Luxury watch maker Breitling issues digital certificates on the Ethereum blockchain

Breitling is partnering with Arianee to issue a new kind of certificates of authenticity for its luxury watches. Instead of relying on physical certificates, the watchmaker gives you a unique digital passport that certifies the origin of the watch.

Behind the scene, Arianee is using non-fungible tokens compliant with the Ethereum’s ERC-721 standard (remember CryptoKitties?). By using a blockchain-based solution, Breitling ensures that its digital passports remain future proof and can’t be altered — due to consensus mechanisms between nodes, nobody can connect to a centralized database, change some values or remove some data.

If you buy a Breitling watch, you get an guarantee card that you can scan. After downloading the Arianee wallet app on your phone, you can add your watch to your digital wallet. You can see the serial number and the activation date of the digital warranty.

As you may have guessed, those digital certificates can be helpful when you’re trying to sell your watch. A feature lets you prove the authenticity of the watch. You can also transfer the certificate to another owner.

Breitling can also add information over time. For instance, you can imagine a timeline of repairs with timestamps so that you can keep track of the whole story. Soon, the brand could also offer insurance products through this new channel.

When it comes to privacy, the certificate isn’t tied to your name, email address or other personal information. Your wallet address is the only unique identifier associated with you.

Arianee proves that non-fungible tokens can provide some interesting use cases in the luxury industry. Breitling also works with Dentsu Tracking to track its supply chain. With digital certificates, end customers also see the benefits of supply chain regulation.