In 2015, The AnchorCert Group relocated from their previous home in Newhall Street to new, state-of-the-art, purpose-built premises in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter on Moreton Street. This very clear investment in the future of the Birmingham jewellery trade demonstrates the business’s dedication and commitment to the provision of independent testing, analysis and validation services for metals (both precious and base) or precious stones.
The Group is fiercely proud of its mission, “To protect the consumer and to serve the trade”, which it does via its five divisions as follows:
A history of hallmarking
Hallmarking dates far back into the 1300s when a Statute of Edward I established the assaying and marking of precious metals. The Statute of 1300 granted the Wardens of the company of Goldsmiths, in London, to go out to the workshops in the city and assay all silver and gold.
Nevertheless, it was only silver that met the standard requirements and was marked at the time; the mark was that of a leopard’s head, which is still used by the London Assay Office today. Eventually, gold came to be marked in the same way as silver.
1363 was the year that the marker’s mark was added to the hallmark. Initially, the marker’s marks were mostly pictorial, although the rise of the literacy rates introduced the system of using the marker’s initials.
Hallmarking of precious metals continues to be a legal requirement in the UK.
(All pictures credited to The AnchorCert Group, 2017)
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