Extensive educational reference covering antique and estate jewelry, periods and styles,
terminology, gemstones, hallmarks, and maker’s marks.
Education & Research
Trusted online resources for identifying estate jewelry, precious-metal marks,
silver makers, hallmarks, watches, gemstones, Native American jewelry,
Chinese Export Silver, and related decorative arts.
This directory is intended as a practical starting point for jewelers, collectors,
historians, and others researching unidentified jewelry, silver, watches, and decorative arts.
Whenever possible, compare several references before making an attribution.
Research tip: Photograph the entire object, all marks, construction details,
inscriptions, measurements, and weight before beginning your research. A maker’s mark,
retailer’s mark, purity mark, assay mark, serial number, or later-added mark may each tell
a different part of the object’s history.
Jewelry Makers, Marks & History
Extensive educational reference covering antique and estate jewelry, periods and styles,
terminology, gemstones, hallmarks, and maker’s marks.
Illustrated database of jewelry designers and maker’s marks useful in researching signed estate jewelry.
Long-running educational resource for jewelers, metalsmiths, gemologists, and researchers,
including technical and historical articles.
Gold, Silver, Platinum & Purity Marks
Authoritative U.S. guidance concerning representations about gold, silver, platinum,
gemstones, pearls, and other jewelry products.
Plain-language explanations of common marks including 925, 999, 10K/417, 14K/585,
18K/750, 22K/916, 24K/999, PT950, GF, GP/GEP, RGP, and the principal parts of a British hallmark.
One of the most extensive online references for American and international silver.
Includes American maker’s marks, pictorial and initial marks, flatware patterns and
manufacturer date codes, plus British, French, German, Italian, Russian, Austrian,
Dutch, Scandinavian and other world hallmark databases.
British, Irish & European Silver
Official British government guide to UK precious-metal hallmarks. Explains sponsor’s
marks, gold, silver, platinum and palladium fineness marks, assay-office marks,
date letters, traditional fineness symbols, and International Convention hallmarks.
Authoritative guide from the historic London Assay Office explaining British
hallmarks, fineness marks, the leopard’s-head London mark, date letters,
and Convention hallmarks.
Identification aid for British and Irish silversmiths using maker’s and sponsor’s marks
taken from actual hallmarks.
Broad international reference particularly useful for Italian and European gold and silver marks,
silversmiths, and hallmark systems.
Reference material on the history and styles of English silver from the Middle Ages through the modern era.
American Silver, Flatware & Specialized Silver
Comprehensive reference to American sterling flatware patterns, manufacturers,
retailer marks, silversmiths, and related information.
Long-established directory linking to specialized maker’s-mark and silver research resources.
Article explaining Christofle numbering and how production marks and numbers can help date silver-plated hollowware.
Important reference to marks on Britannia metal, iron, steel, copper alloys,
and silver-plated tableware from the late eighteenth through nineteenth centuries.
Specialist antique-silver resource containing useful information for research into Canadian silver.
Guide to interpreting the British diamond-shaped registration marks used beginning in 1842
and the later registered-design number system.
Chinese Export Silver
Illustrated maker and retailer mark reference covering China Trade and later Chinese Export Silver,
including locations and approximate working periods where known.
Specialist research concerning Chinese silver makers, retailers, artisan marks,
pseudo-hallmarks, chronology, and historical context.
Mexican & French Silver
Illustrated reference to Mexican silver purity and maker’s marks, including
early Mexico Silver marks, Taxco makers, government eagle marks, numerical
fineness marks, and twentieth-century Mexican silver.
Illustrated guide to French precious-metal hallmarks from 1798 onward,
including Minerve guarantee marks, boar’s-head marks, silverplate marks,
and links to an extensive alphabetical database of French maker’s marks.
Native American Jewelry
Image database of Native American jewelry marks searchable by artist, hallmark,
picture mark, and shop mark.
Illustrated alphabetical reference to Native American jewelry artists’ signatures
and Southwestern shop hallmarks.
Watches & Horology
Serial-number lookups, specifications, production information, and historical references
for major American pocket-watch manufacturers.
Extensive index of watch, clock, movement, and case trademarks,
particularly useful for European manufacturers and distributors.
Commercial watch-parts site containing useful model, case, movement,
bracelet, and component-reference information.
Gemology
Nonprofit educational reference covering gemstones, gem identification,
treatments, gemological methods, and equipment.
About these links: The Texas Jewelers Association provides these third-party
resources for educational and research purposes. Inclusion does not constitute an endorsement
of a site’s commercial services, opinions, attributions, or valuations.
Websites and databases change over time. Important identifications should be confirmed using
more than one reliable source.
Last reviewed: September 2026.