Hallmarking

One of the most important factors that affect the reputation of any jeweller is – trust!  When a consumer is purchasing any kind of jewelry, he is not only investing his hard earned money but also his trust in the jeweller. The consumer assumes that the money spent by him is fetching him fair quality products. But quite often the scenario is different; the consumers are deceived by providing them low quality goods for the price of higher quality.

Such malpractices are common in gold purchases. India is the largest consumer of gold. An estimate shows that in India on an average 950 tonnes of gold is demanded which is equivalent to 33% of the global gold production. Out of which 52% is used for purchasing jewelry and the rest for investment and industrial purposes.

To control or avoid this victimization of consumers Government of India came up with the Bureau of Indian Standards certification scheme which operates under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act 1986. This is a voluntary scheme and can be taken up by any jeweller willing to operate under the scheme upon fulfilment of certain formalities. License is granted to the jeweller by BIS under the hallmark scheme. BIS certified jewellers can get their jewellery hallmarked from any BIS recognised assaying and hallmarking centre.

BIS MARK

A BIS hallmarked jewelry in India will comprise of five elements:

1. BIS Mark
2. Fineness number corresponding to given Karats.
3. Assaying & Hallmarking centre’s logo authorised by BIS
4. Year of Marking represented by a code letter. For example letter ‘A’ denotes year 2000.
5. BIS certified jeweller’s logo.

FIVE ELEMENTS OF BIS HALLMARK

OBJECTIVES OF HALLMARKING

• To protect the consumers against irregularity in gold quality.
• To promote gold exports by standardizing the product.
• To promote India as a leading gold market.

ADVANTAGES OF HALLMARKING:-

• Safeguards consumer interests.
• Promotes and helps maintain quality.

 

BIS HALLMARKED JEWELRY

Hallmarking is one of the most effective initiative of the Government which not only controls the malpractices but also helps consumers put in their trust in the jewellers easily. It also makes one aware of fine quality products and instils confidence in the buyer.

  

*The Author is a Colored Stone Graduate from Gemological Institute of America, Mumbai and a Diamond Graduate from Solitaire Diamond Institute, Bangalore. She also holds a Diploma in Jewelry Designing & Manufacturing from Jewelry Product Development Centre, Jaipur. She also blogs at 'The Jewel Affair'.

*Picture Courtesy: Google Images