What is a maker's mark?

Here is my maker’s mark, it holds a lot of meaning for me, which I should write a blog about one of these days. Ever since I had this mark manufactured, I have been applying it to my work, where I can, to assure you that what I tell you about the materials and processes are true and accurate to the best of my knowledge

My Maker’s Mark

This is my maker’s mark.

It is a sword and flame, and I had the steel stamp made so I could put my mark on the pieces I make.

A maker’s mark has a long history. At its simplest, it identifies the person or shop responsible for a piece. Historically, marks could be part of much more formal systems of assay, regulation and accountability. Mine is not an assay or guarantee from some outside authority. It simply says I made this.

That matters to me.

When I stamp my mark into a piece of silver, I am putting my name on the work without actually writing it there. It means that, to the best of my knowledge, the materials are what I say they are and the piece was made the way I tell you it was made.

Not every piece can take the mark. Sometimes there simply isn’t a sensible place for it. But where I can, I use it.

The sword and flame has meaning for me, but over the years the mark itself has come to mean something more straightforward.

It came from my bench, and I am willing to put my mark on it.

— Jerry