hmmm a lot going on blockchain watch certification business these days https://www.origyn.ch/ what do you think of this service ?
Looks like it's still at an early stage and pretty vague in its methods. It said that the system can authenticate like a finger print scanner (image based). Well watches can get dings, polishing, parts replaced during service etc. Wouldn't that confuse the system?
I can get members here to authenticate any two pictures for likeness or differences for free with a 90+% success rate Hey we had members from all over the world put a couple hundred hours on a Logo only a few weeks ago. ( success rate isn’t quiet as high on this service though )
yes same as last time we discussed the watchfid service . it raises more questions than answers were given @Ree right ... also it should be based on a digital reference ... but what if the watch gets a polish ? then its not original anymore ?
It seems silly on its face, at least for pre-owned watches. Why? Because even if the company had access to the correct "biometrics" for every single part of every vintage watch – which of course it cannot – how would it be able to distinguish a correct replacement part? And that's just one problem.
There's a bit more information about the founders in this article. Some look to be industry vets (AP, Swatch Group), so it seems they may be more focused on the problem of counterfeit watches that are fakes of new Rolex/Omega/etc. This is surely a problem in the market, and perhaps of bigger concern to these brands, but not the primary problem we on OF are focused on re vintage watches.
It’s a new tech startup in my hometown. Their main goal doesn’t seem to address us with our vintage watches nor to « watchfid-like » rate a watch. They have developed some interesting techniques allowing brands to include « tags » on their watches that would be invisible to a human eye but that their system would be able to reckon with a smartphone camera for example. This to easily and quickly find out if a watch or a part is genuine or counterfeit.
I think this has legs. A small fee and tracking of a portfolio, even if just serial numbers could be interesting and had potential to wipe out market for stolen items. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/stolen-rolex-blockchain