Crystal Certificate of Authenticity: What It Should Show

Other documents go by the same name. A card printed by a shop, a valuation written for an insurer and an identification report from a gem laboratory are all called certificates, and each one records something different from a brand's lot record.

Four kinds of document called a certificate

Bead jewellery is nearly always sold with the first kind or the fourth. Laboratory reports are written for single stones and priced per stone, so they belong with faceted gems, where a species or treatment call can change the price by multiples. For a strand of twenty or thirty beads, the useful document names the batch, the material and the treatment, and says who checked them.

The Stone Origin Record is a brand lot record. BE. takes roughly the top fifth of the stone its suppliers offer into the studio, then grades it against Crystal 4T™. The method is published in full on the Crystal 4T™ page, and the result for each lot is written on its Record.

What a Stone Origin Record records

1. Lot and certificate number. Take the Bolivian amethyst strand: Lot 2026.01, certificate BE-AMY-6-0341. The same lot number appears on the product page and in the order file, so the card, the listing and the shipment point at one batch of material.
2. Material identity at mineral level. Mineral name, formula, crystal system, hardness. For that lot: macrocrystalline quartz, SiO₂ with an iron trace, trigonal, Mohs 7. These are properties of the species, and every one of them can be checked against a mineralogical reference.
3. Treatment status, written out in full. The amethyst record reads None. No heat, no dye, no irradiation. Heated material does not enter BE. Dyed, coated, filled or artificially irradiated material does not enter at all.
4. The four Crystal 4T™ readings and the tier. Transparency, Tone and Texture describe the material in hand; Treasure describes how hard that material is to obtain at this quality. Each is read as Standard, Strong or Exceptional. Lot 2026.01 reads Exceptional on Transparency, Tone and Texture and Strong on Treasure, which makes it a Signature piece. The lowest of the three material readings names the tier: Standard makes Studio, Strong makes Signature, and three Exceptionals with an Exceptional Treasure make Heritage.
5. Origin, to the level the source documentation reaches. For that lot: Bolivia. The field carries a country, and a region or deposit when the paperwork names one.
6. Who assessed it, and when. BE. Studio, against the published method, and the Record is signed by the studio. The lot was received on 22 January 2026, assessed on 7 February and released to production on 17 February, with each bead re-inspected against the Record before stringing.

The amethyst record, field by field

The identity rows describe the stone as a mineral, and any mineralogy reference will confirm them. The 4T row places this lot on the published standard. The treatment and date rows say what was done to the stones and when.

How the origin field is written

The origin field is filled to the level the source documentation reaches, in the words that fit that level. The amethyst lot's paperwork names the country, so its Record says Bolivia. The gold sheen obsidian lot, Lot 2026.02, certificate BE-OBS-8-0184, comes from Mexico, and its Record says Mexico.

How to read your Stone Origin Record

Start with the lot number. It is printed on the Record and shown on the product page under the heading Stone Origin Record, and the two should match. A match means the card describes the batch you were sent.

Read the treatment line next. Untreated, or None, means the stones have not been heated, dyed or irradiated. A heated lot would say heated on this line and on the product page. What each treatment does to a stone, and which ones have to be declared, is set out in the treatment disclosure chart.

Then read the four readings as words. Standard, Strong and Exceptional each describe one property of the lot. Tone covers two things: the saturation and depth of colour within each bead, and how consistent the colour is from bead to bead along the strand. Both are judged against the natural colour of that variety, so a naturally pale stone and a naturally deep one can both read Exceptional. Transparency is read with the unaided eye at wearing distance, about 40 cm, against a white card in daylight-balanced light, which anyone can repeat at home.

Keep the Record with the piece. It describes what was sold, and it is the document a valuer or a later owner will want to see: material, treatment, readings, origin, dates.

Which document fits what you are buying

Every BE. piece falls in the first row, and every one ships with the Record described above. For the visual checks that go with the paperwork, the six things to check cover drill holes, polish, colour across the strand and the clasp.

Five things to read on any certificate

1. The issuer. A name and an address. A laboratory report names a laboratory; a brand record names the brand and the studio that made the readings.
2. What it identifies. A report tied to a serial number, a weight and measurements refers to one item. A record tied to a lot number refers to one batch. A card that says only "Amethyst Bracelet" refers to a category.
3. The method. A laboratory lists its tests: refractive index, specific gravity, spectroscopy. A brand record lists its readings and links to the published criteria behind them.
4. The treatment line. Under the US jewellery guides, a treatment has to be disclosed if it is not permanent, calls for particular care, or significantly affects value. A record that spells out no heat, no dye, no irradiation has answered the question in full.
5. The origin wording. A country, a region, a deposit or a sourcing stage are four different levels, and a careful document names the one it reached.

The hands-on tests for glass against quartz, and dyed howlite against turquoise, are in real vs fake crystals.

Which document you need

Buying a single faceted stone where identity moves the price: an independent laboratory report. Species, treatment and sometimes origin, with the tests named, from a laboratory whose report number can be looked up.

Buying a strand of natural beads: a lot record with a treatment line. Read the full material name and the treatment status on it. A record that carries both, plus the name of whoever assessed the lot, tells you what the strand is made of and what was done to it.

Buying a BE. strand: the Stone Origin Record in the box. It gives the lot and certificate number, the mineral, the treatment status, the four Crystal 4T™ readings, the origin to the level the paperwork reaches, and the dates of assessment. The criteria are on the Crystal 4T™ page, and every piece in the BE. collection ships with one.

References

• GIA · Gem identification services and what an identification report covers
• US Code of Federal Regulations, 16 CFR Part 23 · Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries (treatment and material disclosure)
• CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation · Blue Book nomenclature and disclosure standards
• ISO/IEC 17025 · General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories