Design Registration Mark or "Kitemark".
Photo Courtesy of Lang Antiques.

During the Victorian Era in Great Britain, in addition to their hallmarking conventions, a diamond-shaped (or lozenge-shaped) Design Registration Mark (1842-1883), known as a "kitemark" was used on jewelry and other decorative arts. These marks were stamped to indicate the date a particular design was registered, similar to a patent mark. Since kitemarks simply register designs they cannot be relied on to provide an accurate date of manufacture.

Kitemarks from 1842-1867 consisted of the "Class" at the top within a circle, the "Year" at the top, the "Month" at the left point, "Day" at the right and "Bundle" number at the bottom. From 1868-1883 the "Day" was at the top, "Bundle" on the left, "Year" on the right and "Month" at the bottom.

These marks can be helpful in circa dating a piece but do little, if anything, to identify the maker. Kitemarks were replaced by Registration Serial Numbers in 1884.

Kitemark 1842-1867

Kitemark 1868-1883

Kitemark Month Codes
C January	G February	W March
H April	E May	M June
I July	R August	D September
B October	K November	A December

Kitemark Year Codes
	V 1850	Z 1860	O 1870	J 1880
	P 1851	R 1861	A 1871	E 1881
X 1842	D 1852	O 1862	I 1872	L 1882
H 1843	Y 1853	G 1863	F 1873	K 1883
C 1844	J 1854	N 1864	U 1874
A 1845	E 1855	W 1865	S 1875
I 1846	L 1856	Q 1866	N 1876
F 1847	K 1857	T 1867	V 1877
U 1848	B 1858	X 1868	D 1878
S 1849	M 1859	H 1869	Y 1879