A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals — platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term hallmark can also be used to refer to any distinguishing characteristic or trait.

Historically, hallmarks were applied by a trusted party: the 'guardians of the craft' or nowadays by an assay office. Hallmarks are a guarantee of certain purity or fineness of the metal as determined by formal metal (assay) testing.

24 karat gold is as close as you can get to pure gold; due to chemical impurities, there is no such thing as "100% pure gold".

Hallmarks are often confused with "trademarks" or "maker's mark". Hallmarks are not the mark of a manufacturer to distinguish his products from other manufacturers’ products, which is the function of trademarks or makers' marks. To be a true hallmark, it must be the guarantee of an independent body or authority that the contents are as marked. Thus, a stamp of '925' by itself is not, strictly speaking, a hallmark, but is rather an unattested fineness mark.

Karen Kingsbury (born Fairfax, Virginia June 8, 1963) is an American Christian novelist.

She was a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times and later wrote for the Los Angeles Daily News. Her first book was based on a murder story that she covered in Los Angeles. During this time, she had an article published in People Magazine.

She has written more than 40 novels, with five co-written, and has nearly 13 million copies of her novels in print.

One of Kingsbury's earlier books, Deadly Pretender, was made into a CBS Movie of the week called, "Every Women's Dream", starring Kim Cattrall.

Karen Kingsbury has several movie deals upcoming.

9/11 Series

Lost Love Series

Standalone Novels

Red Gloves Series

Forever Faithful Series

Women of Faith Series

Cody Gunner Series

Children's Books

Redemption Series

Firstborn Series

Sunrise Series

Above the Line Series

Bailey Flanigan Series

Karen Kingsbury co-wrote her first song, "Walls" with Gary Baker and Richie McDonald; it appeared on McDonald's inspirational album, I Turn to You and hit Christian and Country radio in January 2009.