You might have heard of the term hallmark quiet frequently in adds or while buying jewellery but you do not know what exactly it is. Here, we explain you what hallmark is all about & why you need to look for it while buying any gold jewellery.
Hallmark indicates that the gold content in the jewellery has been evaluated and that the gold adheres to international standards of purity. That is to say, you can take the gold quality as claimed by the jeweller to be genuine. When you spend a significant of amount to buy precious gold jewellery you cannot afford to rely on determining the authenticity by way touch or looks. You must remember that while purchasing the precious yellow metal, simple self-certification by the jeweller will not suffice in cases where you present the jewellery during buy-back since you may exchange your gold jewellery at another jeweller.
The hallmarking for gold carries five marks of Hallmark given by BIS. These marks are:
1. BIS Standard Mark: It tells that the Hallmarking is done by third party assessor and bears the mark of authenticity.
2. Purity Grade: In India the gold jewellery caratage range sold is 22 karat or 18 karat The purity is measured in three digits starting from 23 carat indicating purity to be 958 part of 1000.
3. Assayer or Hallmarking centre’s mark: This is a mark of the third party assayer approved by the BIS while issuing the assaying authority.
4. Year of Marking: This is a letter from the alphabet indicating year of marking decided by BIS. ‘A’ indicates it was marked in year 2001, ‘B’ for 2002 and so on.
5. Jeweller’s Mark: This is the identification mark of the manufacturer/jeweller selling the jewellery.
All these hallmarks can be clearly found stamped on the jewellery that we purchase.