A scan proves nothing: cross-checking a lab report
Check a report number at the issuing lab, spot an altered certificate, and see why a genuine report doesn't prove this stone is the one tested.
IllustrationA scanned lab report is a picture of a piece of paper. It is the easiest document in the world to forge, and the hardest to dispute at the moment of a sale. Cross-checking a report means asking the issuing lab, in real time, whether the report number on the document exists in their system, who it was issued to, and what attributes the lab recorded.
Most of the major labs let you run that check yourself, on their own websites: here is where each lab's check is, and what it asks for.
What cross-checking catches
- A report that was never issued, or was issued for a different stone.
- A report whose recorded weight, dimensions, or description don't match the stone in front of the buyer.
- Treatment disclosure that was added, removed, or softened after the original report.
- A 'lost' original that quietly resurfaces, paired with a different stone.
IllustrationWhat cross-checking does not catch
Cross-checking confirms the paper. It does not confirm the stone matches the paper — that is the work of a physical inspection at a reference lab, and it is what separates Tier 0 (Registry, paper cross-checked) from Tier 1 (Passport, paper = this stone).
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