Hallmarking is a requirement of British law and all items over a specified weight must have the approved relevant hallmark applied.
The British hallmark is one of the oldest forms of consumer protection dating back to 1327 when the London Assay Office was opened. In addition to the official hallmark, some of our items also bear the Institute of Professional Goldsmiths’ – IPG mark shows that they have been created by master craftsman Brian Fulton.
A hallmark is a combination of three compulsory symbols – the standard mark, the assay office mark and the maker’s mark. The standard mark indicates the fineness and purity of the metal, shown by a millesimal number or parts per thousand.
Items that weigh less than 1 gram in gold or palladium, less than 0.5gm in platinum or less than 7.78gm in silver are excluded from the hallmarking requirements.
‘FJ’ for Fulton Jewellery
Shows item is created by Brian Fulton personally
Birmingham Assay Office
Fineness of the precious metal
The FJ symbol in the hallmark stands for Fulton Jewellery and shows that the item has been made here by us – it’s our unique stamp indicating that we don’t have jewellery produced anywhere else on our behalf and that it’s all made right here in our Keswick workshop.
The quality of the metal is shown within the hallmark as a figure which depicts the fineness or purity of the metal. For gold this could be 375 (9ct), 585 (14ct), 750 (18ct) or 916 (22ct). For platinum 950, for palladium 950, and for silver 925.
Hallmarking in the UK is carried out at one of four Assay Offices in London, Sheffield, Birmingham and Edinburgh. Each assay office has its own emblem, at Fultons we use the Birmingham Assay office represented by the anchor, so that is the symbol that you will find on our jewellery.
For bespoke items we add the Institute of Professional Goldsmiths’ – IPG mark alongside the traditional hallmark to show that the item has been created by master Goldsmith Brian Fulton personally.
The IPG mark is an internationally recognised guarantee of origin and quality and is applied only to the finest work produced by IPG Fellows. Along with the FJ mark it is your assurance that your jewellery has been created by us.
