Authenticity
Checked twice, by hand
Every piece is examined on arrival and again on the day it ships, by two different people. If anything we have ever sold is shown not to be genuine, we refund it in full — with no time limit and whoever owns it by then.
The guarantee
If any piece bought from Kinship is ever shown not to be genuine, we refund the full purchase price. No time limit, and it travels with the piece rather than with the buyer.
Separate from, and additional to, your statutory rights and the fourteen-day return window.
What a check involves
Intake
The piece is logged, weighed and photographed before anyone forms a view about it. Weight is the first number because it is the hardest to fake and the easiest to check against a reference we already hold.
Hardware and stamping
Zips, feet, clasps and rivets, under magnification. We are reading depth and spacing rather than shape: a convincing copy usually gets the letterform right and the impression wrong, because stamping dies are expensive and pressure is a process rather than a drawing.
Construction
Stitch count per inch, the angle the thread enters the leather, how the lining is seated, how the edges are painted and how many coats. This is where most pieces are decided, and it is why the bench has a light box rather than a lamp.
Codes and provenance
Date codes, serials and any accompanying paperwork are checked against the house's own conventions for that year and that factory. A code that is internally consistent but wrong for the period is more telling than one that is simply malformed.
The second check
On the day it ships, a different person repeats the whole thing without seeing the first result. Two independent passes catch what one careful pass does not, and disagreement between them is the most useful signal we have.
What comes with it
A Kinship authentication card, carrying the piece's reference, the date it was checked and the initials of both people who checked it.
The full set of photographs taken at intake, kept on file and used again if the piece is ever returned.
The house's own box, dust bag, receipt or certificate wherever it exists — listed on the product page so you know before you order.
A condition note in plain words, with the photographs to match it.
If we ever get it wrong
Tell us, and send whatever formed your view — a house's own opinion, a third-party report, or simply what you are seeing. We will look at the piece again against our intake photographs and come back to you within two working days. If we agree, the refund is immediate and we collect the piece at our cost.
We would also want to know how it got past two people, which is a question for us rather than for you.