A hallmark is a small stamp on a gold article. It is there to say something about the fineness of the metal. It is not a gemstone certificate, and it is not a promise about the price.
What the number is for
In India, people usually speak in carats. 24 carat is the name for gold with no intentional alloy, which is too soft for most jewellery. 22 carat is about 91.6 percent gold by weight. 18 carat is about 75 percent. The rest is other metal, added so the piece keeps its shape. A hallmark, when it is a real fineness mark, points at that proportion. Ask the shop which number is stamped, and look at it under a light rather than taking a verbal “it is hallmarked” as the whole story.
The stamp sits on a surface that the punch can reach. A tiny joint, a solder seam or a later repair may not carry the same mark. That is why the bill should still say the carat in words, for the article as sold. If a piece has no stamp, the shop can still state the fineness in writing. Absence of a stamp is a question, not an automatic verdict that the metal is false.
What a hallmark does not say
It does not say who designed the piece. It does not say whether a stone is natural. It does not say the making charge was fair. It does not say the article will suit a particular planet. Those are separate conversations. Mixing them into the stamp makes the stamp do work it was not cut to do.
A gold-plated brass bangle can look yellow and still be brass. Plating is a thin coat. A hallmark for gold fineness does not belong on a metal that is not that gold. If the bill says brass, or “gold tone”, read that as the material. The colour is not the carat.
The bill beside the stamp
A useful bill names the metal and the fineness, the gross weight, and, where stones are set, that the weight is of the whole article or of the gold only. It names the making or wastage if that is how the price was built. Keep the bill with the piece. Years later the stamp may be worn smooth on a thin edge. The paper is then the record you can still read.
None of this requires a story about the mine. It requires the number, the metal, and a sentence you can check against the object in your hand.
SGJ Journal · 4/10/2026