Interview with Vincent Perriard, co-founder of Origyn
Vincent Perriard is a colorful entrepreneur at heart, a visionary with an impressive track record. After working as a radio host and creator, he worked in several communications agencies in Geneva and New York, which inspired him to set up his own communications agency in Paris. He went on to hold a number of management positions with major watch companies (Audemars Piguet, Hamilton in New York, Concord, TechnoMarine and HYT). He is now tackling the counterfeiting of luxury goods with ORIGYN, which aims to revolutionize the fight against counterfeiting. A fascinating interview with an entrepreneur who's passionate about... watches.
What is the ORIGYN Foundation developing?
For years, the watchmaking industry has been confronted with the problem of counterfeiting. In 2020, the secondary market (2nd hand) overtook the primary market. Today, when a luxury watch is resold on the Internet, the only proof of its authenticity is a paper certificate or a card with a QR code. ORIGYN will make it possible, via a smartphone application, to determine the authenticity of a luxury product. As soon as the watch is produced, thanks to a program based on decentralized technologies, machine learning and artificial intelligence, a kind of digital certification will be created. All you have to do is take a photo of the watch via the smartphone application to find out if it's original. Each object will thus have its own digital clone (digital twin), a digital identification impossible to replicate. The application will be free and available to all. Applications in sectors other than watchmaking are also being developed for art, painting and media via the ORIGYN Foundation's ORIGYN Luxury, ORIGYN Art and ORIGYN Digital Media divisions.
What does this mean in practical terms for the watchmaking industry?
We are currently implementing two product authentication systems, which do not use the same technologies or the same development. One consists of identifying the product at the time of manufacture by means of an HD photo and the creation of a digital clone. The watch is then sold with its digital clone. The second authentication system concerns luxury products already on the market. Important agreements have been signed giving us exclusive access to all the image databases of the Baselworld and Watches&Wonders (formerly SIHH) shows. This represents some 60,000 images of watches collected since 1963. This collection will enable us to refine all the intelligent technologies we use to identify and authenticate watches. When you scan a watch, the system will be able to tell you the probability of its authenticity. The algorithm could tell you "beware, your watch is a priori fake". Our aim is not just to offer an authentication technology, but to create a standard, a form of guarantee and assurance. We hope to launch our application in the first quarter of 2022.
How are luxury brands responding to your project?
Last January, we demonstrated the effectiveness of our application to several luxury brands. For them, if our project works, it means the end of the counterfeit trade. What's more, such a system presents enormous applications and opportunities in terms of commercial and marketing prospects. Watch brands will be able to trace a product from the day of its birth and throughout its life. The product will potentially change owners, and the watch brand will not necessarily have the right to know their identities. However, it will know that the watch with the number 18 has been sold 6 times, that it has remained in Switzerland, and so on. By motivating the new owner to leave his or her personal information, for example by offering an additional service or a discount on the next purchase, a direct relationship between brand and customer can be created. Brands find this absolutely exceptional.
What technological model is ORIGYN based on?
ORIGYN is a non-profit foundation that uses a blockchain technology called DFINITY, a foundation that has just launched its public network and was co-founded by Gian Bochsler, one of ORIGYN's three co-founders. ORIGYN needs huge image databases and DFINITY technology to function. It's not just decentralized information, but millions of computers that together form a supercomputer. This makes ORIGYN the first authentication platform to use DFINITY technology.
How do you see ORIGYN in 5-10 years?
As an entrepreneur, we replicate exactly what DFINITY does. The aim is to become a standard that people use. Once our standard is accepted, we'll enter the token economy. Everyone will then be able to buy our tokens. And when it's used by the 5-10 biggest watch brands, the service will become very attractive and the value of the tokens will rise. The current value is therefore entrepreneurial. In terms of next steps, we are ready to be registered on Coinlist and our first economic test will take place in the first quarter of 2022.
Why did you choose the Canton of Neuchâtel to set up and develop your business?
It was a natural choice, as both myself and my partner are Neuchâtelers and fundamentally love Neuchâtel. And watchmaking is in Neuchâtel.
What could the canton do to improve its attractiveness to businesses?
It's a vast subject. As far as the economy is concerned, I'm rather positive and optimistic about what the canton is doing to make its companies more attractive. On the other hand, the tourist aspect of Neuchâtel could be improved. For me, towns like Neuchâtel and La Chaux de Fonds are synonymous with time, the passing of time, watchmaking. It's a 400-450 year-old heritage, and we really should have a place here, a top-class museum or iconic object where we talk about time and that visitors from all over the world will want to visit.
Source: Neuchâtel Economic Department
