They say all that glitters is not gold/silver. And true that! However, many buyers are not aware of the standards of its quality. Naturally, sellers often try to dupe their customers with low-quality gold/silver jewellery. Hallmarking is a means to safeguard the interest of the buyers. BIS Hallmark is a system that helps you determine the purity of gold/silver jewels sold in the country. It is a certification issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standards organisation in India. The certification given by this body, which is called BIS Hallmark Certificate, confirms that a piece of gold/silver jewel adheres to the standards set by BIS.
In India, hallmarking of gold/silver is not a very old concept. It started in April 2000. Prior to this, buyers didn’t have a sure shot way of determining the purity of gold/silver. Hallmarked gold/silver ensures that the metal used to make the ornament conforms to international and national standards of purity and fineness. No wonder, the BIS hallmarking has become the benchmark of trust for a large number of gold/silver buyers in the country.
As a buyer If you are investing your money to buy it, why not be sure about its quality? This way, you will know that the metal you are buying is worth the money you are spending on it. When you buy gold/silver hallmarked by the Bureau of Indian Standards, you can be about the quality of the metal. So, whether you are buying gold/silver Jewellery or anything else, always go for hallmarked items.
No one can determine the purity of gold/silver touching or looking at it. Even experienced jewellers can’t assess the purity of gold/silver without proper evaluation. Two gold/silver ornaments may be of same design and style, but they can greatly vary in value due to the difference in gold/silver purity. A hallmark certification can resolve all such issues. It can provide all the necessary details and confirm the purity of the gold/silver.
Now, imagine that you are planning to sell your jewellery. Note that self-certification by a jeweller won’t help if you decide to exchange your gold/silver at another jeweller. But if you are armed with a hallmark certification, you won’t have to worry. Hallmark spells trust and confidence in the gold/silver jewellery industry. Not just buyers, even sellers accept it.
BIS Hallmark for gold/silver items consists of five components or marks. The presence of these marks on your gold/silver indicates that the metal conforms to the purity standards laid out by the Bureau of Indian Standards. These marks are:
BIS Standard Mark: It is a triangular mark. It indicates that a third-party assessor has done the hallmarking after proper evaluation and confirms the purity of the metal.
Jeweller’s Mark: It is the mark of the jeweller or the manufacturer of the item. Each jeweller certified by BIS has a unique logo that is embossed on their ornaments.
All these marks are clearly stamped on hallmarked items. Are you buying a piece of jewellery? Or are you buying a gold/silver coin? Check the item carefully to see these five marks imprinted on it in tiny forms.
However, hallmarking of any jewellery weighing up to 2.00 grams or less does not fall in category of compulsory hallmark format