Suspected Modern Replicas

With the amount of items coming from Tula and Ojuelos one would have to expect replicas and modern recreations to be produced. However to us the craftsmanship of many of the flagship pieces is nowhere near matched with these replicas. On some pieces they go to great lengths to produce a quality replica. Sometimes you will see traces of blue pen, sometimes the lines will be consistent and fresh in terms of the line itself lacking proper coloration from the age. Often a sign of modern lapidary tools.

Below you will see some fabrication shots as well as methods used to age and make the item more aged. One thing we notice here is the lines are much more perfect and symmetrical on the known replicas. Mostly in the width and depth but also the intersections. Also not a single authentic piece we have found or seen have a duplicate, the detail in the hands and overall bodies is often undercut on the modern pieces. 

We post this information so when you are viewing these stones you can appreciate the amazing work performed on the stones in our galleries and what we feel is likely authentic in comparison to the known modern replicas. We hope after thousands more tests to be able to fulfill the theory that if it does not glow it could be modern. We feel it likely may be a reaction with the carving tool and depending on the base material some will become more altered than others in term of being able to store and reflect UV light.  Right now there are stone types like jade won't emit a reaction.  Thus we have notion there are some likely  authentic but don't glow of some stone types. We find this especially in green jade and basalt. Also some of the harder dark red stones don't follow this as well. Often times on these pieces which parts of the stone don't emit this,  there are still inlays or areas that show phosphorescence, but not the base stone itself.