It’s been 50 years since the 1973 Hallmarking Act was passed, before that hallmarks were a bit more complicated, so the act basically made them less tricky to understand, whilst keeping their rich history and traditions.
Hallmarking is all about verifying the quality of precious metals in jewellery. Those little marks tell you if the piece is authentic and meets the purity standards. The rules vary in every country, in the UK it depends on the metal and the weight as to whether you need a hallmark or not and which symbols are required.
Here’s what the symbols mean -
NKH - Makers initials (me)
The Lion side view - Traditional fineness symbol for sterling silver
925 - Millesimal Fineness Mark - The number is the precious metal content and the shape around it is the type of metal (silver)
Lion Head - Assay office mark for the location it was made (London)
V - The year made. The date letter changes annually on January 1st. The font, case, and shield shape all change so each can only indicate one specific year.
I would love to hallmark all the pieces in the collection as I love that it tells the story of the piece, but it’s quite a pricey process. By law, only silver pieces over a certain weight must be hallmarked.
I try to keep my prices as reasonable as I possibly can, so you'll only find my hallmark on the heavier pieces for now.
I hope in the future they adjust the price of it so that this lovely tradition isn’t lost.