Apply for the Hallmarking Awareness and Learning Online (HALO) award
The British Hallmarking Council's HALO award 2023 is open for submissions.
About the award
The HALO award recognises online retailers who have best promoted the importance and reassurance of the UK Hallmark to potential customers. They have thereby used their compliance with hallmarking legislation to benefit the business, consumers and the trade.
Application form and deadline
Applications close on Friday 8 September 2023.
To enter, you need to download and complete the and return the form along with your evidence to britishhallmarkingcouncilsec@gmail.com.
Read the .
The winner will be notified by email to the email address set out in the form.
We reserve the right not to grant the award, if we are of the opinion that none of the submitted applications merits an award.
One overall winner will be announced. If the judges see fit, we will recognise other entries which are examples of good practice.
Prize for winners
The prize for the overall winner includes:
- a magnificent silver salver, to be held for one year
- a year’s subscription to the Assay Assured scheme, the Trustmark for online jewellery retailers
- a visit to an Assay Office to learn about the hallmarking process
- the use of a banner on the winner’s website and other marketing material proclaiming “Winner of HALO award 2023 for online excellence in consumer protection”
The winner and retailers who are highly commended will also receive a set of approved digital assets to promote their success across all retail channels and social media.
The award will carry national recognition through official British Hallmarking Council (BHC) and National Association of Jewellers (NAJ) press releases and communication.
How the award is judged
We are looking to recognise simple and creative initiatives that assist with the education and promotion of hallmarking in the UK. We will take into account the size of the business and resources it may be able to allocate.
The winner will be the retailer judged to have:
- clearly described and differentiated precious metal items
- delivered the most effective online initiatives to promote hallmarking and educate potential customers about its importance
The judges will be looking for the use and visibility of hallmarking information on your website.
Preparing your entry
You need to provide evidence of the work that you have done to promote hallmarking and support your statements with relevant evidence.
Examples of good practice could include:
- prominent information about hallmarking
- links to hallmarking information from product listings
- mentioning the hallmark in product listings and descriptions
- displaying the digital version of the Dealer’s Notice
- linking to the accompanying film on YouTube
- integrating hallmarking information within the customer’s journey through your website
- clear explanations, such as understanding precious metal terminology like carats and millesimal fineness
You should ensure, when completing your submission, that you provide evidence and comprehensively address each listed item individually and specifically.
Submission content
The judges will be looking for prominent promotion of hallmarking on your website and social media, and ways in which hallmarking information is woven into the customer’s journey through your website.
Marks will be awarded for each section listed below against criteria designed to measure the most effective initiatives.
Your entry will be marked entirely on the information which you include in the application. Judges will not take account of any other knowledge that they may have of your activities.
There is no word limit on the submission but please be mindful that content is more important than brochure quality presentation. The judges’ principal responsibility is to consider the scope, effectiveness and outcomes related to the submission. It is important to include supporting evidence of all the good work that you have done.
All submissions will be acknowledged by the BHC Secretariat.
In your submission you should set out:
Section 1
Details of what information on hallmarking you have provided in your online retail site.
Section 2
A description of the activities undertaken to educate potential consumers about hallmarking
Section 3
How this promotes the importance and reassurance of the UK hallmark to potential customers. Please note that particular importance is attached to this section.
Section 4
Details of any social media campaigns, press campaigns, printed materials, and any other initiatives you have undertaken, setting out:
- the objective of the activity
- the target audience
- a description of the activity
- outcomes of the activity
Section 5
Any suggestions you can make to raise the profile of hallmarking to consumers in the UK.
Where you heard about the HALO Award
You should indicate where you heard about the HALO Award.
Examples of creative input
Some examples of areas where we would be looking for creative input include:
- prominence of ‘Dealer’s Notice B’ or other explanation of hallmarking in your online store showing:
- how you display it in a way that is easily visible
- links to relevant pages on your website and details of how this features in the customer journey
- social media content, posts, shares, likes promoting hallmarking
- how you demonstrate your business’s commitment to UK hallmarking
- any links to additional pages where more information can be found – either internal or external links
- details of any external press coverage
- printed material such as inserts into shipment packages
Announcement and presentation of the HALO Award
The winner will be announced later in 2023. They will be invited to the Benevolent Society Ball on 7 December 2023 to receive the award.
Using the digital Dealer’s Notice
We introduced our digital Dealer’s Notice (JPG, 272KB) in October 2021 to:
- protect customers who shop online
- raise awareness of UK hallmarking to online customers
- support the UK jewellery industry
The original format of the Dealers Notice was designed for face to face or in-store transactions. It is still a legal requirement for all jewellers to display in physical stores. The new digital image is provided as an additional tool to explain the vital information contained in a hallmark.
BHC and NAJ encourage all jewellers to use it online to give high visibility and awareness to the importance of hallmarking. We have joined forces to promote it to the industry for its own protection and that of our customers,