Learn how to read Swedish silver jewelry hallmarks. Protect yourself from jewelry fraud. Find out how to own hallmarked Swedish silver jewelry. Read our guide for more facts & information…
A silver hallmark is a form of protection for jewelry owners, buyers and traders. Hallmarks can consist of the maker’s mark, silver content of the jewelry, date of manufacturing and other marks. This act of protection gives the jewelry a guarantee of purity. Usually, precious metals are hallmarked. But when silver jewelry is hallmarked, the mark can lead to links as to where the metal came from, when it was manufactured and who designed it.
Various hallmarking systems have evolved, one of which is the Swedish silver jewelry hallmark. Tracing its roots to the year 1912, Swedish hallmarks included a triple crown mark in a trefoil for local manufacturers, in an oval for trading, along with an S in a hexagon for the silver symbol with 830 or higher. If the jewelry is made from gold, the gold karat will be hallmarked in a rectangle. There will also be a date letter and number, a city mark and a maker’s mark.
When you buy Swedish silver you can see various marks underneath. For a basic reading of a silver jewelry hallmark, look at the first hallmark from left to right. The first silver hallmark is usually the maker’s mark or the goldsmith, or the company who manufactured the jewelry. This can be two or three letters or an abbreviation of the company’s name. These makers’ marks are registered for control.
The next silver hallmark on Swedish silver is the city stamp, where the jewelry was made or where the importer is located. For Stockholm, the city mark is designed as the crowned head of the city’s patron saint, St. Erik. City stamps include the two-letter code of each city.
Swedish silver hallmarks also show the control mark. This guarantees the quality of the silver used in making the jewelry. This hallmark has three crowns and is either shaped like a cat’s foot, for objects produced in Sweden since 1754, or the crowns are placed in an oval, for objects imported to Sweden before 1988. After 1988 the cat’s foot is used on both Swedish made and imported objects.
Another silver hallmark is a combination of letters and numbers indicating the manufacturing date of the jewelry. This is important for collectors of antique silver jewelries. Next time you buy a piece of Swedish silver jewelry, look underneath and see the silver hallmark and feel how precious and unique your Swedish silver is.
