(Photo credit: Rolex)
Rolex has recently published a patent application for a simpler way to authenticate watches. The challenge in creating authentication markers is that visible markers affect a watch's design, hidden ones require disassembly, while engraved codes require optical equipment. Rolex now says it has created an invisible marker that can be detected without opening the watch or changing its appearance, according to a patent published on June 18 and discovered by watch writer Nick Gould.
Rather than adding engraved markings or electronic identification technologies, Rolex's latest invention uses an invisible magnetic marker inside a watch. The marqueur — as Rolex calls it in its patent — can take many forms, including an insert, coating, surface treatment or localized material modification. When exposed to a magnetic field, it produces a distinctive magnetic signature that can be detected externally, without opening the watch or affecting its appearance. As Rolex movements have become more resistant to magnetism, it’s an interesting twist that the brand now wants to use magnetism as an identification tool.
In its patent, Rolex says the technology can be used beyond detecting counterfeits. The marker could verify that a component has passed a particular manufacturing step, be checked during final assembly or later during servicing "pour s'assurer de la conformité de la pièce d'horlogerie." It also describes using markers to encode information such as a manufacturing line, providing a discreet way to improve traceability and quality control throughout the production process.