Untitled Document

As one of the first discovered metals and with properties ideal for use in jewellery, Gold has long been the favoured material for Royalty and the wealthy to adorn themselves as a display not only of their wealth but also of social status. Similarly, Silver is much harder than gold in it's pure form, therefore although more abundant this too has been prized as a precious metal throughout the ages. Since the late 12th Century these metals have been regulated for purity and in 1300 the London Goldsmiths Company oversaw the first assay marks in Britain.

1300 – Hallmarking first introduced into the UK. At this point the gold and silver standard marks were the same; depicting the Leopard's head which is the mark of London.

1363 - Makers marks became required, initially in form of a rebus or initials.

1378 - Town marks also required. Traditionally Birmingham has the anchor, Sheffield a crown, London the leopards head and a three towered castle for Edinburgh. Later additions included Dublin's crowned harp and Chester's three wheatsheaves.

1477 - 18 Carat replaces 19.5 Carat as Standard Gold

1478 - Date letters also required in England. Each town has it's own cycle of letters and styles to indicate the year of assay.

1575 - 22 Carat Replaces 18 Carat as Standard Gold

1798 – 18 carat reintroduced in addition to 22 Carat

1854 – 9, 12 & 15 Carat introduced

1932 – 15 and 12 carat discontinued, replaced by 14 carat.

Platinum was originally used by European Court Jewellers in the mid 1800's. Before this time scientists were unable to isolate the metal and produce it in it's pure form.

Until the late 1800's it remained too expensive for commercial use and only the wealthy could afford platinum settings. Until the late Edwardian period, it's colour remained largely out of favour for anything other than settings as yellow gold was so fashionable. However by the early 1900's trends were changing and the "new look" was being embraced. It remained the metal of choice for those who could afford it through the 20's and 30's until the effects of the War made it far too costly to produce, and with demand for jewellery falling it all but disappeared from jewellers windows for several years.

There was no legal requirement for marking Platinum until 1975, which set a single standard for platinum of 950. Earlier Platinum pieces may be stamped PLAT by the manufacturer.