SIH — The Swiss Federal Hallmarking and Precious-Metals Control Authority
SIH — The Swiss Federal Hallmarking and Precious-Metals Control Authority
How Switzerland regulates assay, hallmarking, and the trade in gold, silver, and platinum
SIH refers to the Swiss federal authority responsible for the inspection, assay, and hallmarking of precious-metal articles in Switzerland under the Federal Act on the Control of the Trade in Precious Metals and Articles thereof of 20 June 1933, with subsequent amendments. The function is exercised through the Bureau central du contrôle des métaux précieux (BCMP), located within the Federal Customs Administration in Bern, with regional Assay Offices (Bureaux de contrôle) operating across the country. The Swiss hallmarking framework is one of the more rigorous in the international watch and jewellery trade and is the legal basis for the marks that appear on Swiss gold, silver, and platinum articles in commerce.
Statutory framework
The Federal Act on Precious Metal Control sets the legal floor for the trade in precious metals in Switzerland and is supplemented by the related Ordinance, which specifies the technical detail of the assay and hallmarking processes. The Act covers the import and export of precious-metal articles, the operating standards for assay offices, the registration of responsibility marks, and the criminal and administrative consequences of non-compliance. The Bureau central du contrôle administers the Act and coordinates the regional Assay Offices.
Standards of fineness
Switzerland recognises specific standards of fineness for gold, silver, and platinum articles. For gold, the recognised legal standards are 999, 916 (22 carat), 750 (18 carat), 585 (14 carat), and 375 (9 carat); silver standards include 999, 925 (sterling), and 800; platinum standards are 999, 950, 900, and 850. Articles must be marked at one of the recognised fineness levels and may not be sold in Switzerland at non-conforming finenesses except under specific exemptions. The 750/1000 standard for gold is the minimum for jewellery articles sold domestically as 'gold jewellery' under the trade convention.
Hallmarks
The Swiss official hallmark for gold articles introduced in 1995 is the head of a Saint Bernard dog, applied by the Assay Office after physical assay verification and accompanying the maker's responsibility mark and the fineness number. The earlier (pre-1995) Swiss gold hallmark was the head of Helvetia. The hallmark for platinum is a head, and silver carries its own series of marks. Watch cases are commonly marked on the back of the case or on the lugs, with the responsibility mark of the watch case maker (poinçon de maître) appearing alongside.
Watch cases and the Swiss watch industry
Swiss precious-metal watch case manufacturers are concentrated in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle, and the Vallée de Joux, and most major case suppliers operate under registered responsibility marks recorded with the Bureau central. The Swiss hallmarking regime covers Swiss-made precious-metal watch cases and is one of the bases on which the 'Swiss made' designation interacts with international consumer expectations of metal quality.
International recognition
Switzerland is a contracting state to the Vienna Convention on the Control of the Fineness and the Hallmarking of Precious Metal Articles of 1972, which establishes the Common Control Mark (CCM). The CCM is recognised across the contracting states and may appear alongside the Swiss national hallmark on articles intended for international trade within the convention area. The Swiss Saint Bernard mark is itself widely recognised in trade jurisdictions outside the convention as a reliable indicator of fineness.
In the trade
For practitioners handling Swiss watches, jewellery, and precious-metal articles, the Saint Bernard hallmark and its companions are the principal indicators of regulatory-grade fineness verification. Articles bearing the hallmark have been physically assayed by the Bureau central or its regional offices and meet the declared fineness standard. Hallmarks alone do not certify provenance or design authenticity, and counterfeiting of hallmarks is a continuing concern at the lower end of the secondary trade, but for verifying the metal-quality claim of a Swiss-made article the official hallmark is the working reference.