Silent Ceremony to silver punch: Honouring London’s first ‘Lady Mayor’
Dame Susan Langley DBE has made history as the 697th Lord Mayor of London and the first to be styled Lady Mayor. Sworn in during the Silent Ceremony at Guildhall, she received a unique gift from the Goldsmiths’ Company – a sterling silver date punch symbolising the tradition of hallmarking and the start of a new era.
Dame Susan Langley DBE, 697th Lord Mayor of London and first ’Lady Mayor’ waves from the Lord Mayor of London's State Coach during the 2025 Lady Mayor’s Show
On Friday 7 November, Dame Susan Langley DBE – a freeman of the Goldsmiths’ Company – was sworn in as the 697th Lord Mayor of London during the Silent Ceremony at Guildhall, before making her first public appearance at the Lady Mayor’s Show on Saturday 9 November. She is the third woman in the City’s history to hold the office, and the first to be styled the Lady Mayor.
On the day of the Silent Ceremony, it is customary for the Livery Companies of which the Lord Mayor is a member to present their “addresses”. Traditionally this would have been a speech highlighting the skills and achievements of the new Lord Mayor. Today a gift is bestowed that is unique to the trade and craft of the Livery company in question.
Nothing could be more uniquely ‘Goldsmiths’ than a punch – the traditional toughened steel tool used to apply one of the component marks of the hallmark. Hand crafted from Sterling Silver by Fred Wyver at Goldsmiths’ Hall, the tip is engraved with an uppercase “A” to represent the year 2025, and the shank bearing a full UK hallmark, applied traditionally by hand with punch and hammer.
Sterling Silver Date Mark punch, Fred Wyver, 2025 | Photograph ©Chris Mann
One of the world's oldest forms of consumer protection, the Hallmark is made of five component marks. The sponsors mark tells you who made an item or sent it for hallmarking; The Traditional Fineness mark tells you which precious metal an item is made from; The Millesimal Fineness mark tells you both which precious metal an item is made from and how pure it is on a rating from 0–1000; the Assay Office mark tells you which Assay Office (Birmingham, Edinburgh, London or Sheffield) tested and hallmarked an item; and the Date mark tells you when an item was hallmarked.
Hallmarked in London, the sterling silver punch proudly bears the leopard’s head of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s London Assay Office. Introduced in 1300 by Edward I as the ‘King’s mark’, the leopards head was taken from the three lions passant on the Royal Arms (a ‘leo part’ being a lion facing towards you) and applied to items made of gold and silver as one of the earliest known forms of quality assurance.
Sterling Silver Date Mark punch, Fred Wyver, 2025 | Photograph ©Chris Mann
Today the leopard forms part of the full UK hallmark. A contemporary assurance that a golden ring is made from 18ct gold, or that a date letter punch is made from 925 Sterling silver. In 2025, the London Assay Office will apply approximately 2 million hallmarks to items made from gold, silver, platinum or palladium, but only one of those items will be a Sterling Silver Date Punch handcrafted at Goldsmiths’ Hall by Fred Wyver for Dame Susan Langley DBE, 697th Lord Mayor of London, and first Lady Mayor.
Congratulations to The Right Honourable the Lady Mayor, Alderwoman Dame Susan Langley DBE.