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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.
November 02, 2021 | 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.
People love taking inspiration from their favourite celebrities, whether it’s royals or popstars, actors or influencers, the UK are fascinated with celebrity culture. We love having sneak peeks into their homes for interior inspiration, following their fashion trends and being inspired by their elaborately dreamy weddings.
Here at Diamonds Factory, we were curious to learn which celebrities had the most-searched-for weddings. We also wanted to know how much their incredible weddings cost, where they got married and, of course, who designed the all-important dress. Keep reading to discover our findings.
Most-Searched-For Weddings (UK searches - ranked by average monthly searches) and Wedding Cost
From our research, we learned that the most searched for wedding in 2021 was Ant McPartlin’s wedding! He tied the knot to Anne-Marie Corbett on August 7th 2021 in front of 100 guests in Heckfield Place, Hampshire. Before they started dating, Anne-Marie was employed as Ant’s personal assistant, and her two daughters from a previous marriage played a big part as bridesmaids on their special day. As you might expect, Ant’s TV counterpart and best friend of 27 years, Declan Donnelly, was the best man for the ceremony.
Despite tying the knot on the 29th of April 2011, ‘Kate Middleton’s wedding’ is still the second most-searched wedding in the UK in 2021, with around 2,900 average searches a month. We can’t think of a better place to get wedding inspiration than a royal wedding!
Coming in at third place is Michelle Keegan who got married to her husband Mark Wright back on the 24th of May 2015. The Corrie actress and Towie star tied the knot in Hengrave Hall, Suffolk, with a lavish ceremony and reception, which still holds a place front of mind for many brides today.
Most-Searched-For Weddings - Venues in the UK
So, where exactly did the most searched-for weddings take place? Diamonds Factory has got the list of the most exclusive and sought-after wedding venues in 2021.
From Marylebone, London, to Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland, the most searched weddings took place at a variety of stunning venues across the UK. The cost of a wedding reception at these esteemed venues will vary significantly depending on the date, the number of guests and the room you choose.
Most Searched-For Wedding Dresses
Wedding dresses are a search term all of their own, and for good reason! If you’re planning your wedding, you will undoubtedly search for your favourite celebs dresses for inspiration, where they’re from and if they are affordable. Diamonds Factory has done the hard work for you and found the dress designers for the most searched wedding dresses and the hefty price tags they come with.
Unsurprisingly, Kate Middleton’s Alexander McQueen gown made history at the royal wedding, costing somewhere around £355,000. The price tag on Kate’s dress makes Gwen Stefani’s £25,000 gown seem reasonably priced by comparison. But, Gwen Stefani adorned not one but two gorgeous ivory Vera Wang’s for her recent wedding to Blake Shelton - quite different from the pink dress she wore to her previous wedding.
The cost of Michelle Keegan’s dress was estimated to be around £13,000 based on the usual prices of Galia Lahav’s bespoke couture dresses.
Looking to pop the question soon? Browse our impressive range of beautiful diamond engagement rings.