Gold hallmarks or markings can be made up of two pieces of information. The first which most people are familiar with is the 'hallmark' or 'karat marking', the second piece can be the jewelers or manufacturers stamp.
Most gold jewelry will have a 'hallmark' which can be in the form of a number/letter combination (most common in North America) or a number on it's on (more common in Europe and South America).
The jeweler's or manufacturer's mark may or may not be on a piece of gold jewelry. This mark can be a single or multiple letters. On older items these marks may be a symbol such as a lions head etc.
These little symbols are sometimes difficult to figure out, but they can tell a whole lot about a piece of jewelry's history if their mystery is unlocked.
What gold hallmarks mean and what they can say about a ring, bracelet or necklace is a lot more than many gold lovers might realize. The laws regulating gold hallmarks do tend to vary from country to country, but in some locations they can even help a buyer figure out exactly where a ring was crafted and even by whom.