Every serious laboratory keeps a register: a record of each report it has issued, with the findings, the photograph, the weight and the measurements. Online verification is the register made accessible. It exists because a card can be copied, and a copy is only exposed by checking it against the original record — which the laboratory holds and the forger does not.
What verification confirms
That a report with this number exists in the laboratory's register, and what it says. Compared with the card and the article in your hand, that tells you whether the card is genuine and unaltered, and whether the article matches.
It does not, by itself, tell you the article is genuine. The record says what the laboratory found; the report may say glass, in which case the verification is confirming a negative finding. Read the record.
The steps
1. Scan the QR code, or go to the laboratory's verification page. The QR code on a DRGTL card opens the verification page with the report number already filled in. If you type the address yourself, make sure it is the laboratory's own domain, not a page on the seller's site — verification through the seller is not independent.
2. Enter the PIN from the card. The PIN is printed on the physical card only. Without it the record cannot be viewed. This is deliberate: a report number can be read from a photograph or guessed; the PIN cannot. It means that only the holder of the card can pull up the record, which protects the record from being copied onto other cards.
3. Accept the terms. A short statement that the report is a laboratory opinion, not a valuation.
4. Read the record. The verification page shows the register entry: findings, photograph, weight, measurements, date, conclusion.
5. Compare. The record against the card (do the numbers match line for line?) and the record against the article (weight, measurements, photograph). Matching the report to the article in your hand.
What a mismatch means
Record and card differ. The card has been altered, or is a forgery bearing a real report number. The record is authoritative.
Record and article differ. The card is genuine but does not describe this article — the article has been swapped, or the card was transferred from another item. Small weight differences can be oil or drying; size and photograph differences are decisive.
No record found. The report number and PIN do not correspond to an entry. Check for typing errors (0 and O, 1 and I). If the combination is correct and still not found, the card is not from the laboratory's register.
In any of these cases, contact the laboratory with photographs of the card and the article and your purchase details, and contact the seller with the same.
Why sellers' verification pages are not the same thing
A seller can build a page that shows "VERIFIED" for any number typed into it. Verification means checking with the party that issued the report, on that party's own system. If a seller's site is the only place a certificate can be "verified", the certificate is verified only by the seller.
What the laboratory sees
Verification lookups are logged for security. Repeated failed attempts from one connection are temporarily blocked, which protects the register from someone guessing PINs. The laboratory does not need to know who is verifying.
Frequently asked questions
I lost the card. Can I still verify?
The PIN is on the card only. Contact the laboratory with proof of purchase and photographs of the article; after confirming the article against the register it can re-issue the reference.
Can the record be changed after issue?
Not by the holder or the seller. Corrections by the laboratory itself are rare and are logged.
Does verification prove the article is genuine?
It proves the card matches the laboratory's record. Whether the article is genuine is what the record says — read the conclusion — and whether the article matches the record is your comparison.
The QR code on my card goes to a different website than the laboratory's. What does that mean?
The card may not be from the laboratory it claims. Type the laboratory's own address rather than following the code, and check the report number there.
Can I verify someone else's certificate?
Only with the PIN from their card. That is the point of the PIN.