Palladium jewellery could benefit from a boost in demand when the metal receives a UK hallmark, it has been claimed.

In an interview with Reuters, Phillip McBride, a buyer for British jeweller Beaverbrooks, said a legal hallmark for palladium could see the metal touted as an alternative to nine-carat gold.

A hallmark is used by buyers as a guarantee of purity standards, thereby increasing the metal's appeal as an investment.

While the Sheffield Assay Office reports that voluntary hallmarking of palladium jewellery is already underway, it is not expected to be a legal requirement until January 1st 2010.

According to Mr McBride, the development will significantly raise awareness of the white metal.

"If it is hallmarked, it has more credibility," he told the news provider.

"The metal itself is more well known now, and it is happening in the gentlemen's wedding ring market. But there are no palladium engagement rings, no palladium necklaces and pendants in the mass market."

However, he noted that sales of platinum in the UK had been affected by the recession, with the need to reduce expenditure impacting on demand.

"People are certainly being more cautious," he said.

"They have geared their spending to more classical, longer-lasting pieces, as opposed to fashionable pieces."

Mr McBride was speaking in the run-up to Platinum Week, which is held in London every year in the third week in May.

Source:

Hallmarking to lift UK palladium sales-Beaverbrooks (18/05/09)

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