Jewelry Hallmarks (stamps)

[sukiisukii]

just wondering whether there is somewhere which lists (or images) hallmarks for different companies. i have a ring which i am trying to figure out who the maker is... is this possible? if a ring is not "brand name" will it have some type of maker''s mark?

 

[oldmancoyote]

Woweee!!! There are whole books dedicated to the subject - but I suspect most makers' marks remain uncategorised.

I have been searching for a net-based source on and off for a few years, but I haven't been able to find anything which is specific to jewellery/goldsmithing marks. Many goldsmith/jewellers marks also are more recent (and more variable) than silver marks, hence the lack of documentation.

If the goldsmith/jeweller is/was also a silversmith, www.silvercollection.it has a pretty good list - however many "gold only" marks aren't recorded, and the story is even worse for platinum (marking platinum was not compulsory in the UK until the 1970s, and in the US, France and Italy the sponsor's/maker's mark is not compulsory).

To answer your other questions: if you can post images (best) or a description (long shot) of the marks, someone may be able to help; as I said, I don't think an exhaustive list exists anywhere for any country (except possibly the UK, which has Jackson's).

Depending on the country, the age and size of the piece, and the maker, a "non branded" ring may or may not have a maker's mark.