The PV Protocol — a structured framework for gemstone provenance certification.

Four-tier certification hierarchy

The PV Protocol organises claims into four tiers based on the independence, depth, and verifiability of the underlying evidence. Tier 1 reflects self-reported origin declarations; Tier 2 requires documentation substantiation; Tier 3 requires independent laboratory evidence; Tier 4 requires multi-source, independently corroborated evidence across the full supply chain with lifecycle audit capability.

Each tier defines a scope boundary. A credential issued at a given tier makes no claims beyond what its evidence tier supports. Tier assignment is permanent for the evidence set presented at issuance. New evidence initiates a new credential.

Evidence requirements

Evidence must be submitted through the authorised intake process and reviewed against the Evidence Policy before a certification tier is assigned. Acceptable evidence classes include laboratory reports, chain-of-custody documentation, government origin certificates, and independent professional assessments.

Evidence sources must meet source-independence criteria defined in the Certification Policy. Self-referential or internally produced evidence does not satisfy independence requirements above Tier 1.

Credential lifecycle

Every credential issued under the PV Protocol carries a validity period, a public verification key reference, and a lifecycle status. Credentials may be suspended, superseded, revoked, or corrected. All lifecycle events are recorded in an append-only registry. Historical records remain resolvable after expiry or revocation.

Registry and verification

Issued credentials are published to the PROVENANCE VERIFIED™ public registry. Third-party verification is supported via the public verification API without requiring an account. Registry entries expose the credential tier, evidence scope, issuer identity, and lifecycle status.