Hallmarks
Hallmarks are tiny symbols or words stamped on jewelry, accessories, objets de vertu, flatware, and other small precious metal items. These minuscule visuals can offer assurances as to an item’s metal content, origin, and/or date of creation. Select from the articles below to expand your knowledge with regard to these miniature clues to the history of our most precious possessions.
Vignettes
Solving the intriguing riddle posed by the marks stamped onto a piece of jewelry involves the use of a variety of skills and a wealth of knowledge. At its most...
For estate jewelers and jewelry historians, hallmarks provide an extra source of information to accurately date a jewelry object and determine by whom it was made. The most encountered hallmark...
Most silver items from the classical era are of a consistent, high, purity. This has led some to believe that there was a deliberate attempt to keep a certain standard...
Terms & Definitions
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The Hallmark Research Institute (HRI) was founded by William Whetstone, Danusia Niklewicz, and Lindy Matula as a means to further the understanding of world hallmarks through lectures and their publications...
American Jewelry Manufacturers. Dorothy T. Rainwater. West Chester PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd. 1997. ISBN 978-0887401206 Brand Name and Trademark Guide 1994. JCK. Radnor PA: Jewelers’ Circular-Keystone. 1994 ISBN 978-0931744167 Encyclopedia of American...
Maker’s marks are the initials or name of the manufacturing firm or other representative symbol stamped into a gold, silver or platinum item. Also called ‘Trademarks,’ they often provide the only evidence that a certain...
The term pseudo hallmark is conventionally used for 18th, 19th and early 20th century marks which either resemble marks from other makers, towns, countries and assay offices or are complete fantasy marks....
The National Stamping Act of 1906 (USA), amended in 1961, requires that articles made of gold or silver marked for quality must also be trademarked or stamped with the full name of the maker. In...
