Every piece sold by French Silverware Paris is personally selected and checked before being listed. Authenticity is not a promise: it is something you can verify yourself.

Why every listing shows the hallmark

On each of our product pages, you will find a close-up photograph of the hallmark. This is not a decorative detail: it is the piece's signature, the one that identifies the silversmith, the material and often the period of manufacture. You can compare it against house catalogues, hallmark directories, or seek a third-party opinion.

Reading a hallmark

The Minerva hallmark — Applied by the French Guarantee Office, it certifies that the piece is solid silver. The number 1 indicates a fineness of 950/1000, the number 2 a fineness of 800/1000.

The maker's or silversmith's mark — Set within a lozenge, it identifies the workshop that made the piece.

Manufacturer's marks — Christofle, Gallia, Saint-Louis and the great houses apply their own marks, which have evolved over the decades. They often allow a piece to be dated to within a few years.

Silver-plate — It does not carry a Minerva hallmark, reserved for solid silver, but manufacturer's marks and fineness indications (silver content per square decimetre) are generally found under the base.

Dating a Christofle hallmark

As one example, the Christofle house has revised its maker's hallmarks several times since its founding, which today allows a piece to be placed in time with good accuracy.

For solid silver, the form used between the mid-19th century and 1935 combines a bee topped with three stars alongside the founder's initials, all set within a hexagon. From 1935 onward, the same motif carries the letters O and C (for Orfèvrerie Christofle), now set within a lozenge.

For silver-plate or gilt metal, the principle is similar but with different symbols: a set of scales paired with the same initials, first within an oval outline, then within a square outline from 1860 onward — a change in shape required by the regulations of the time, which reserved oval hallmarks for solid silver. After 1935, this hallmark also adopts the letters O and C, this time within a rectangular outline.

An additional quality hallmark, specific to silver-plate, also appears from 1935 in the form of a chess knight alongside the same letters O and C; since 1983, it has also indicated the thickness of silver deposited on the piece.

Beyond hallmarks, Christofle also used signatures applied directly to pieces: a bar bearing the house's name on certain flatware, or a small bird-shaped plaque, sometimes dated, on pieces decorated with cloisonné enamel.

These markers illustrate well, beyond the example of Christofle alone, just how much a hallmark can help place an antique piece within its period.

Our commitment

If the authenticity of a piece were ever challenged by an expert appraisal, it would be taken back and fully refunded.

A question about a piece?

If a hallmark intrigues you, or if you would like an additional photograph or a precise dating of an object, write to us. We personally reply to every request.