Authenticity

We ensure the authenticity of all items in our collection

Our process involves verifying each item's provenance, history, ownership, and legality.

Scientific & Expert Verification

Our suppliers are recognised for their expertise, experience, and credentials.

Our network of excavators and suppliers includes some of the most qualified individuals to verify the authenticity of these specimens.

With decades of experience between them and formal education including advanced degrees in Palaeontology and Palaeobiology.

  • Curated Studio ensures that the fossils comply with international, national, and local laws.
    This includes confirming that the fossils were legally excavated and exported, particularly from regions with strict heritage laws (like China, South Africa and Brazil).

    We also ensure that we stay up-to-date with international import/export legislation, following the correct procedure and acting as a liaison with customs for both our suppliers and customers.

    Our products undergo rigorous checks of export and import documentation at customs before reaching us.

  • Upon arrival into our studio fossils are examined and sorted, undergoing a detailed assessment by our team.

    We assess the fossil’s condition, identification, and historical context, before creating a condition report detailing the physical state of the fossil, any restorations or repairs, and an assessment of its authenticity and completeness.

  • For all rare and high value items, Curated Studio often requires comprehensive documentation tracing the fossil’s ownership history, often going back several decades. This includes previous sales records and ownership transfers.

Assessment

We adhere to a strict set of protocols to ensure the authenticity of our specimens.

Resources

  • More than 50,000 Moroccans earn their livelihoods in the fossil and mineral industry

    Fossil and mineral exports began in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and now has a worldwide market that supports hundreds of families in rural regions of Morocco.

    - Dr. Andrew A. Sicree

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  • Our Megalodon teeth are sourced from Indonesia to ensure the best quality

    Unlike US river teeth, the indonesian land-found teeth are plucked straight from soft clay earth which results in good colouration, smooth enamel, and higher blade preservation (sharp serrations, preserved boulettes, lack of hydration cracks, etc) - all of which are uncommon in US teeth.

  • Morocco's fossil trade is worth over $40 million annually

    The desert around Erfoud in Eastern Morocco is considered the trilobite capital of the world, and is one of the richest sources of fossils on earth.

    All major vertebrate clades are represented within within the latest Cretaceous–Early Palaeogene Phosphates of Morocco.

    - New York Times Magazine, Oct 2000

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  • Our Madagascan Ammonites are polished or cut in accordance with export legislation

    Madagascan law prohibits the exportation of unaltered, as-found, ammonites from Madagascar.

    They have to be "improved" in some way, by polishing, buffing, or slicing in two, as a way of creating jobs in Madagascar and adding value to its exports.

    - Export Customs Guide, FIDI

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  • The commercial fossil industry has made significant contributions to science

    Paleontologists have identified hundreds of species —many new to science—from specimens collected within the fossil industry. Without markets to support collectors, a large number of these species would never have been discovered.

    - Dr. Andrew A. Sicree

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  • Moroccan fossils are a byproduct of the phosphate mining industry.

    Excavation of the phosphate deposits is carried out by local residents, including workers in operational phosphate mines who can earn money selling fossils in addition to their working wages.

    - University College London

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  • Some regions do not permit the export of fossils

    We ensure that all of our fossils comply with international, national, and local laws.

    This includes confirming that the fossils were legally excavated and exported, and being aware of countries with strict heritage laws like Mongolia, China, Brazil, and South Africa that prohibit the export of fossils as objects of cultural importance.

    - Association of Applied Paleontological Science (AAPS)

    Read

Visit our FAQ page for more information