Art and Luxury: the future of authenticity and the blockchain

Authenticity is a concept that reverberates inexorably in this historical moment as it is linked to all reasoning of value and of emotional dividends which are directly linked to products with high added value and high price.

The true and the false, the real and the unreal, the original and the counterfeit these are the polarities that have increasingly distinguished the experiential dimension of our life and consumption choices. The hope is that there is always the awareness component and that therefore one is conscious and aware of what one is actually buying.

The term authenticity brings with it essential characteristics such as originality, speciality, uniqueness, distinctiveness which, for the majority of consumers, are difficult to evaluate and quote.

When I buy a diamond, a vintage car, a painting, a vintage piece, how do I know if it's authentic, if it has those characteristics, if it has those original components, if it has those composite materials? Of course, the certification of the manufacturer and the retailer are essential to document the authenticity.  Authentic cryptography, using blockchain technology, could finally simplify this difficult relationship by reducing (eliminating) the various opaque gray areas referring to the origin and composition of the products.

It would seem that luxury brands are already thinking about it. The Prada Group, LVMH e Richmond they founded a consortium in support of the first global blockchain dedicated to the luxury industry and there are other projects that fully embrace this concept of certification of authenticity. Technology non-fungible tokens (NFTs) it seems the most interesting. 

Not only i luxury brand they are thinking about it but also the art sector it is getting there quickly not only for the disintermediation of transactions but also for the certification: it is interesting to point out the auction for the sale of authentic replicas of the Mona Lisa which apparently could seem a contradiction.

It seems logical to me that the potential of this new, more sustainable and forward-looking approach is very interesting to evaluate. In addition to the authenticity of the new product, a parallel market of original used products, the market for fakes is seriously fought, the work of legal and notary evaluations on the origin is facilitated, the task of the insurance companies is facilitated.

The potential is very interesting and, very likely, if this technology takes hold, it will also be adopted in the mass market segments and, finally, we will know the true origin of the raw materials and production locations.

“Everyone evaluates you for what you look like. Few understand what you are." Niccolo Macchiavelli.

All the Best