How does one tell if a product is genuine or not?

According to the International Chamber of Commerce, counterfeiting is estimated to cost the global economy up to a trillion dollars a year. But French innovators are working to reverse this trend.

A team of French entrepreneurs, most of whom have worked for big luxury companies have developed a blockchain-based system, Arianee, seeking to address the issue of counterfeiting.

Arianee is the first luxury protocol that will record all genuine products of value, enabling revolutionary link between owners and brands. The solution will also provide owners with security layer for all their valuable assets.

The entrepreneurs are building the first perpetual and secure protocol for trusted digital certificates for all the world’s objects.

Anyone using Arianee will be able to track a product after its purchase.

How does it work?

Let us take an example of a person wishes to buy a pre-owned watch.

During the purchase of an item, a buyer can use the serial number of the item, and run it through the Arianee blockchain via their smartphone to consult the product’s journey. From the system they can tell whether the watch is registered, authentified by the manufacturer and not flagged as stolen or lost.

By doing so, Arianee offers a practical solution to fight counterfeiting and grey markets.

Arianee is in form of a mobile application that users can download.

The firm is providing digital identity for luxury products. It’s basically more like the passport for one’s product. Noting that buying valuable assets can be stressful in a digital world because of counterfeits and stolen items, Christian Jorge, one of the brains behind Arianee, believes that creating a blockchain-based platform can have a far-reaching impact.

"We have, therefore, created Arianee and backed it with blockchain technology, which allows it to be decentralized, independent, and secure,” says Jorge who is also the former senior vice president at Vestiaire Collective, one of the world’s largest luxury second-hand marketplaces.

Arianee also preserves safe and private relationships between items, owners, and brands. The Arianee team knows that in today’s complex, connected world, it is essential to give individuals complete control over their data.

The team is currently working with different players within the luxury industry to make sure that the level of adoption of this solution goes high, as they believe such a solution is a game-changer for the industry.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw