Jewellery Hallmarks, Stamps, and Marks: What Every Symbol Means

If you examine a piece of gold jewellery under a loupe, you will find a set of tiny stamped or laser-engraved marks that contain a surprising amount of information.

These marks — collectively called hallmarks, assay marks, maker's marks, or purity stamps depending on their type and origin — are permanent records impressed directly into the metal.

Learning to read them takes minutes and gives you immediate, independent verification of what you are buying or selling.

The Modern BIS HUID Hallmark (India, post-2021)

Since September 2021, BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) hallmarking is mandatory for all gold jewellery sold in India.

The current hallmarking system consists of two elements laser-engraved on every certified piece.

The first is the BIS mark — a triangle with the letters BIS inside.

This triangle indicates that the piece has been independently tested and certified by a BIS-recognised Assaying and Hallmarking Centre (AHC).

The second is the HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification) — a six-character alphanumeric code (a mix of letters and numbers, such as AZ4721).

This code is unique to every individual piece of jewellery in India.

It is registered in the BIS database and links the piece to the specific jeweller who submitted it for hallmarking.

You can verify the HUID on the BIS Care app (Android/iOS) or the BIS website in seconds.

Note that the purity grade (916, 750, 585) is no longer stamped separately as a mandatory mark under the post-2021 system, because the HUID contains the purity information in the database.

However, many jewellers continue to stamp the purity mark as well for buyer clarity.

Gold Purity Marks and Their Karat Equivalents

Purity Mark	Karat Equivalent	Gold Content	Common Use in India
999	24K	99.9% gold	Coins, bars, investment gold
958	23K	95.8% gold	Rare; some South Indian temple jewellery
916	22K	91.6% gold	Most common for jewellery in India
875	21K	87.5% gold	Middle Eastern jewellery imports
750	18K	75.0% gold	Diamond jewellery, designer pieces
585	14K	58.5% gold	Western-style jewellery, some exports
375	9K	37.5% gold	Rarely used in India; common in UK
999 (Silver)	Fine Silver	99.9% silver	Investment silver bars
925 (Silver)	Sterling Silver	92.5% silver	Standard for silver jewellery
950 (Platinum)	Pt950	95.0% platinum	Standard for platinum jewellery in India

The Pre-2021 Indian Hallmark (Five-Part System)

Jewellery purchased before September 2021 may carry the older voluntary five-part BIS hallmark, which you will still encounter when dealing with older pieces.

Reading left to right on the hallmarked area:

Part 1 — BIS logo: The BIS triangle mark, confirming independent certification.

Part 2 — Purity grade: The numerical purity stamp (916, 750, etc.).

Part 3 — Assaying and Hallmarking Centre code: A letter or letter-number combination identifying which AHC tested the piece.

For example, "A" commonly denotes a specific AHC. This code allowed traceability to the testing laboratory.

Part 4 — Jeweller's identification mark: A four-character code identifying the BIS-registered jeweller who submitted the piece for hallmarking.

Part 5 — Year letter: A letter denoting the year of hallmarking, from a rotating alphabetical code published by BIS. "A" = 2000, "B" = 2001, etc. (with some years skipped).

This allows you to determine approximately when a piece was hallmarked.

International Hallmarks You May Encounter

If you travel abroad, inherit pieces from relatives who lived overseas, or buy from online platforms selling imported jewellery, you will encounter international hallmarks that follow different systems.

British hallmarks: Among the world's oldest and most rigorous.

A British hallmarked piece carries: an Assay Office mark (an anchor for the Birmingham Assay Office; a castle for Edinburgh; a rose for Sheffield; a crown — historically — for London's Goldsmiths' Company); a fineness mark (375 for 9K, 585 for 14K, 750 for 18K, 916 for 22K, 999 for 24K); and a maker's mark.

The lion passant (a walking lion) is an additional mark guaranteeing the piece is sterling silver and hallmarked in England. Date letters are also used.

Italian marks: Italy is a major jewellery exporting nation. Italian gold typically carries 750 for 18K or 585 for 14K, often inside a small oval or rectangular cartouche.

Italian pieces also have a maker's code and a province code.

American marks: The United States has no mandatory hallmarking law. Karat stamps (14K, 18K, 10K) are voluntary and self-declared by the manufacturer.

American gold jewellery carries a manufacturer's responsibility mark alongside the karat claim, but there is no independent government verification.

This makes American-origin pieces slightly harder to verify without independent testing.

French marks: The French eagle's head mark on gold means 18K purity has been independently verified by a French Assay Office.

France also has marks for imported goods and for lower-karat gold.

The Key Distinction: A hallmark is applied by an independent government-recognised body after independent testing — it is not the jeweller's self-declaration. A maker's mark or karat stamp applied by the manufacturer is a self-claim that has not been independently verified. The value of a hallmark lies entirely in the independence of the testing body. BIS hallmarking in India, the British Assay Office system, and the French import mark are all genuine hallmarks. A manufacturer's self-applied "18K" stamp on American jewellery is not a hallmark in the strict sense.

Maker's Marks on Antique Indian Jewellery

On Indian jewellery made before the BIS hallmarking system existed, you may find maker's marks in the form of symbols, letters in regional scripts, or abstract shapes stamped into the metal.

These were traditionally used by goldsmiths as signatures — identifiers of their workshop.

Some of these marks are traceable to specific historical craft centres: certain marks from Murshidabad (Bengal), Hyderabad's historic jewellery quarter, or the goldsmiths of Jaipur's old city are documented in antique trade references.

For genuinely antique pieces, a specialist appraiser with knowledge of regional Indian goldsmith marks is needed for authentication.

Comprehensive Marks Reference

Mark Type	Who Applies It	What It Means	Independent Verification?
BIS HUID (India, post-2021)	BIS-recognised AHC	Purity certified; piece traceable in database	Yes — BIS Care app
BIS triangle (India)	BIS-recognised AHC	Independent certification body mark	Yes — part of HUID system
916 / 750 / 585 etc.	Manufacturer or AHC	Declared purity in parts per thousand	Only if accompanied by BIS mark
British Assay Office mark (anchor/castle)	UK Assay Office	Office of independent testing identified	Yes — Assay Office records
Lion passant (UK)	UK Assay Office	Sterling silver (925) certified in England	Yes
French eagle's head	French Assay Office	18K gold independently certified	Yes
18K / 14K stamp (USA)	Manufacturer	Self-declared purity — no independent body	No — self-declaration only
Italian cartouche (750, 585)	Manufacturer + provincial mark	Purity declared; province of origin identified	Partial — provincial code traceable
Jeweller's maker mark (pre-2021 India)	Manufacturer	Identifies registered jeweller who submitted for hallmarking	Via BIS registration records

The practical takeaway: when buying jewellery in India, the BIS HUID — verifiable in seconds on your phone — is the only mark that provides real-time, independent confirmation of both purity and provenance.

All other marks — manufacturer's self-stamps, undocumented symbols, or foreign marks you cannot verify — should prompt additional scrutiny before you commit to a purchase.