How to Find the Make or Style of Fine Silverware and Flatware

Locate the hallmark on the piece of silverware or flatware. The mark usually is stamped on the back of the utensil or on the lower rim of a knife handle.

Examine the hallmark through a powerful magnifying glass, such as a jeweler's loupe. If the piece is marked with the words "sterling silver" or any combination of their abbreviation, such as "STG," "Sil" or "Stg silver," or the image of a rampant lion, then the piece contains 92.5 percent silver. The rest is made up of metal such as copper, germanium, zinc or platinum to improve the alloy's ductility, hardness and resistance to tarnishing.

Consult a suitable reference book or website to trace the item's history. For example, British sterling silver usually carries five marks: standard mark guaranteeing the silver content, city mark, one-of-a-kind date letter, duty mark showing the profile of the reigning monarch and the maker's mark identifying the manufacturing silversmith.

Follow manufacturing trends via reference works outlining the developing styles of famous silversmiths over the centuries. From 1840 and the invention of stainless steel to about 1940, for example, "setting a proper table" with sterling silver flatware and holloware was obligatory among fashionable members of society. Consequently, talented silversmiths achieved cultlike status by controlling silverware fashion trends throughout that period.