Estate Jewelry & Silver Research Reference Sites

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.

Jewelry Makers, Marks & History

Antique Jewelry University — Lang Antiques
Extensive educational reference covering antique and estate jewelry, periods and styles,
terminology, gemstones, hallmarks, and maker’s marks.

Heritage Auctions — Jewelry Maker’s Marks
Illustrated database of jewelry designers and maker’s marks useful in researching signed estate jewelry.

Ganoksin
Long-running educational resource for jewelers, metalsmiths, gemologists, and researchers,
including technical and historical articles.

Gold, Silver, Platinum & Purity Marks

Federal Trade Commission — Jewelry Guides
Authoritative U.S. guidance concerning representations about gold, silver, platinum,
gemstones, pearls, and other jewelry products.

Jewelry Purity & Metal Marks — What Does This Symbol Mean?
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.

925-1000.com
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 UK Hallmarking Guide — British Hallmarking Council
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.

Goldsmiths’ Company — London Assay Office 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.

Silver Makers Marks — UK & Ireland
Identification aid for British and Irish silversmiths using maker’s and sponsor’s marks
taken from actual hallmarks.

SilverCollection.it
Broad international reference particularly useful for Italian and European gold and silver marks,
silversmiths, and hallmark systems.

Argenti Inglesi
Reference material on the history and styles of English silver from the Middle Ages through the modern era.

American Silver, Flatware & Specialized Silver

Sterling Flatware Fashions
Comprehensive reference to American sterling flatware patterns, manufacturers,
retailer marks, silversmiths, and related information.

ChicagoSilver — Master Online List of Silver & Jewelry Marks
Long-established directory linking to specialized maker’s-mark and silver research resources.

Dating Silver-Plated Christofle Hollowware
Article explaining Christofle numbering and how production marks and numbers can help date silver-plated hollowware.

Trademarks on Base-Metal Tableware — Eileen Woodhead
Important reference to marks on Britannia metal, iron, steel, copper alloys,
and silver-plated tableware from the late eighteenth through nineteenth centuries.

J.H. Tee Antiques — Canadian Silver
Specialist antique-silver resource containing useful information for research into Canadian silver.

Kovels — English Registry Marks
Guide to interpreting the British diamond-shaped registration marks used beginning in 1842
and the later registered-design number system.

Chinese Export Silver

925-1000 — Chinese Export Silver Marks
Illustrated maker and retailer mark reference covering China Trade and later Chinese Export Silver,
including locations and approximate working periods where known.

Chinese Export Silver — Adrien von Ferscht
Specialist research concerning Chinese silver makers, retailers, artisan marks,
pseudo-hallmarks, chronology, and historical context.

Mexican & French Silver

Mexican Silver & Taxco Marks
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.

French Silver & Gold Hallmarks
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

Medicine Man Gallery — Native American Jewelry Hallmarks
Image database of Native American jewelry marks searchable by artist, hallmark,
picture mark, and shop mark.

Art-Amerindien — Native American Jewelry Signatures
Illustrated alphabetical reference to Native American jewelry artists’ signatures
and Southwestern shop hallmarks.

Watches & Horology

Pocket Watch Database
Serial-number lookups, specifications, production information, and historical references
for major American pocket-watch manufacturers.

Mikrolisk — Horological Trade Mark Index
Extensive index of watch, clock, movement, and case trademarks,
particularly useful for European manufacturers and distributors.

Chrono-Shop — Watch Model References
Commercial watch-parts site containing useful model, case, movement,
bracelet, and component-reference information.

Gemology

The Gemology Project
Nonprofit educational reference covering gemstones, gem identification,
treatments, gemological methods, and equipment.

Last reviewed: September 2026.