WISeKey International Holding Ltd (“WISeKey”) (SIX:WIHN) announced today that it has renewed its contract with the Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot. The technology provided by WISeKey includes an NFCTrusted Hublot-ID Watch (SmartCard) embedding the WISeKey semiconductor VaultIC and a Root Of Trust X509 certificate that act as the watch’s passport in every watch box.
The first authentication operation is carried out by Hublot during the manufacturing process when the Watch SmartCard is personalized, embossed and placed within the box housing the watch.
In the boutique, once the customer has selected a model, through the WISeAuthentic® app the customer can identify the seller as one of the brand’s authorized retailers, using their own NFCTrusted Authorized Retailer (SmartCard) and directly connect to WISeAuthentic® platform at the brand’s headquarters in Switzerland. The retailer then connects the Watch SmartCard by activating electronically the international warranty in front of the customer.
Using the same authentication method device provided during purchase, the owner of a Hublot timepiece can check its authenticity and serial number online, consult the instructions and also register at the same time on “Hublotista.com,” club, exclusively reserved for owners of Hublot watches.
There is no way currently to authenticate a product from an ad on eBay, Amazon Marketplace, ASOS or Alibaba, so it’s easy to become a victim of a scam if users don’t know what to look for.
Counterfeiters do everything they can to look like it’s hard to address the problem proactively. With this technology, every watch has an identity and a passport that follows the watch during its life cycle.
The message from the assembled watch company executives and their legal counsels is that, more than ever, watch collectors must be aware – and beware – of the dangers of buying brand-name luxury watches through unauthorized dealers, particularly retail watch sites on the Internet. The recent spike in production of so-called “superfakes,” counterfeit reproductions of popular name-brand models, made primarily in China, that bear a remarkable resemblance to the real thing is making this authentication technology a requirement to protect consumers.
The collaboration with WISeKey launched in 2009, has made Hublot a leader in the field of identification and authenticity protection becoming the 1st WISeKeyIoT project already embedding part of the current WISeKey’s proven technology. All Hublot watches are protected by WISeAuthentic®, the authenticity certification system based on WISeKey technology, and more than 75 Hublot boutiques and 750 points of sale across the world are equipped with the system for activating and reading this new digital certificate. This WISeKey authentication number also allows the owner of the timepiece to register on the Hublotista platform, the brands exclusive client’s club, designed to build a strong relationship between Hublot and its customers around the world.