What is a Digital Certificate of Authenticity?

What is a Digital Certificate of Authenticity?
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Key Takeaways

  • Provenance should last as long as the jewellery. Paper certificates and receipts get lost or separated from a piece over the decades. A Digital Certificate of Authenticity keeps the details of the pearl's origin and story with it for future generations.
  • Certificates are issued through TRUE Original and backed by blockchain. Each certificate gets a unique cryptographic fingerprint (a hash) anchored to a blockchain. If the document were altered, it would no longer match the original record.
  • Your personal information stays off the blockchain. Only the fingerprint is recorded, not the certificate's contents, so the document can be verified without exposing your details.
  • Verification is simple. Use the link emailed after purchase or scan the QR code on the certificate with your phone camera. No app or account is needed.
  • Authenticity and traceability are related but different. A certificate confirms the information about your piece. Tracing a pearl from farm to finished jewellery takes additional measures, which Pearls of Australia supports through Provenance Proof, with pearls grown at its own Cygnet Bay (South Sea) and Broken Bay (Akoya) farms.

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Fine jewellery is designed to last. A pearl pendant set in solid gold may one day be passed to a daughter or a grandchild. Its materials can endure for generations, but too often, the paperwork, stories and provenance that accompanied it do not.  

Certificates can be misplaced, receipts fade over time, and somewhere along the way the details of where a pearl came from, what it is and the story behind it can be lost.  

At Pearls of Australia, we believe the provenance of a piece should be preserved alongside the jewellery itself. That’s why we’ve introduced Digital Certificates of Authenticity, issued securely through the TRUE Original platform and supported by blockchain technology. It’s a new way to protect something we have always valued, which is the story behind your pearl.  

What is a Certificate of Authenticity?  

A Certificate of Authenticity provides important information about a piece of jewellery and the precious materials within it.  
 
For pearl jewellery, this can help establish details about the pearl’s origin, giving the owner a trusted record to accompany their piece.  

This is particularly important in an industry where pearls can vary significantly in species, origin, size, shape, colour, lustre and quality.  

At Pearls of Australia, provenance has always been central to the way we think about jewellery. Our Australian South Sea pearls are grown at our Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm in Western Australia, while our Australian Akoya pearls are grown at our Broken Bay Pearl Farm in New South Wales.  

A digital Certificate of Authenticity helps us track and trace our Saltwater pearls after the pearl leaves our hands and reaches yours. 

Why Are We Moving to Digital Certificates of Authenticity?  

A paper certificate can tell an important story, but after decades that jewellery piece may be worn, passed on, and the paperwork can easily become separated from the piece it belongs to. A digital certificate gives us a way to make that information more enduring and accessible.  

Rather than relying solely on a physical document, a digital certificate can be accessed online and independently verified.  

For Pearls of Australia, it’s a natural evolution of our commitment to provenance. For 80 years, the story of our pearls has begun at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, and as our jewellery moves into the future, technology gives us new ways to carry these stories forward.

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How Do Pearls of Australia Digital Certificates of Authenticity Work?  

Our digital Certificates of Authenticity are issued through TRUE Original, a digital certification platform based in Stockholm, Sweden.  

When a certificate is issued, TRUE’s technology creates a unique cryptographic fingerprint of the document and anchors that fingerprint to a blockchain. What’s important about the contents and personal information of the certificate itself is that that information is not placed onto the blockchain. Instead, a unique fingerprint, known as a hash, is recorded and allows the document to be checked later to determine whether it remains identical to the document originally issued.  

If the certificate were subsequently altered, its digital fingerprint would no longer match the original blockchain record.  

TRUE Original

What Does the Blockchain have to do with a Jewellery Certificate?  

Blockchain can sound complicated, but its role in our Digitial Certificates of Authenticity is relatively simple.  

Think of it as creating a permanent digital reference point for the certificate, so when the certificate is created, its unique fingerprint is recorded. That record can later be compared with the certificate to confirm that the document has not been altered.  

TRUE certificates can be verified through a unique verification link that is sent to you via email after your purchase or via the QR code. The verification process does not require a specialist app or account.  

The value of blockchain in this context is that the certificate has an additional layer of verification and security. 

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How Can I Verify My Digital Certificate of Authenticity?  

Our digital certificates can either be verified through the link sent to your email after purchasing your pearl jewellery or by scanning the QR code on the certificate itself with a smartphone camera to be checked against its original digital record. 

Why Does Digital Authentication Matter for Pearl Jewellery?  

