diff --git a/static/app.js b/static/app.js
index 99789d2..5035c9f 100644
--- a/static/app.js
+++ b/static/app.js
@@ -206,10 +206,16 @@ function renderSlab(g, opts = {}) {
     ? `realistically ${g.grade_low}–${g.grade_high}` : '';
   const title = opts.title || g.card_note || 'Card';
   const bits = [range, `${g.confidence || ''} confidence`].filter(Boolean).join(' · ');
+  // The kicker sits where a real slab label carries its grader's logo. It
+  // says ESTIMATE first and always — the label is styled to look like the
+  // real thing, so it has to say plainly that it isn't one.
+  const kicker = ['Grade estimate', g.card_type ? (TYPE_LABEL[g.card_type] || 'Card') : '']
+    .filter(Boolean).join(' · ');
+
   return `
     <div class="slab ${slabClass(grade)}">
       <div class="slab-main">
-        ${g.card_type ? `<div><span class="card-type-tag">${esc(TYPE_LABEL[g.card_type] || 'Card')}</span></div>` : ''}
+        <div class="slab-kicker">${esc(kicker)}</div>
         ${opts.hideTitle ? '' : `<div class="slab-title">${esc(title)}</div>`}
         <div class="slab-sub">${esc(bits)}</div>
       </div>
@@ -335,6 +341,17 @@ function gradePillClass(grade) {
   return 'pill-critical';
 }
 
+// Mirrors slabClass so a history chip and that card's slab always land on
+// the same colour band — they're the same verdict shown at two sizes.
+function gradeChipClass(grade) {
+  if (grade === null || grade === undefined) return 'grade-chip-na';
+  if (grade >= 10) return 'grade-chip-10';
+  if (grade === 9) return 'grade-chip-9';
+  if (grade >= 7) return 'grade-chip-8';
+  if (grade >= 5) return 'grade-chip-6';
+  return 'grade-chip-low';
+}
+
 const MONTHS = ['Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May', 'Jun',
                 'Jul', 'Aug', 'Sep', 'Oct', 'Nov', 'Dec'];
 
@@ -370,7 +387,7 @@ function renderHistory() {
           </div>
         </div>
       </td>
-      <td><span class="pill ${gradePillClass(g.estimated_grade)}">${
+      <td><span class="grade-chip ${gradeChipClass(g.estimated_grade)}">${
         g.estimated_grade === null ? 'n/a' : `PSA ${g.estimated_grade}`}</span></td>
       <td><span class="cell-conf conf-${esc(g.confidence || 'low')}">${esc(g.confidence || '')}</span></td>
       <td class="cardcell-meta cell-when">${esc(fmtWhen(g.created_at))}</td>
diff --git a/static/style.css b/static/style.css
index 934366c..06e61a6 100644
--- a/static/style.css
+++ b/static/style.css
@@ -32,6 +32,16 @@
   --accent-2:    #3ddcc0;
   --accent-soft: rgba(77, 155, 255, .14);
 
+  /* Label chrome only — the red band on a slab label, never a severity.
+     Deliberately deeper than --critical (#f2555a) so the two don't read as
+     the same signal: this one is decoration on a physical-looking object,
+     that one means "distrust this number". */
+  --slab-red:    #c8102e;
+  --slab-face:   #eceef2;
+  --slab-ink:    #0c111a;
+  --slab-ink-2:  #5a6474;
+  --slab-rule:   #b9c0cc;
+
   --good:        #23c55e;
   --good-text:   #4ade80;
   --warning:     #f5a33c;
@@ -419,25 +429,53 @@ textarea { resize: vertical; min-height: 64px; }
    than as one more statistic on the page. Promoted to a hero element here:
    full width, bigger numerals, real elevation. */
 
