It is law within the UK that every item of precious metal sold such as Platinum, Gold, Silver is stamped labelling the item with the type of metal it is. Platinum pieces which weigh less than 0.5 grams, 18ct Gold and Palladium pieces weighing less than 1.0 gram and Silver pieces weighing less than 7.78 grams are except from hallmark.
At Diamonds Factory all our products are hallmarked as per UK hallmarking law from London Assay Office (The GoldSmith Company)
Where Hallmarking Began
The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office is the oldest assay office in the United Kingdom. It has provided hallmarking services since The Goldsmiths' Company was founded in the 1300s. The company received its royal charter in 1327 and ranks 5th in order of precedence of the 12 Great Livery Companies of the City of London.
Hallmarking dates back to the 1300s when Edward I of England passed a law requiring any item made of silver, which was offered for sale, to be at least of equal quality as that of the coin of the realm (silver currency). The wardens of The Goldsmiths' Company were tasked with visiting workshops in the City of London to assay (test) silver articles. If these articles were found to be below standard they were originally destroyed and the metal forfeited to the King. If they passed, each article received the King's mark of authentication - the mark of a leopard's head. By 1478, there were several hundred workshops and merchants manufacturing silver articles in the City of London. It was not possible for the wardens to visit them all so the merchants were ordered to bring their items to Goldsmiths' Hall for testing and marking and a permanent Assay Office was established in the building. This is the origin of the term hallmark - struck with the King's mark at Goldsmiths' Hall.
In 1544 the Goldsmith's Company adopted the King's mark as their town mark and the mark of the leopard's head is now internationally recognised as the mark of this assay office.
Today
The Goldsmiths's Company Assay Office is still based at Goldsmiths's Hall and remains the oldest company in Britain to be continually trading from the same site. However, it also has two satellite offices; at Greville Street in Hatton Garden in the heart of the London jewellery quarter and within a high security complex near London's Heathrow airport. It now has a new off-site facility within the Dalston-based jewellery manufacturer, Allied Gold. This is the first time in the Assay Office's 700 year history that it has opened permanent hallmarking services on a customer's premises.
In addition to hallmarking, the office has now expanded its range of services to support the jewellery trade and enforcement authorities. It offers a variety of specialist analytical services including nickel, lead & cadmium testing, antique silver dating, non-destructive compositional analysis, plating thickness measurement and a melt and assay service for scrap precious metal carried out in their fully independent on-site laboratory. Other services offered are a jewellery valuation service, laser marking, trading standards assistance, high quality photography and a comprehensive range of training and educational seminars, lectures and specialist events.
Know More
It’s been an incredible 15 years since Diamonds Factory officially began and we thought what better way to celebrate than by launching our biggest ever giveaway, and touch on a little bit of history on how we got here too.
With over a decade and a half of experience and knowledge in the jewellery trading business, Diamonds Factory has evolved and grown immensely and that’s thanks to all our amazing customers all over the globe. We’ve been a part of more milestones than you could even begin to imagine and what a journey we’ve been on. We love nothing more than bringing jewellery joy to everyone who shops with us and we can't wait to see what the next 15 years brings.
Before we touch on a few of our key moments over the years, let’s get talking about our biggest ever giveaway to celebrate our big birthday. We’ve put together an exclusive bundle of three of our most-loved products for one lucky person to win. Featuring our Round Diamond Stud Earrings, Diamond Solitaire Pendant Necklace and a Diamond Tennis Bracelet - head over to our socials and follow the instructions to be in with a chance to win. Good luck!
A Little Bit of Diamonds Factory History
2003 - Where the story officially starts, our founder Priyaj sold his first ring on eBay which opened his eyes to the opportunities for jewellery in the e-commerce space. For a further 3 years he went onto selling millions worth on eBay, whilst accumulating over 50,000 happy customers.
2008 - The Diamonds Factory journey began, we launched our very own website, so we could bring affordable high-quality diamonds to our customers.
2011 – Gemstones landed on our website, which allowed us to grow and expand even further 2016 – We started stocking fancy-coloured diamonds, allowing us to give our customers a more unique offering
July 2018 - We landed our dream store location on the streets of the infamous Hatton Garden, now known better as our flagship showroom.
November 2018 - Our first international store was born; we opened our first Diamonds Factory showroom in the beautiful city of Paris.
December 2018 – Growing at a fast pace with demand from our customers, we opened our Birmingham store on the renowned jewellery quarter.
2020 - Lab grown diamonds landed on our website. We now offer 1000’s of sustainable lab grown options.
White Gold Round Side Stone Diamond Engagement Ring
From £826
White Gold Round Side Stone Diamond Engagement Ring
From £1,080
White Gold Round Side Stone Diamond Engagement Ring
From £1,279
White Gold Side Stone Diamond Engagement Ring
From £968