Hallmark is a third party certification of the purity of gold . In other words, it tells you the percentage of pure gold present in your gold jewellery. In India , this is done by Assaying and Hallmarking Centres , authorized by BIS, confirming to the necessary standards. The necessary standards are IS 1417 : 1999 for jewelers and IS 1418: 1999 for Hall Marking centres . This was introduced by Govt of India to safe guard the interest of consumers.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.

License 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. It will provide clear indication of a jewellers capability, strong evidence of commitment to quality and assurance of consistency in purity and quality of gold (or silver) jewellery.

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.