+/* Rendered as a graded slab's LABEL: light face, dark text, a red band
+   along the top where a real label carries its logo, and the grade boxed
+   off on the right. Against this dark UI a light label reads as a physical
+   object sitting on the page, which is the point — the verdict should look
+   like the thing it's estimating, not like another panel.
+
+   The band deliberately carries "GRADE ESTIMATE" rather than any grader's
+   mark: it keeps the label honest about what it is at a glance, which
+   matters more here than the resemblance does. */
 .slab {
+  position: relative;
   display: flex; align-items: stretch; gap: 0;
-  border-radius: var(--radius); overflow: hidden;
-  border: 1px solid var(--rule);
-  background: var(--surface-2);
+  border-radius: 7px; overflow: hidden;
+  border: 1px solid var(--slab-rule);
+  background: linear-gradient(178deg, #fbfbfc 0%, var(--slab-face) 58%, #dde1e9 100%);
+  color: var(--slab-ink);
   box-shadow: var(--shadow-lg);
   width: 100%;
 }
-.slab-main {
-  flex: 1; min-width: 0; padding: 20px 22px;
-  display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center; gap: 6px;
+.slab::before {
+  content: ''; position: absolute; left: 0; right: 0; top: 0; height: 3px;
+  background: var(--slab-red);
 }
-.slab-title { font-size: 17px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.3; letter-spacing: -.01em; }
-.slab-sub { font-size: 12.5px; color: var(--muted); }
+.slab-main {
+  flex: 1; min-width: 0; padding: 17px 20px 15px;
+  display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center; gap: 5px;
+}
+.slab-kicker {
+  display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 7px;
+  font-size: 9.5px; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: .15em;
+  text-transform: uppercase; color: var(--slab-red);
+}
+.slab-kicker::before {
+  content: ''; width: 12px; height: 12px; border-radius: 2.5px; flex: none;
+  background: var(--slab-red);
+}
+.slab-title {
+  font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.3; letter-spacing: -.01em;
+  color: var(--slab-ink);
+}
+.slab-sub { font-size: 12px; color: var(--slab-ink-2); }
 .slab-grade {
   position: relative; overflow: hidden;
-  flex: none; width: 148px;
+  flex: none; width: 136px;
   display: flex; flex-direction: column; align-items: center; justify-content: center;
-  padding: 20px 10px; color: #fff; text-align: center;
+  padding: 18px 10px; color: #fff; text-align: center;
+  border-left: 1px solid var(--slab-rule);
   background: linear-gradient(150deg, #1b4f8f, #2f6fd0);
 }
 .slab-grade .n {
@@ -478,12 +516,31 @@ textarea { resize: vertical; min-height: 64px; }
   .slab-10 .slab-grade::after { animation: none; opacity: .25; }
 }
 
-.card-type-tag {
-  display: inline-block; font-size: 10px; font-weight: 800;
-  letter-spacing: .1em; text-transform: uppercase;
-  padding: 3px 9px; border-radius: 5px;
-  background: var(--accent-soft); color: #8fc0ff;
-  border: 1px solid color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 38%, transparent);
+/* Card type now rides in the label's kicker line rather than as a separate
+   chip — one fewer element competing inside a label that should read as a
+   single printed artifact. */
+
+/* History grade chips: the slab's grade block in miniature, on the same
+   colour bands, so a scan down the list reads as a row of slabs. Kept
+   separate from .pill because those carry SEVERITY in the category table —
+   same shape, unrelated meaning, so they must not share styling. */
+.grade-chip {
+  display: inline-flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;
+  min-width: 54px; padding: 5px 9px; border-radius: 5px;
+  font-size: 12px; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: .03em;
+  color: #fff; white-space: nowrap;
+  background: linear-gradient(150deg, #1b4f8f, #2f6fd0);
+}
+.grade-chip-9  { background: linear-gradient(150deg, #0b6d33, #16a34a); }
+.grade-chip-8  { background: linear-gradient(150deg, #1b4f8f, #2f6fd0); }
+.grade-chip-6  { background: linear-gradient(150deg, #9a5c0b, #e0891f); }
+.grade-chip-low { background: linear-gradient(150deg, #8f1f24, #d13a40); }
+.grade-chip-10 {
+  background: linear-gradient(140deg, #0b6d33, #3ddcc0 38%, #4d9bff 66%, #a97bff);
+}
+.grade-chip-na {
+  background: var(--surface-2); color: var(--muted);
+  border: 1px solid var(--rule); font-weight: 700;
 }
 
 /* --------------------------------------------------------------- phone */
@@ -503,10 +560,10 @@ textarea { resize: vertical; min-height: 64px; }
 
   /* The slab stays horizontal — stacking it would bury the number, which is
      the one thing someone opens this app to see. Just tighter. */
-  .slab-main { padding: 15px 16px; }
-  .slab-title { font-size: 15.5px; }
-  .slab-grade { width: 108px; padding: 16px 8px; }
-  .slab-grade .n { font-size: 44px; }
+  .slab-main { padding: 14px 15px 13px; }
+  .slab-title { font-size: 15px; }
+  .slab-grade { width: 98px; padding: 15px 8px; }
+  .slab-grade .n { font-size: 42px; }
 }
 
 /* On a narrow phone the five-column history table forces sideways