Can we finally say goodbye to Rolex counterfeits?

 For about 1/10^th of the original price you can find pretty legitimate looking copies of Rolex luxury timepieces. Nowadays, some are so well done it is hard to know if it is legit without opening up the back. This is very sad and hurts the image of the Rolex company. Most people’s first thought when they see any Rolex is “Is it a real one?”.

But what if there was an easy solution to track if the watch at hand is an original or a fake?

Last month (March 2019), LVMH announced it had been working on a blockchain technology enabled platform that allowed customers to track a product’s history, its origins from raw materials to point of sale and beyond to used-goods markets.

If the luxury watch sector was able to implement a similar technological implementation, they would be able to gather new data, understanding their customers better, as well as identifying and tracking their purchasing habits precisely. Consumers would also benefit from getting precise data on the authenticity, production date and raw materials origin.

You want to sell your watch on the second-hand market? Just pass by an official shop so they can record the transaction and keep the info up to date. The second-hand market would become a much more comfortable place. Imagine you could assess the timepiece’s servicing and ownership history in just a few seconds?

Could we even think about implementing such technology to vintage watches? Let’s just hope such practices appear in the luxury watchmaking industry.