UK platinum hallmarking increased by 8.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis in March, it was confirmed on Monday (12th April). In addition, the Assay Offices of Great Britain noted that 13,000 items received a palladium hallmark during the month, Professional Jeweller reports. Despite this continued progress, no official figures are yet available to track annual trends for palladium as it only received official precious metal status in the UK last July. Chris Neville, Head of Birmingham City Council's Trading Standards body, reminded jewellers of their obligation to get their pieces "properly hallmarked". "People should refuse to buy items that are not hallmarked, as the seller is acting illegally and the hallmark is really the only assurance they have that the item is of the correct value and quality," he said. The new figures also showed that the total number of items hallmarked in the UK last month fell by 2.1 per cent in comparison with the same period in 2009. Gold suffered the biggest overall decline (14.3 per cent), with nine-carat and 24-carat gold taking the largest hits of any category, at 18.1 per cent and 62 per cent respectively. One in four goods produced today either contain pgms such as platinum and palladium or made use of them during their manufacturing process.

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