125. Owl hallmark seen from the front in an oval frame.

Owl hallmark seen from the front in an oval frame.

Owl hallmark seen from the front in an oval frame. Stamped on imported gold jewellery, it is also since 1902 a so -called chance hallmark, stamped on any foreign gold object or one without a legible French maker’s mark brought to the assay office by second-hand jewellery dealers, the Crédit Municipal pawnbroker or by auctioneers. Introduced in 1893, since that date it has also replaced the chimera hallmark marking foreign watchmaking. Assay office mark on the chest, the number 75 for Paris. Paris and departments, 1893 to present.

The information on the owl hallmark and the other hallmark illustrations on this site come from the book Traditional French Jewellery, written by Mike Fieggen, expert in antique jewellery and hallmarks from Osprey Paris. This 300-page book, the definitive reference on French regional jewels and their hallmarks, is available in French and English in our store, on Amazon and at certain bookshops. A complete list of the assay office marks, small secret marks in the hallmarks that allow you to identify in which city an object was hallmarked, as well as a list of the closing dates of the guarantee offices, are included in this book. You can thus, for the first time, locate the origin of the jewels and also date them with more precision.

Book available on this site or visit the site www.bijouxregionaux.fr