Silver in its purest form is too soft to create items such as jewellery and silverware and so is alloyed with other metals to make it stronger.  Sterling silver must contain at least 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals to meet the standard i.e. minimum millesimal fineness of 925.   This allows silver to remain ductile and its natural beauty to be preserved.

According to the 1973 Hallmarking Act it is prohibited to describe any item over 7.78g as 'silver' unless it bears a hallmark.  There are four offices that operate under the act: London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.  To ensure that all Out of Peru silver products comply with the UK Assay legislation, all items weighing over 7.78g are stamped by the London Assay Office:

Goldsmith's Hall

Assay Office London

Gutter Lane

London

EC2V 8AQ

T: 0207 606 8971

F: 0207 814 9353

What to look for

All of our silver at Out of Peru is stamped as 925.  However, some of our pieces can be 950 or more. 

The minimum that our hallmark should contain is shown below.  It may be hard to locate the hallmark on some items as we have the smallest stamp possible: 0.5mm to avoid any unnecessary damage to the jewellery.

OPEI stands for Out of Peru Exclusive Imports.

The Millesimal Fineness is the 'purity' mark that describes the precious metal content as parts per thousand.

The Assay Office Mark indicates where the items were tested and stamped.