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We’ve teamed up with Klarna to provide flexible payment options, allowing you to shop the way you want. With Klarna, you can split your payment into 3 instalments or choose to pay later, making your shopping experience smoother and more convenient. Your order total must be between £100 and £499 to qualify.
We’ve teamed up with Klarna to provide flexible payment options, allowing you to shop the way you want. With Klarna, you can split your payment into 3 instalments or choose to pay later, making your shopping experience smoother and more convenient. Your order total must be between £100 and £499 to qualify.
March 28, 2018 | by Admin
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)
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.
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.
Getting married is one of the most wondrous things in life but planning a wedding can be super stressful so we wrote this blogpost with everything you need to know to plan your dream wedding. Also, you can download our free #Weddingplanning checklist!
18 to 12 Months before the wedding
After you celebrated your engagement it is good to sit with your partner and discuss your wedding plans and how both of you imagine it. Would you like a summer or winter wedding? Would it be themed? Would it be religious or civil? What would the budget be?
Setting the date is super important and super difficult too so spend time on it and select at least 3 possible dates because your venue not being available on your one date is a possibility. This takes us to the next point: choose and book your venue, which will let you send the save-the-date cards so your friends and family have enough time to organise.
12 to 9 Months before the Wedding
9 to 6 Months before the Wedding
These three months are a little bit more relaxed, with a few tasks on your to-do list:
-Order wedding invitations: choose a design and the tone of voice you want your invitations to have. Don’t forget to include an RSVP card where your guests can, apart from confirming their assistance, choose their dietary restrictions.
-Wedding shoes and accessories: now that you have your wedding dress sorted it is time to choose the shoes. Would you go for a classic bridal white? Or would you rock a bright blue colour a la Carrie Bradshaw? Also, it is time to choose your jewellery, some delicate diamond stud earrings are always a classic and safe choice. You can also choose a sapphire necklace to be your ‘something blue’.
-Order your wedding cake. You could go traditional or out-of-the-box a stack of doughnuts style. The world is your oyster!
-Makeup artist and hairdresser: book a trial to see how your chosen makeup and hairstyle look on you.
-Plan a fun date with your bridesmaids and go dress hunting. They could also help you get the groomswear, flower girls and page boys sorted!
6 to 3 Months before the Wedding
1 Month before the Wedding
1 Week before the Wedding
The Day before the Wedding
The most amazing day of your life is about to happen so it is good to avoid any stress. Just get a manicure and pedicure, watch a funny movie and go to bed early.
Hopefully this blog post will help you organise the wedding of your dreams. You can download our wedding checklist here.