Hallmark has been acting as a safeguard to purchasers of gold and gold articles for centuries in various countries. In simple terms, Hallmark is a purity certification of gold articles in accordance with Indian Standard specifications.

Gold articles are evaluated and tested at an official Assaying and Hallmarking Centre and then certified that the metal used confirms to the national and international standard of fineness and purity

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the country’s apex standards body, is involved in the development of technical standards (popularly known as Indian Standards), product quality and management system certifications and consumer affairs in all matters concerning Standardization, Certification and Quality.

The BIS Hallmarking Scheme has been aligned with International criteria on hallmarking (Vienna Convention 1972). As per this scheme, licence is granted to the jewellers by BIS under Product Certification Scheme. The BIS certified jewellers can get their jewellery hallmarked from any of the BIS recognized Assaying and Hallmarking Centre.

Hallmark consists of five components i.e. BIS Mark, the Fineness number (corresponding to given caratage), Assaying and Hallmarking Centre's Mark, Jeweller's Mark and year of Marking denoted by a code letter and decided by BIS (e.g. code letter `A' was approved by BIS for year 2000, `B' being used for the year 2001 and `C' for 2002). The marking is done either using punches or laser marking machine.

The BIS hallmark, a mark of conformity widely accepted by the consumer, bestows the additional confidence to the consumer on the purity of gold jewellery.