Most advice on how to start a jewellery business in the UK could have been written for anywhere: pick a niche, make some pieces, open a shop. Then six months in, someone mentions that your silver pendants legally needed a hallmark before you sold a single one, and that Trading Standards can seize stock and prosecute. This guide covers what the generic articles skip — the UK hallmarking rules in full, with real prices from the Assay Offices — plus the practical rest: what each route into the business involves, where to buy supplies, insurance, photography, pricing and where to sell. Every figure below was checked on 7 August 2026 against the source named next to it.
How to start a jewellery business in the UK: the short version
- Pick your route — beaded and non-precious handmade, precious metals, or buying wholesale to resell. The legal obligations differ sharply.
- Check whether hallmarking applies to you. If you will describe anything as gold, silver, platinum or palladium and it is over the exemption weight, it must be hallmarked before sale. Details below.
- Tell HMRC once your gross trading income passes £1,000 in a tax year.
- Get public and product liability insurance — from £69 a year for craft sellers.
- Photograph and price properly — jewellery is small, shiny and hard to shoot, and underpricing is the default failure mode for makers.
- Sell through your own store plus marketplaces, not one or the other.
Three routes in, and what each involves
Route 1: handmade beaded and non-precious jewellery
The cheapest way in, and the classic jewellery business from home: beads, cords, plated findings, polymer clay, resin. You can start at the kitchen table with pliers and a bead board, and — this is the important bit — no hallmarking law applies, provided you never describe anything as gold, silver, platinum or palladium. “Gold-tone”, “silver-plated brass” and “stainless steel” are fine. The moment you list something as “sterling silver” it moves into hallmarking territory if it is over the weight threshold.
Route 2: precious metals
Working in sterling silver or gold — sawing, soldering, stone-setting. Startup costs are higher (a bench, torch, saw, files and metal stock), you will want a short silversmithing course, and the hallmarking rules below apply to you directly. You will register your own sponsor’s mark and send work to an Assay Office before it goes on sale.
Route 3: buying wholesale and reselling
Buy finished jewellery from UK wholesalers or trade shows (Spring Fair at the Birmingham NEC has a large jewellery hall) and resell at a margin. Low skill barrier, but the law does not care that you didn’t make it: if you sell an unhallmarked item described as precious metal, you are the one committing the offence. Before listing anything over the exemption weights, check it carries a UK-recognised hallmark — and put that question to the wholesaler in writing before you buy imported stock.
UK hallmarking rules: the section nobody else writes
Under the Hallmarking Act 1973 it is a criminal offence to sell or describe an article as gold, silver, platinum or palladium unless it carries a hallmark from an approved Assay Office — with an exemption for very light items. The thresholds, confirmed against Trading Standards’ Business Companion guidance and the Edinburgh Assay Office (checked 7 August 2026):
| Metal | Hallmark required at or above | Exempt below |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1g | Under 1g |
| Silver | 7.78g | Under 7.78g |
| Platinum | 0.5g | Under 0.5g |
| Palladium | 1g | Under 1g |
Note how low these are. 7.78g of silver is one substantial ring or a chunky pendant; almost any men’s silver chain is over it. A pair of lightweight silver stud earrings usually is not. Weigh every design before you list it, and keep a record.
The four Assay Offices and your sponsor’s mark
Only four bodies in the UK can apply a hallmark: the Assay Offices in London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh. Before they will mark your work you register a sponsor’s mark — your initials in a surround, unique to you. Checked 7 August 2026: London’s Assay Office charges £72 including VAT for a ten-year registration, which includes laser set-up for standard designs; a physical punch is £85–£90 extra. Birmingham charges £80 + VAT for ten years (renewal £40 + VAT) with punch or laser set-up at £110 + VAT. Allow two to three weeks for laser set-up and four to six for a punch to be made.
What hallmarking actually costs per item
Less than most people fear. Edinburgh’s published statutory price list (checked 7 August 2026) charges a small parcel of one or two items at £21.98 + VAT for punch marking or £25.72 + VAT for laser, a parcel of three to ten items at £28.16 + VAT (punch), and at volume — 26 items or more — the rate falls to roughly 70p per article for punching or £1.10 for laser. In practice that means batching: send ten rings at once, not one at a time, and the marking cost per piece drops to pennies plus postage. Whatever it comes to, it belongs in your unit cost when you price the piece — our guide to pricing handmade products shows where it fits in the formula.
The dealer’s notice
Anyone dealing in precious metal jewellery must display a Hallmarking Act 1973 dealer’s notice — an A4-minimum, black-and-white notice approved by the British Hallmarking Council explaining the marks — in a conspicuous position where they sell. It is a free download from any Assay Office website, and the London Assay Office warns the fine for not displaying one can reach £5,000. Print one for your craft-fair stall; if you sell online, put a hallmarking information page on your site as good practice.
