Hall Mark

American Watchmaker and Jeweler (1892)

The stamp placed upon articles of gold and silver after being assayed by government officials. The United States government does not employ hall marks, but articles can be assayed by the proper officers, and a certificate of their standard given upon payment of a small fee. The hall marking of watch-cases is not compulsory in Switzerland, unless they contain some stamp indicating their quality, and the English and other hall marks are recognized. In Great Britain, with few exceptions, the hall marking of jewelry is optional with the manufacturer, but all gold or silver cases made in Great Britain or Ireland must be marked. The hall marks for Switzerland are shown in Fig. 160. Hall marks are not alone useful for determining the quality of goods, but are also a great aid in determining the age of watches, etc. The hall mark of Great Britain consists of several impressions in separate frames or shields; the quality mark, the office mark (which designates where it was stamped), year mark, and if duty is chargeable, the head of the reigning sovereign. The standard or quality mark for London and Birmingham is, for gold, a crown, as shown in Fig. 161, and 18 or some other figure to designate the carat. The standard mark for 22 carat gold prior to 1845 was a lion passant, which is now used as the quality mark for sterling silver. The quality mark for 15k. gold is 15 or 625, for 12k. is 12 or .5 and for 9k. is 9 or .375. The decimals indicate the proportions of pure gold of 24k. in the alloys. The office or location mark for London is a Leopard's head in a shield, as shown in Fig. 161. The leopard's head was crowned prior to 1823. Watch cases have been exempt from duty in Great Britain since 1798, but all foreign cases are stamped, the die for silver being an octagon with the word foreign and for gold a cross. These dies also contain a mark to show where marked, that of London having a sun or full moon. In Great Britain, from 1697 to 1823, the standard mark for silver was a Lion's head, and the office mark a figure of Britannia, but from the latter date to the present time, a lion passant and a leopard's head have been used. The date marks shown in Fig. 162, will prove very valuable in fixing the dates of watches made in Great Britain as in most cases, the case was made at a date coinciding pretty closely with the manufacture of the watch.