A press release by The British Hallmarking Council: 

It is not too late to apply for this year’s Hallmarking Awareness and Learning Online (HALO) Award as the closing date for applications has been extended to September 29 2023.

 

Jewellers have engaged well with the HALO Award 2023, making time to take a fresh look at their online promotion and education relating to hallmarks. This is a very encouraging response. The reassurance and consumer confidence that a hallmark adds to online sales of fine jewellery is hugely important, particularly in the global market.

 

The HALO Award is the product of a partnership between the British Hallmarking Council (BHC) and the NAJ to recognise excellence in the promotion of Hallmarking online.  The activity the initiative has prompted has been very encouraging. However, the judging panel are aware that this summer can be a tricky time for jewellers and some potentially promising applications may have been abandoned due to other priorities and staff holidays. The original closing date for entries of Friday 8 September has therefore been extended by three weeks to September 29 to allow for more entries.

 

The application process is very simple and does not have to be very time consuming. Judges are looking for evidence of positive digital marketing and communication surrounding hallmarking online. Any business which includes prominent information relating to the hallmark within the customer journey should consider entering. Social media, website pages and general publicity are all relevant. Evidence of these can be included by online links, downloads, screenshots or physical material. Applications can be submitted online via www.naj.co.uk/halo. 

There are no fixed categories for entrants and the judging panel will take the size of the business into consideration when assessing the entries, so every applicant has a fair chance to win. The outright winners will be presented with the Award’s Silver Salver at the prestigious Benevolent Society Ball in Brimingham in December and highlighted in Press coverage in 2024. Entries from all sectors of the jewellery industry are welcome.

 

Chair of the judges Rachael Taylor says “It has been so uplifting to see the strong reaction to the launch of the Halo Awards 2023, and to our message of raising the profile of hallmarking as not just as a marker of consumer confidence but one that communicates the values and history of our craft. We have had some fantastic entries in so far, and I’m looking forward to discussing and assessing all of them with our esteemed panel of judges."    

More information and online application forms can be found at www.naj.co.uk/halo