Prove, Protect and Adorn
Hallmarking has long been celebrated as the UK’s oldest continuous form of consumer protection, but how do you make such a venerable institution serve makers and buyers in the 21st century? Rising to this challenge is a key strategic goal for the Company and its guardian of the hallmark, the London Assay Office. Recognising that collaboration, education and advocacy are powerful tools in our hyper-connected society, it has developed a range of initiatives to ensure that, seven centuries after its inception, the hallmark still protects the public.
The potential and the problems of online retail form one of the most obvious challenges. The events of 2020 have only accelerated the growing dominance of the internet as a platform for selling precious objects and this marketplace can be difficult to regulate. In 2019, the Goldsmiths’ Company worked with the British Hallmarking Council (BHC) to commission research to gauge the scale of the problem. A 10-day internet sweep revealed that 36% of ‘gold’ jewellery listed on sites such as Amazon and Preloved had not been advertised as hallmarked. Of those listings, 24% were suspected as fake and potentially being sold illegally. eBay was found to be another hotspot for possible hallmarking infringements: sellers on this platform alone accounted for more than half (56%) of all suspect items of ‘gold’ jewellery being sold online without mention of a hallmark.
With these stark figures demonstrating how consumers are being offered precious metal objects without the protection of a hallmark, the Assay Office has worked with the BHC to call on the government to make sure hallmarking enforcement is fit for the modern age. Deputy Warden Dr Robert Organ is clear: “This must include a review of the current Hallmarking Act to see if it could be extended to cover inter- net trade.”
In addition, Robert states that online platforms have a role to play: “We are also asking the government to work with Amazon and eBay to increase hallmarking information on precious metal jewellery listings, raising consumer and seller awareness about hallmarking and the law.” In spring 2020 the London Assay Office worked with the BHC to explore how different stakeholders within the industry could be engaged to make enforcement on all platforms more effective.
But advocating for improved digital enforcement is only one part of the campaign to ensure the hallmark retains its power to protect. The Assay Office has also worked with makers and retailers to give them the tools to use the authentication mark positively as a guarantor of purity. These include video guides looking at the value and meaning of hallmarking, which Assay Office customers can link to from their own websites. At just over a minute long, they are attention-grabbing, accessible and designed to work with consumers’ browsing habits.
March 2020 saw the Assay Office launch a new point-of-sale booklet for hallmarking customers. This free resource designed to be given away with precious metal purchases and small enough to fit inside a gift jewel box – explains what a hallmark is and what safeguards it gives for their newly acquired piece. By including this in their point-of-sale package, makers and retailers can use the hallmark to enhance the preciousness of their products.
Reaching younger consumers could seem like a difficult challenge given some of the ancient traditions surrounding the hallmark, but the Assay Office has collaborated with brands that combine a significant younger following with an appreciation of the trust a hallmark brings. It worked with Oliver Proudlock’s Serge DeNimes to create a film for its website about how hallmarking works. The Serge DeNimes Instagram account, which has more than sixty thousand followers, proudly states that all its jewellery is hallmarked in the UK. Bobby and Tommy White’s YouTube videos regularly surpass two million views, and they have created content explaining why hallmarking is relevant to them. It is not just the guarantee of purity that is important to these makers – the hallmark’s ability to connect the consumer to the maker through the sponsor’s mark also appeals to a generation that values provenance and wants to know about the making process. And, according to Bobby, the hallmark’s “iconic visuals” have their own appeal too.
In today’s uncertain world, we need the reliability and assurance provided by scientific testing more than ever. Although modern consumers navigate the world of jewellery and silver in a very different way to their forebears, the hallmark is there to protect and reassure each new generation.
Written by Eleni Bide for the Goldsmiths’ Review 2019-2020