What happens if you sell unhallmarked
Trading Standards enforce the Act. They can seize non-compliant stock, and prosecution can mean a fine of up to £5,000 per article. This is not theoretical: in one London prosecution a jeweller admitted 19 charges of offering unhallmarked gold and left court £7,563 poorer in fines, costs and surcharge. For a small maker, the fix is cheap and simple — register once, batch your marking, describe honestly. Do it before your first sale, not after your first complaint.
Register with HMRC when it stops being a hobby
You can earn up to £1,000 in gross trading income per tax year under HMRC’s trading allowance without registering (checked 7 August 2026 on gov.uk). Past that, you register for Self Assessment and keep records of income and materials. Whether to stay a sole trader or form a limited company is a separate decision — our guide to registering a business to sell online walks through it.
Where to buy supplies
- Cooksongold — the default UK source for precious metal sheet, wire, findings and tools. Metal is priced dynamically on weight and the day’s metal price, so quotes move daily.
- Kernowcraft — gemstones, findings and kits, notably beginner-friendly.
- Cousins UK — tools, equipment and watch/jewellery parts.
- Beads Direct and The Bead Shop (Nottingham) — beads, cords and components for the non-precious route.
For wholesale finished jewellery, buy from established UK wholesalers or trade shows where you can handle stock — and repeat the earlier rule: anything over the exemption weights needs a UK-recognised hallmark before you resell it as precious metal.
Photograph it well, price it properly
Jewellery punishes lazy photography: it is small, reflective and hard to focus. The fixes are cheap — daylight from one window, a white card opposite to soften shadows, macro mode, and something for scale (a model’s hand or ear beats a ruler). Shoot one clean shot on plain background for listings and one lifestyle shot for social. Our product photos at home guide covers the full setup for under £20 of kit.
On pricing: materials plus your time at a real hourly rate, times a markup that leaves room for wholesale — and remember hallmarking, packaging and payment fees are materials for this purpose. Selling jewellery online in the UK on “materials times two” is how makers pay themselves £2 an hour.
Insurance
Public and product liability cover is the one to sort before your first fair — organisers usually require it, and jewellery carries product risk (skin reactions, broken clasps on children’s items). Checked 7 August 2026: CMTIA’s craft trader policy is £69 a year for £5m public and products liability (£101.50 including employers’ liability). Craft-specialist brokers such as Ian W Wallace also write jewellery-specific policies. Running a jewellery business from home? Tell your home insurer about stock and equipment — most standard contents policies exclude business use.
Where to sell: your own shop plus the marketplaces
Marketplaces bring you buyers; your own store keeps your margin and your customer list. The strongest jewellery businesses run both from day one. Full disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, so read the next sentence knowing that — but the numbers are the numbers. Orbit’s Solo plan is £25 a month (£19 billed yearly) with unlimited products, the drag-and-drop page builder and UK card rates of 2% + 25p with no platform fee on sales, and the Amazon, eBay and Etsy plugins are free on every plan — listings and stock sync from one place, marketplace orders arriving as native orders. That last part matters for jewellery specifically, because Etsy is where UK jewellery buyers browse, and running it separately from your own store is how you oversell a one-off piece.
For the full store build — domain, legal pages, delivery settings, launch checklist — follow our pillar guide to starting an online store in the UK.
Questions people ask us about starting a jewellery business
Do I need a hallmark to sell silver jewellery in the UK?
Yes, if the article weighs 7.78g or more and you describe it as silver. Below 7.78g it is exempt. The same rule applies to gold at 1g, platinum at 0.5g and palladium at 1g. Selling above-threshold pieces unhallmarked is an offence under the Hallmarking Act 1973, with fines of up to £5,000 per article.
Can I run a jewellery business from home in the UK?
Yes — no licence is needed to make and sell jewellery from home. You must register with HMRC once gross trading income passes £1,000 a year, comply with hallmarking if you work in precious metals, and tell your home insurer about business stock and equipment.
How much does hallmarking cost?
Registering a sponsor’s mark costs £72–£96 for ten years depending on the Assay Office (checked 7 August 2026). Marking a small parcel of one or two items costs roughly £22–£26 + VAT, falling to around 70p–£1.10 per article on batches of 26 or more — so batch your sends.
Do I need to register my jewellery business with HMRC?
Only once your gross trading income exceeds the £1,000 trading allowance in a tax year — then you register for Self Assessment. Keep records of sales and material costs from day one either way.
When you are ready to put your first collection online, you can start a free 14-day Orbit trial — no card needed — and have a jewellery store live before your hallmarked pieces come back from the Assay Office.