Recognition & risk
Why does fake patina look wrong?
Fake patina looks wrong because it's democratic — uniformly distributed everywhere with the same intensity. Real patina is hierarchical: uneven, concentrated where the object was touched, exposed, or weathered, and absent or lighter where it was protected. Life creates wear with logic; fabrication creates wear with a brush.
The Method's take
The Insider Method applies coherence interrogation to every surface: does the aging match the object's claimed environmental history and use? Sea exposure produces violent, salt-crusted patina; indoor city life yields moderate, dust-layered aging; contact points (handles, edges, bases) show cleaner wear from friction. Uniform exaggeration across hidden and exposed areas simultaneously is the signature of artificial aging — the forger's mistake is applying patina like paint, not like time.
The math
A misread patina on a €5,000 asking-price piece that should bring €800 at best costs you €4,200 plus the resale embarrassment. Across ten buys per year, one bad read erases €4,000–10,000 in margin. The 24-hour pass is €100; the annual pass €3,800. One avoided mistake pays for permanent access to the coherence checklist that reads aging like a language.
One question answered here saved you a mistake. The engine answers yours — the exact object, the exact number.
Ask the engine — 24h pass €100