Origyn, the Swiss foundation dedicated to identifying, authenticating and unlocking the powers of ownership for objects of value, has announced a partnership with WatchBox, the global leader in collectible luxury timepieces.
Origyn and WatchBox will collaborate to produce utility nonfungible tokens for the ownership of luxury watches to become digitally tradable, unlocking secondary market liquidity. Buyers with NFTs can fully trust in the watch’s authenticity and trade its digital ownership, making secondary market trading faster and safer for all parties. The NFTs also solve the issue of counterfeit watches by acting as blockchain-based certificates of authenticity purchases on WatchBox’s platform.
Daniel Haudenschild, CEO of Origyn, said, “Once an object has a guaranteed certificate, the NFT becomes highly tradable. Pushed by consumer trends such as reuse and upcycling, the secondary market in luxury watches has exploded and is expected to reach $29 to $32 billion by 2025. Authentication NFTs will make secondary market trading faster and safer for buyers and sellers alike. WatchBox is a leader in collectible watches that are guaranteed to be authentic and collector quality, and we are pleased to work with them to provide a digital guarantee of their services.”
Origyn’s NFTs will provide consumers with guaranteed digital certificates of authenticity for luxury watches purchased on WatchBox’s platform and access to services such as insurance, digital provenance, concierge service and access to exclusive communities. The NFTs will be rolled out this summer.
“Discerning collectors have long trusted WatchBox to purchase authentic, collectible watches, and our partnership with Origyn will extend this proof of authenticity to the blockchain,” said Justin Reis, CEO of WatchBox. “We are excited to provide our clients and community with access to a Web3 authenticity certificate, exclusive blockchain-native content and services and the ability to digitally trade watches through our partnership with Origyn.”
Origyn is the largest project on the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) developed by The DFinity Foundation, one of the fastest-growing blockchains globally. Origyn uses computer vision, machine learning and decentralized technology to certify authenticated objects. Its computer vision and artificial intelligence can pick up details the human eye can’t see, and each watch is given a unique biometric fingerprint from this process. Once this unique biometric fingerprint has been created, an NFT containing all of this information is minted.
The partnership will solve the problem of genuine luxury goods being swapped with counterfeits by constantly controlling the authenticity during its overall lifespan. The Swiss watch industry alone loses $2 billion annually to counterfeits, and more than 40 million counterfeit luxury watches are produced and sold annually. More than 37% of luxury end-consumers in France have bought a counterfeit product without knowing it. This issue can cause uncertainty in the second-hand market, with many would-be buyers fearful of being duped. This leads to an illiquid market in addition to diminishing consumer loyalty and brand equity.
Since its 2017 founding, WatchBox has been a trusted destination for watches with guaranteed authenticity and will be a trusted node in the Origyn network. Watches certified as authentic by WatchBox will be issued a digital certificate on the Origyn platform that can be validated through the biometrics of the watch itself, using advanced computer imaging and artificial intelligence.
The global leader in collectible watches, WatchBox has generated more than $1 billion in revenue and raised $260 million from investors, including Michael Jordan, Milwaukee Bucks MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, Phoenix Suns stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker, Bill Ackman and more.
Origyn recently raised $20 million and is backed by Table Management, Polychain Capital, Bali Venture Partners, Vectr Ventures, Carter Reum, Divyank Turakhia, Paris Hilton and more. The foundation’s utility token, OGY, is set to become publicly tradable in the second quarter of 2022.
About Origyn
The Swiss nonprofit foundation ORIGYN uses intelligent technology, including computer vision and artificial intelligence, on decentralized computing infrastructure to identify, authenticate and unlock the powers of ownership for objects of value. As the first digital certification platform built on ICP, Origyn and its verticals generate new forms of value for some of the largest consumer asset classes worldwide, including art, collectibles, digital media and luxury goods. Founded in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in October of 2020, Origyn operates globally in major technology and blockchain hubs worldwide. For more information, visit origyn.ch.
About WatchBox
WatchBox is the world’s leading platform for collectible luxury timepieces, founded in 2017 by Justin Reis, Tay Liam Wee and Danny Govberg. Offering the largest collection of pristine condition luxury watches, authenticated, and backed by a global warranty, WatchBox is the watch collector’s ultimate destination. Members of the WatchBox collector community receive white-glove concierge service online or at any of its global locations in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland and Dubai, with additional locations on the way. As a technology-first platform and pioneer in media-driven commerce, WatchBox produces and distributes original video content daily, with a growing library that includes market insights, collector interviews and thousands of watch reviews.
Learn more at thewatchbox.com.
Disclaimer: This is a press release; the Crypto Intelligence editorial team was not involved in its preparation, and we do not necessarily endorse the project(s) mentioned above.
