs. If you are concerned that you have been sold something without a hallmark, you can contact us.
As one of the world’s oldest consumer protection organisations, we have earned the respect and trust of customers and jewellery businesses alike. Building and maintaining trust across the digital retail environment is a challenge. This is why we launched Assay Assured in 2012, the world’s first and only online trust scheme for online jewellery retailers with the guarantee of an Assay Office. This scheme protects online jewellery shoppers from counterfeit and fake jewellery and helps brands build consumer trust.
What is a Hallmark?
A hallmark is a series of marks applied to an item of precious metal by a government-appointed Assay Office. The marks are only applied after the item has been tested to verify the precious metal content.
A hallmark provides the following information:
Who?
The registered mark of the company or individual who placed the items on the market
What?
The precious metal content in parts per thousand inside a specific shape for each metal.
Where?
Each of the four UK Assay Offices has a separate mark.
What should I do if I suspect an article I purchased is not Hallmarked?
As a consumer, you have a legal right to the independent guarantee that a hallmark provides. If you have purchased from an Assay Assured Jewellery Retailer, they have made a commitment to the Assay Assured code of conduct to ensure all product sold is compliant.
Here is your checklist whenever you purchase a piece of precious metal jewellery.
- Before you buy, look around the supplier’s site to see if they provide any information about hallmarking. It is a legal requirement for anyone selling precious metal jewellery to display information about hallmarking in the form of a dealers’ notice (pop-up with notices). Whenever you see the Assay Assured Trustmark, it means the retailer complies with our code of conduct.
- When you receive your jewellery, check it to see if it carries a hallmark. If it weighs less than the limits below, it may not require one.
- Gold items below 1 gram
- Silver items below 7.78 grams
- Platinum items below 0.5 grams
- Palladium items below 1 gram
- If the precious metal weight is greater than the above listed weights, the item should have a hallmark.
- If you have bought an item that is not exempt by weight, and there is no hallmark, then the company you have purchased may be guilty of an offence under the 1973 Hallmarking Act.
- In the first instance, you should contact the company you have purchased from with your concern.
- If after you have contacted the company and they have responded to your query, you are still not satisfied, you should:
- If the company displays the Assay Assured Jewellery Retailer trust mark you can contact us to make an independent assessment on your behalf.
- If the company you have purchased from is not an Assay Assured Jewellery Retailer you should contact your local trading standards department.
