There is no faster way to cost a collector’s trust than describing a piece you have not actually examined. So nothing is staged for sale until it passes the same bench inspection: composition markers read, construction examined, measurements taken flat, and each detail photographed so you can verify the same things I did. My standard is not a certificate procedure; it is that every listing reflects what I physically held.
INSPECTION PROTOCOL · HONEST STANDARD
The Authenticity Standard
Every piece that leaves the archive is handled, measured, and examined by a single pair of hands before it is listed. This is what I look at, and how the evidence is presented.
WHAT IS CHECKED
The Inspection Protocol
01 / Care & composition markers. The care tag is read and photographed — silk content, any house-branded label, and how the tie’s own details sit against it.
02 / Blade cut & tip construction. A hand-turned roulotté edge reads differently from a machined one; the stitch regularity is examined and described honestly.
03 / Maker hallmarks & print stamps. Design/color registration codes, house labels, and any historical registry references are recorded where present.
04 / Full flat measurements. Blade width and length are taken flat with a ruler and printed exactly, in centimetres, on the page.
05 / Condition note. Any wear, pull, or age marking is disclosed up front — the piece the photo shows is the piece you receive.
THE STRAIGHT ANSWER
What I Will and Won’t Promise
The honest thing is measured in verifiable details, not a borrowed seal. Every listing carries real readouts — composition, blade geometry, provenance stamps, macro photography — so the evidence is yours to check, not mine to assert. As one accountable curator, I present my inspection and state my assessment plainly.
What I do not do: invent a detail to fill a gap, or phrase an absolute guarantee. Where a marker is ambiguous — a tag too worn to read, a construction I cannot confirm — I flag it rather than smooth over it. A careful personal inspection is honest; it is not the same thing as an itemized laboratory certification, and I will not dress it up as one.
Inspect the archive
Every listing carries its full readout — measurements, markers, and macro photography to verify against.