ElanoryaFineness marks
The numerals report metal content in parts per thousand
925, 750 and 585 are measurements, not product codes. Each is a millesimal fineness mark, a numerical format that the London Assay Office records as compulsory in the United Kingdom since 1999 and as showing the precious metal content of the article expressed in parts per thousand.
A proportion, expressed per thousand
The numeral stamped into a piece is a millesimal fineness mark. The London Assay Office states: 'This numerical format was made compulsory in 1999 and shows the precious metal content of the article, expressed in parts per thousand.' That compulsory status is a United Kingdom one; the pages read for this page on 19 August 2026 describe no other country's requirements, and nothing here should be read as a claim about one, in either direction.
Because the figure is expressed per thousand, it is a ratio rather than a quantity: 750 is a statement about how much of the metal is precious metal, not about how much metal there is.
The Assay Office Birmingham puts the reading of one figure in plain terms: 'if you see 925 inside a ring, it means the piece contains 92.5% silver, confirming it's Sterling Silver.'
How many component marks a full hallmark carries, and which of them are compulsory, is settled on a separate page and is not the subject here.
The 0 to 1000 rating, and the figures statute attaches to a standard
The Goldsmiths' Company describes the mark's two jobs at once: 'The Millesimal Fineness Mark supplies more information, telling you both which precious metal an item is made from and how pure it is on a rating from 0–1000.' The mark therefore carries two things at once: which metal the item is made from, and how pure it is on that rating.
United Kingdom statute then fixes which figures belong to which standard. Schedule 2, Part I of the Hallmarking Act 1973 pairs gold at a standard of fineness of 750 with the standard mark 'The figures 750', silver at 925 with 'The figures 925', and platinum at 950 with 'The figures 950'.
Those three rows are the ones quoted here. This page does not print a complete list of the fineness marks recognised in the United Kingdom: the assay office page that carries such a list presents it as an image, which is not text that can be quoted.
Carats and parts per thousand, as United Kingdom statute sets them out
The mapping below is the table at Schedule 1, Part III of the Hallmarking Act 1973, published at legislation.gov.uk and read on 19 August 2026. It is quoted from the statute because that is where it appears as text; assay office pages carry the same mapping inside an image. The rows below are the whole of what is quoted here — no further carat figure is inferred from them.
| Number of carats | Standard of fineness stated by the table |
|---|---|
| 9 | 375 parts per thousand |
| 12 | 500 parts per thousand |
| 14 | 585 parts per thousand |
| 15 | 625 parts per thousand |
| 18 | 750 parts per thousand |
| 22 | 916.6 parts per thousand |
Where a fineness figure gets read for more than it says
Each row below pairs a reading the record does not carry with the statement it does.
The United Kingdom statutory table is carried into a description written for another country's rules.
Name the United Kingdom wherever the table is quoted. The sources read here cover no other regime, and their silence is not a statement about those regimes either.
A carat figure that the table does not list is inferred from the pattern of the rows.
The table lists 9, 12, 14, 15, 18 and 22 carats. This page adds no row to it and states no carat equivalent outside it.
The stamp is offered to a buyer as settling whether the piece is genuine.
The record describes what the mark reports and carries no procedure for judging a mark; that question is not settled on this page.
The figure is read as a statement about how much metal is in the piece.
It is a proportion — precious metal content per thousand parts — and the record attaches no weight to it.
Questions this page does not take up
The meaning of the numeral is the whole of this page's job. The following sit outside it.
- The anatomy of a full hallmark and which of its components are compulsory — a separate page settles that.
- Whose initials appear in a mark.
- A genuine piece that carries no mark at all.
- How a metal description has to be written for buyers outside the United Kingdom.
- A complete list of the fineness marks recognised in the United Kingdom, which the assay office page presents as an image.
- Carat equivalents beyond the rows quoted from the statutory table.
- Any country other than the United Kingdom: the sources describe none, so this page states nothing about them.
Questions
What do the three numerals stamped inside jewellery stand for?
They are a millesimal fineness mark. The London Assay Office states that the numerical format 'was made compulsory in 1999 and shows the precious metal content of the article, expressed in parts per thousand' — a United Kingdom requirement, described by United Kingdom sources.
What scale is the number on?
The Goldsmiths' Company, describing United Kingdom hallmarking, states that the millesimal fineness mark tells you both which precious metal an item is made from and how pure it is on a rating from 0 to 1000.
Which carat figure does 585 correspond to?
Fourteen carats. The table at Schedule 1, Part III of the Hallmarking Act 1973, United Kingdom statute, maps 9 carats to 375 parts per thousand, 12 to 500, 14 to 585, 15 to 625, 18 to 750 and 22 to 916.6. That mapping is quoted from the statute, not from an assay office page.
Does the number tell me what the piece is worth?
No. It reports precious metal content per thousand parts. This page carries no price, valuation or resale statement, and the fineness figure is not offered as proof of authenticity, weight or origin either.