Pearls are inherently connected to origin, like many gemstones. Each one of our Saltwater pearls begins within a living organism and slowly grows over time. This means its species and environment matter and contributes to its identity.  

An Australian South Sea pearl grown within a Pinctada maxima pearl shell carries a different provenance to an Australian Akoya pearl grown within a Pinctada fucata shell or a Tahitian, Freshwater or Paua pearl grown elsewhere in the world.  

As pearls move through international supply chains, those details can become separated from the finished piece. Our direct connection to our pearl farms allows us to maintain a uniquely close relationship between origin and finished jewellery, and digital certification helps us carry that information further. 

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Authenticity vs Traceability  

Although closely connected, authenticity and traceability serve slightly different purposes. 
 
A Certificate of Authenticity helps confirm the information associated with that jewellery piece and provides an official record from the issuer.  

Traceability is broader and describes the ability to follow a product or material through stages of its journey, potentially from pearl farm through to pearl grading, jewellery production and ultimately to you as the customer.  

Blockchain can support both, but this distinction is important. The presence of blockchain alone does not make a product completely traceable unless there is additional measures taken. 
 
Our Digital Certificates of Authenticity provide a secure and independently verified record associated with Pearls of Australia jewellery, and alongside this we offer the opportunity to record the traceable provenance of our pearls through Provenance Proof’s blockchain technology.  

Together, these technologies are helping us move towards a future where the story of a gemstone is not separated from the gemstone itself.  

Tracking & Tracing

Is a Digital Certificate of Authenticity the same as a Digital Product Passport?  

Not exactly. The term digital product passport generally describes a broader digital record associated with a product throughout its “life”. Depending on the system, a product passport could include information about materials, origin, manufacture, environmental credentials, care, repair, or ownership history.  

A digital Certificate of Authenticity has a more specific purpose, which is to record and verify the information relating to authenticity and the piece for which it was issued. They both share an important idea, which is that a physical product can carry a lasting digital record alongside it. 

Preserving the Story of an Heirloom  

Perhaps the most exciting part of digital certification has less to do with technology, and more about what happens decades from now. As we know, jewellery has always carried stories between generations, from strands worn on a wedding day, a pendant for a milestone birthday, a ring for an anniversary, all eventually to be passed from one generation to the next.  

With that though, provenance does gradually become less certain, and a future custodian may know that a piece belonged to their grandmother without knowing when she received it, the pearl farm it came from or the type of pearl set in the piece.  

Digital certificates of authenticity give us another way of helping those details endure. The jewellery carries that emotional story while the certificate helps preserve its provenance.  

Explore Pearl Jewellery at Pearls of Australia 

The Future of Authenticity in Luxury Jewellery  

Luxury has traditionally been associated with rarity and heritage, and increasingly we believe provenance and traceability will sit alongside them. 

Knowing that a pearl is beautiful and rare is one thing but knowing where it came from and the environment in which it was grown while being able to preserve that information gives the piece added value and helps protect that story.  

Our transition to Digital Certificates of Authenticity is one more step in our commitment to creating a closer connection between the pearl, its origin and the person who ultimately wears it.  

Because a piece designed for your milestones deserves a story that can last for generations. 

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Prefer to talk to one of our Jewellery and Pearl experts before purchasing one of our pearl pieces? They would love to help you in any way, please contact them either by sending an email to hello@pearlsofaustralia.com.au or call (08) 6478 6886.

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Digital Certificates of Authenticity FAQs

What is a digital certificate of authenticity?

A digital certificate of authenticity is an electronic record issued to confirm information associated with a piece of jewellery. Unlike a traditional paper certificate, it can be accessed digitally and depending on the platform, may include technology that allows the document itself to be independently verified. 

Why does Pearls of Australia use digital certificates of authenticity? 

Digital certificates help us preserve important information associated with our jewellery in a format designed to be accessible to our customers at any time. They also provide additional security and verification through our digital certificate provider, TRUE Original.

Who is TRUE Original? 

TRUE Original is a digital certification platform based in Stockholm, Sweden. Its technology enables organisations to issue digital documents with a cryptographic fingerprint anchored to a public blockchain, allowing the authenticity and integrity of the document to be checked later. 

Is my personal information stored on the blockchain?  

The full contents, including your personal information, is not written on the blockchain. TRUE states that only the cryptographic fingerprint of the document is anchored there, rather than the document contents. 

Do I need an app to access or verify my certificate? 

No app is required to verify a TRUE certificate. Verification can be accessed through the certificate link or by scanning its QR code with a smartphone camera.