Watch Dog

Tempted by timepiece gems on the secondary market but wary of their history? Blockchain certification by Watch Certificate gives collectors peace of mind.

- YEO SUAN FUTT

THE SECOND-HAND WATCH market teems with tempting buys, ranging from iconic models someone just discovered in a late relative’s dresser to aspirational timepieces. According to the Boston Consulting Group, the global sales of preowned luxury watches amounts to nearly US$20 billion a year and is growing faster than the firsthand market.

Nevertheless, if there is an accompanying soundtrack to venturing into pre-owned, it would be ‘caveat emptor’ on loop. Outside the assurance of buying new from an authorised dealer, the preowned route can throw up too much excitement for the faint of heart. Is the watch authentic? Does the great price hide a scam? Even if the watch in question were authentic, is it wholly authentic? That is, have authentic components been swapped for counterfeit ones or even authentic but incorrect ones? Does it matter and how will all this affect re-resale?

Coming to the rescue and potentially throwing off whatever brakes remain in buying preowned is Watch Certificate, a blockchain-based authentication/documentation scheme created by Marc Ambrus and Guillaume Kuntz, co-founders of online watch-trading platform Tradeewatches.

Blockchain Technology: Growing Industry Adoption

As esoteric as it sounds, blockchain technology was conceived in 1991 to solve a most mundane problem: that of keeping permanent, reliable records impervious to the ravages of time (paper can get combusted, hard disks can fail, flash storage can degrade and optical media can rot) and villainy (forgers and hackers).