lockchain and Web3 are hot topics in the luxury sector. The momentum and progress in this space has been driven by the acceleration of digital initiatives during the pandemic. At a pan-industry level, several key players have emerged with blockchain solutions to effect change.

One emerging player is Swiss-based Origyn, which was co-founded in 2021 by HYT chairman Vincent Perriard, and is backed by high-profile investors such as Bill Ackman and Paris Hilton. Fundamentally, Origyn focuses on biometric authentication. But what does this mean in practical terms? Europa Star talked with its co-founder Vincent Perriard, to try and decode the jargon, find out what problems they are tackling and determine where they bring benefits along the value chain.

To understand why platforms such as Origyn pursue their mission on a cross-industry scale, we need to begin with the basic idea of what Web3 is.

When the World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by Oxford graduate Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in Geneva, it gave us a ‘read-only’ internet. Around 2004, what became known as Web 1.0 evolved into a ‘read-write’ web, which gave users the ability to generate their own content. Web 2.0 not only gave rise to social media but also allowed platforms and companies to collect and own the data supplied by users. Blockchain technologies will enable the next generation of the internet - Web 3.0 or Web3 - to be ‘read-write-own’, allowing users to control ownership of data.

According to leading blockchain platform, Ethereum, “Web3 has become a catch-all term for the vision of a new and better internet. At its core, Web3 uses blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs to give power back to the users in the form of ownership.”

It is this promise of decentralization, ownership, and traceability that is driving digital players to find a utility fit and envision a utopian future for the luxury sector spanning industries including watches.

According to leading blockchain platform, Ethereum, “Web3 has become a catch-all term for the vision of a new and better internet. At its core, Web3 uses blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs to give power back to the users in the form of ownership.”

Origyn is touting a ‘game-changing’ tamper-proof system of biometric authentication. The company operates as a decentralised global team across major technology and blockchain hubs in Europe, Asia and the U.S.

As Origyn co-founder, Vincent Perriard, proclaims: “We are the only one who come with biometry to prove the authenticity of the object itself. We do that by taking more than 10,000 data points of reference at the point of assembly, from the front to the back and the sides. And we also use geometry, so we know if the watch has been tampered with.”

Origyn’s technology uses the increasing power of smartphone cameras to capture what Perriard calls ‘biometric’ data from a watch at a microscopic level. Because the data is specific to each watch and its owner, it generates a set of unique identifiers serving as its own proof of authenticity. Origyn uses this data set to issue a digital certificate via a programme based on decentralised technologies, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.

Origyn’s technology uses the increasing power of smartphone cameras to capture what Perriard calls ‘biometric’ data from a watch at a microscopic level.

According to Origyn, these digital certificates are secured by a new generation of public blockchain called Computer Internet, using its proprietary protocol. The potential of Origyn’s biometry system is far beyond brand-level applications. “We can bring the ‘Shazam’ of watches to empower end consumers with a phone to scan the product to control and confirm that the object is authentic,” says Perriard.

With CPO (certified pre-owned) business overtaking the primary market for the first time in history, Perriard recognises that resale is becoming the norm and is convinced of Origyn’s added value in the secondary trade. “If you are selling online or via a marketplace and you don’t have anything that says biometrically this is the real product, I am not going to believe you. You can always cheat with fake QR codes and fake products. There is no guarantee what you put on the blockchain is authentic. With biometry, you cannot cheat anymore, it’s game over,” he states. “What I say makes sense if you are from the (watch) industry. But it is not obvious to those outside.”

Perriard’s conviction is validated by the demand Origyn has seen from CPO operators and authorised retailers. Origyn is now partnering with WatchBox, Top Watch and Ace Jewelers, among other undisclosed names, to implement its solution as soon as it is ready to roll out. Perriard says the technology is ready, but has not yet been deployed because the market is not ready. For these solutions to succeed, they need adoption at the consumer level. To ensure adoption, it requires all the tools at all levels.

Perriard says the technology is ready, but has not yet been deployed because the market is not ready.

“Most people coming into a store don’t have a wallet to receive NFTs,” says Perriard, “But it will come. One day, everybody will have a wallet. Now we have a new system, but we need the (wallet) application. Put it in the app store and create your own wallet in three seconds. It’s tech, and it’s marketing. We need an interface to pull end consumers into Web3.”