Cracking the Secret Code

This gorgeous pair of three coloured gold Aesthetic earrings just arrived with registration marks for 1867 and it got us thinking about the history of the diamond/registration mark and we wanted to share this with you.

The British Patent Office during the period 1842-1883 issued a diamond mark along with the registration number every time a design was registered. As well as showing that the design had been registered, diamond marks offered buyers reassurance of knowing an item was of British design and the designer a degree of protection from copies being produced. 

If you refer to the image on the right showing the individual sections of a full diamond registration mark. The mark was created to identify the type of material used (known as the class), how many items were included (known as bundle or package) and the date of registration (numbers and letters used to work out the date). Note the registration number does not form part of the mark. The centre is occupied by the abbreviation Rd signifying that this is a Patent Office mark standing for Registered Design.

After 1884 the diamond mark was not produced instead it changed to a string of consecutive numbers to date the registered designs, e.g. the year 1885 would appear as '19756'. Although these marks can be complicated whether they were printed, engraved or otherwise marked on any object from jewellery, pottery, bronze etc, it gives us an interesting insight into the age and makers from this period.

We have a few pieces with varying registration marks and would love to show them to you. Come and visit us in store and check them out.