The NAJ’s Annual General meeting at the iconic Tower of London marked the launch of the HALO (Hallmarking Awareness and Learning Online) Award as it returns for a third year.
The HALO Award is supported by the British Hallmarking Council and the NAJ. Its objective is to encourage and reward promotion of the importance of the hallmark to all consumers browsing and buying fine jewellery or silverware online.
UK Hallmarks have existed for nearly 700 years, and it is easy for jewellers to take the reassurance they offer for granted. Hallmarks protect the trade by preventing unfair competition through misleading descriptions and protect the consumer by guaranteeing the precious metal content of an article.
Massive increases in online sales, global competition and high precious metal prices mean that hallmarks even more important than ever. However, their value is significantly diminished if the consumer is unaware of the reassurance they offer, leaving them easy prey to misleading descriptions.
Consumer education online and at the point of sale is vital and HALO was devised specifically to prompt online jeweller retailers to take a fresh look at their customer journey and easily accessible information.
In 2023 the Award attracted entries from a wide range of businesses, from individual designer-makers to omni-channel retailers who combine a strong online presence with bricks and mortar stores. The avenues used to promote hallmarks online were equally diverse including social media reels and stories, blogs, articles, quizzes, questionnaires, and competitions.
Judges had a tough challenge selecting winners from some high standard entries. Chair of the HALO judging panel Rachael Taylor said “The response the Award had in 2023 came from some very different jewellery businesses. It goes to show that there are no boundaries to doing a brilliant job of promoting hallmarking to the public, and I hope that businesses big and small take inspiration from the competition.”
After launching HALO 2024 Rachael added “It was a pleasure to launch the third annual HALO campaign at the NAJ AGM this year. The awards have been refined for 2024 with a simplified entry process and a strong focus on jewellers going above and beyond the legal requirements to celebrate hallmarking online through educating and entertaining their customers. While we have kept the criteria open to encourage creativity, what we are looking for is evidence of businesses that have created inspirational and innovative campaigns over the past year.”
The team look forward to seeing more creative and imaginative responses to the challenge of conveying the importance of hallmarks online. For more detailed information about what the judges are looking for and how to apply go to www.naj.co.uk/halo
Applications are welcome until September, offering plenty of opportunity for jewellers selling online to devise creative approaches to promoting the importance of hallmarking and to apply for the Award.
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