This is a core question, and is both the easiest and the most difficult question to answer.
The easy answer is that a keris made by a karaton mpu will be of superior workmanship.
But does this mean every keris of superior workmanship is going to be the product of a karaton mpu?
No, it does not.
What it means is that any keris that is claimed as being the work of a karaton empu should be of superior workmanship.
This then means that it should follow exactly the style for the period and it then follows that it should be able to be identified as being the work of a particular maker.
We are now into the realm of tangguh, and what that means is that any number of people can give any number of opinions, some of which might be able to be accepted, some of which might not be able to be accepted.
It makes it a little bit easier if it is a more recent blade, and it carries a ron dha, but even then, all opinions are open to question.
If one can obtain the opinions of several people, preferably people who do not belong to the same keris group, and those opinions agree, then there is a good chance that the opinions will be correct.
In short, there is no easy way to answer this question adequately.
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