Standards · Authenta

Section I

What Authenta Certifies

Our seal is a narrow, specific promise. Here is what it means.

When you see the Authenta seal on a piece of work, it means every one of the following is true:

A real, identified person made the piece.
Their hands shaped it — substantially and materially.
Their judgment finished it — decisions of form, proportion, and detail were made by a human, not delegated to a machine.
The maker submitted an application, and we verified what they told us.
The maker agreed to our standard and to the possibility of revocation if that standard is broken.

That is the whole promise. Nothing more, nothing less.

Section II

What Authenta Does Not Certify

Some work simply falls outside our standard. This is not a judgment on its value — only on what our seal can honestly say.

We do not certify:

Objects generated entirely by AI, then printed or fabricated without meaningful human shaping.
Mass-manufactured goods relabeled or repackaged as handmade.
Kits assembled from pre-made parts without further human craft.
Work produced by unnamed contractors and sold under a "maker" identity.
Digital-only work with no physical object at the end of the process.
Objects the applicant did not make themselves, regardless of who did.

Each of these may be valuable in its own way. None of them is what our seal is for.

Section III

Gray Areas

Craft has always been messy. Here is how we handle the honest edge cases.

Can a maker use power tools? Yes. Tools have always been part of craft. A lathe, a wheel, a press, a torch — these extend the hand, they do not replace it. What matters is that human judgment guides the tool.

Can a maker use AI in their process? Yes — for sketching, brainstorming, planning, or client mockups. What we certify is the finished object. The object must be shaped by human hands and finished by human judgment. What happened in the notebook is not our jurisdiction.

Can a maker use CNC, 3D printing, or laser cutting? Case by case. If the machine is a tool the maker guides, designs for, and finishes work from — often, yes. If the machine is the entire process and the maker only pressed "go" — no. We ask, we look, we decide honestly.

Can a studio with apprentices or assistants be certified? Yes, under our Studio tier. The lead maker must remain substantially involved in every certified piece, and the studio must disclose the collaboration model honestly. We certify studios; we do not certify anonymous outsourcing.

Can a collaboration between two makers be certified? Yes. Both makers must be named. Both must be identifiable. Both stand behind the piece.

Can a maker sell reproductions of their own work? Only pieces the maker themselves produced can carry the seal. A print, cast, or reproduction made by someone else — even from the maker's original — is not certified.

Section IV

What Authenta Does Not Claim

Our seal is a narrow promise. It is important to say what it is not.

We do not claim the work is better.
A machine can cut cleaner, print faster, and generate a thousand variations while a maker is still sharpening a chisel. We are not in the business of ranking hand against machine. We are in the business of telling you which is which.
We do not claim the maker used no tools.
Tools have always been part of craft. A potter uses a wheel. A woodworker uses a lathe. A binder uses a press. The question isn't whether machines touched the work — it's whether a human's hands and judgment brought it into being.
We do not claim the maker used no AI in their process.
A maker may sketch with AI. Brainstorm with it. Plan a commission with it. That's their business. What we certify is the object itself — and the object must be shaped by human hands, finished by human judgment.
We do not claim aesthetic merit.
We don't tell you the piece is beautiful, tasteful, or worth collecting. Taste isn't ours to certify. We certify who made it, not whether you should love it.
We do not claim the price is fair.
Makers set their own prices. Buyers decide what they're worth. Our seal speaks to the maker, not the market.
We do not claim permanence.
Certification can be revoked. If a maker violates the standard, the seal comes off. Trust is ongoing, not a one-time transaction.
We do not claim to be a marketplace.
We don't sell the goods, we don't ship them, we don't take a cut. We stand outside the transaction and vouch for one thing only: a real person made this.
We do not claim moral superiority over machine-made things.
Machines have their place in the world. Human hands have theirs. We're not here to shame anyone for buying a mass-produced object. We're here so that when you want something human, you can find it and trust it.

Section V

The Verification Process

How a maker actually earns the seal.

Application The maker submits their work, their story, and their process through our application form. We ask about their craft, their tools, their studio, and their history.
Review We read every application ourselves. We look at photos of finished work, works in progress, and the studio itself. We look for the fingerprints of a real human process.
Conversation We follow up with questions. Sometimes a video call. Sometimes, when possible, a visit. We want to know the person behind the craft.
Decision We approve, decline, or request more information. We tell the maker either way, and we tell them honestly why.
Certification Approved makers receive their certificate, a public profile in our registry, and access to our authenticated stickers — each one traceable back to a verified maker.
Ongoing standing Certification is annual. Makers renew each year. If our standard is broken — misrepresentation, outsourcing, undisclosed process — certification is revoked and the maker is removed from the registry.