Hallmark is a stamp used on some same precious metals like gold or silver to certify the purity of the metal, karat, and the manufacturer's mark.
For example, on gold jewelry most common mark is 14 karat gold "14K". The most common mark used on sterling silver jewelry is a metal stamping with the numbers 925.

Gold jewelry comes with different levels of purity 24k, 18k, 14k.
14k gold, it means 14/24 karat which is 58.33% of gold and 41.67% alloy usually bronze.
Gold comes in three colors rose, yellow and white depending on the alloy used. 
Yellow gold uses bronze, zinc or nickel, white gold uses alloys such as nickel, silver or palladium, rose gold uses copper as an alloy.

A stamp .925 in sterling silver means that it contains 92.5% Silver and 7.5% of other metals.
Rhodium, which is a member of the platinum family is used on white gold or silver jewelry to provide a surface that will resist scratches and tarnish, and give a white gold, reflective appearance. Our rhodium plated jewelry is rhodium that has been chemically bonded to .925 sterling silver jewelry.

Fine jewelry (99.9% pure) is generally too soft to be used in jewelry and practical use. To make it suitable it is mixed with other metals like zinc, copper and palladium with a process called alloying. The other metals are harder, precious metals becomes much more resistant to damage, scratching or bending.

Gold plating is the term used to describe the process of plating jewelry. Gold has been chemically bonded with a layer of gold. Our gold plated jewelry is 14k gold that has been chemically bonded to .925 sterling silver jewelry.

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