Marks worth making
A SPECIAL hallmark has been created by the Goldsmiths’
Company to commemorate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Unlike previous hallmarks for her Diamond, Golden and Silver Jubilees and Coronation,) with the initials E. R. and a II in the centre above the number 70. ‘Hallmarks are Britain’s oldest form of consumer protection,’ explains Goldsmiths’ Company librarian Eleni Bide. ‘With their series of symbols that tell of the quality of the metal, who made it, when and at which Assay Office they were hallmarked [there are only four, London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh], they represent an ancient system that began with the first Hallmarking Act in 1300. The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office is the oldest and is actually the origin for the word “hallmark”, after Goldsmiths Hall.’ Miss Bide continues: ‘Commemorative hallmarks are different as they are voluntary, celebratory —makers don’t have to use them. The first was created in 1934 for the Silver Jubilee of George V and Queen Mary. Really, it was conceived by the industry as a way to raise interest in silver and jewellery and build sales in the wake of the depression. But its popularity has led to several others, mostly for The Queen and one for the Millennium. I can see the Platinum Jubilee hallmark being incorporated into the design of larger-scale pieces, but, with today’s laser hallmarking, it could also be used for jewellery—couples getting married this year may wish to include it on the inside of their wedding rings.’
