The certificate, plainly.

01 · The two documents

Hallmark certificate and weight slip.

Every silver piece bought from a reputable Indian studio ships with two documents in the box. The first is the BIS hallmark certificate, issued by the Assaying and Hallmarking Centre that tested the metal. The second is the studio's weight slip, recording the piece's exact net weight on the studio's calibrated jeweller's scale. The two documents answer two different questions, and both are non-negotiable on any silver purchase above 2 grams.

The hallmark certificate answers the question: is this real silver, at the fineness claimed? It cites the BIS standard (IS 2118:2018), the fineness grade (999, 925, etc.), the date of testing, the Assaying and Hallmarking Centre's accreditation code, and the centre's identifying mark which matches the mark stamped on the metal. The certificate is independent of the studio — it is issued by a BIS-licensed third party, and the studio cannot alter it.

The weight slip answers the question: how much silver am I getting? It cites gross weight (piece plus packaging), net weight (silver only), the scale's calibration certificate, and the date and signature of the studio staff who verified the weight. The slip is the document the customer matches against the silver-weight line on the bill — the two figures should agree to the second decimal place.

• Hallmark certificateIssued by BIS centre, cites fineness, assayer, year, centre code
• Weight slipIssued by studio, cites net weight on calibrated scale
• Both requiredOn any silver purchase above 2 grams
• StorageKeep both with the piece; re-assay available if lost

02 · What the certificate actually cites

Reading the BIS hallmark certificate line by line.

A BIS hallmark certificate is typically one page, A4 or smaller, printed on the assaying centre's letterhead. It cites six things, in order. (1) The standard reference — IS 2118:2018 for silver, the current version. (2) The fineness grade — one of the six recognised numbers (999, 970, 925, 900, 835, 800). (3) The gross and net weight of the piece in grams. (4) The date of testing. (5) The Assaying and Hallmarking Centre's identifying mark (matches the mark stamped on the metal). (6) The centre's accreditation code, which can be cross-verified against the BIS public directory at bis.gov.in.

Below the six citations, the certificate carries the assayer's signature and the centre's official stamp. The signature is hand-written; the stamp is mechanically applied. A digital certificate is functionally equivalent but should include the assayer's signature as a digital image and the stamp as a verifiable mark.

Anything beyond these six citations is decoration. Marketing claims, brand names, jeweller's promises — none of these are part of the hallmark certificate. The certificate is a chemistry result, expressed plainly.

03 · The four questions

What to ask at the counter, every time.

If you have never bought silver before, four questions are worth memorising. The honest studio answers all four directly and shows the documentation to back the answers. The opaque studio gets evasive on at least one, and that is the signal to pause.

(1) Can I see the weight on the studio's jeweller's scale, in front of me, in grams? The weight should be verified at point-of-sale on a 0.01g scale. The studio should be willing to weigh the piece in your presence and read the figure off the scale. If the scale is not visible, or the weight figure is quoted without verification, the metal-value line on the bill is not auditable.

(2) What is today's IBJA spot rate for the relevant fineness, and how is the metal-value line calculated? The IBJA rate is published twice daily and is publicly accessible. The honest bill quotes the rate and shows the metal-value line as weight × rate. If the rate is not cited or the calculation is bundled into a single figure, the bill is not auditable.

(3) Where is the BIS hallmark stamped on the piece, and what does the hallmark certificate cite? The four-mark BIS row (lotus logo, fineness, assayer mark, year) should be visible on the metal — usually on the rim, the underside, or near the base. The certificate should match the stamp.

(4) What is the return/exchange policy, and how long is this quote locked for? Reputable studios lock the customer's quoted rate for 14 days from quote date. Returns on uncirculated hallmarked silver are typically accepted within 30 days against new orders, valued at the current spot rate. Anything more restrictive should be in writing.

Four questions. The honest studio answers all four directly. The opaque studio gets evasive on at least one. That is the signal.

04 · The trust contract

Why we put it all in writing.

The silver trade in India has been a high-trust trade for centuries — most pieces in a household passed from a single family jeweller across two or three generations, on the strength of the relationship rather than the paperwork. That worked when the jeweller and the family lived two streets apart and the jeweller's son took over the shop. It works less well today, when most silver purchases happen across cities or online.

The two documents and the four questions are how we replace the personal-relationship layer with a written one. The hallmark certificate replaces the jeweller's reputation with an independent third-party assay. The weight slip replaces the trader's word with a calibrated scale reading. The four questions replace the family-level trust with an audit trail the customer can walk through alone.

We err on the side of more paper, not less. Every piece we make ships with the hallmark certificate, the weight slip, a making-charges itemisation, the GST receipt, and a care card with the piece's metal specification and tarnish-management instructions. Five documents in the box for every order. That is what the trust contract looks like in writing.