A method for authenticating a timepiece

A method of authenticating a timepiece comprising at least two of the following procedures:

• (i) measuring acoustic vibrations emitted by said timepiece to obtain an electrical signal, said electrical signal indicating a variation of a magnitude of said measured acoustic vibrations as a function of time, wherein said electrical signal comprises a plurality of acoustic events (1,2) associated with mechanical shocks taking place in said timepiece,
• extracting in said electrical signal or in a representation of said electrical signal in a time, frequency or time-frequency domain at least one of a magnitude information on a magnitude of one of said plurality of acoustic events, a time information on said one of said plurality of acoustic events and a frequency information on a frequency of said one of said plurality of acoustic events,
• comparing said extracted at least one of a magnitude information, time information and frequency information with at least one of a reference magnitude information, reference time information and reference frequency information, and
• deriving an information on an authenticity of said timepiece based on the comparison result;
• (ii) measuring acoustic vibrations emitted by said timepiece to obtain an electrical signal, said electrical signal indicating a variation of a magnitude of said measured acoustic vibrations as a function of time, wherein said electrical signal comprises a plurality of acoustic events associated with mechanical shocks taking place in said timepiece, said acoustic events being separated from each other by a respective quiet zone,
• processing said electrical signal so as to attenuate said plurality of acoustic events in said electrical signal,
• performing a transform of said processed electrical signal into a frequency domain to obtain a frequency-domain power spectrum indicating a variation of a power of said processed electrical signal as a function of frequency,
• processing said frequency-domain power spectrum so as to reveal at least one narrow peak in said frequency-domain power spectrum corresponding to at least one resonance frequency of a mechanical part of said timepiece resonating in a quiet zone,
• extracting said at least one resonance frequency corresponding to said at least one narrow peak,
• comparing said extracted at least one resonance frequency with at least one reference resonance frequency, and
• deriving an information on an authenticity of said timepiece based on the comparison result;
• (iii) wherein the timepiece comprises at least one gemstone (1420, 1505, 1510, 1515, 1520, 1530, 1535, 3105) and wherein the procedure comprises:
• determining one or more characteristics of the at least one gemstone (1420, 1505, 1510, 1515, 1520, 1530, 1535, 3105);
• creating an identifier for the timepiece in dependence upon at least one of the one or more characteristics of the at least one gemstone (1420, 1505, 1510, 1515, 1520, 1530, 1535, 3105);
• and
• comparing the created identifier with one or more stored identifiers to determine whether the timepiece is authentic or a counterfeit;
• and
• (iv) applying at least one excitation to the timepiece using an apparatus to generate a vibration of the timepiece;
• and
• detecting the vibration of the timepiece resulting from the excitation for determining the authenticity of the timepiece.

A computer readable medium for storing instructions, which, upon being executed by a processor of a computer device, cause the processor to execute at least two of the following procedures:

• (a) measuring acoustic vibrations emitted by a timepiece to obtain an electrical signal, said electrical signal indicating a variation of a magnitude of said measured acoustic vibrations as a function of time, wherein said electrical signal comprises a plurality of acoustic events (1, 2) associated with mechanical shocks taking place in said timepiece,
• extracting in said electrical signal or in a representation of said electrical signal in a time, frequency or time-frequency domain at least one of a magnitude information on a magnitude of one of said plurality of acoustic events, a time information on said one of said plurality of acoustic events and a frequency information on a frequency of said one of said plurality of acoustic events,
• comparing said extracted at least one of a magnitude information, time information and frequency information with at least one of a reference magnitude information, reference time information and reference frequency information, and
• deriving an information on an authenticity of said timepiece based on the comparison result;
• (b) measuring acoustic vibrations emitted by a timepiece to obtain an electrical signal, said electrical signal indicating a variation of a magnitude of said measured acoustic vibrations as a function of time, wherein said electrical signal comprises a plurality of acoustic events associated with mechanical shocks taking place in said timepiece, said acoustic events being separated from each other by a respective quiet zone,
• processing said electrical signal so as to attenuate said plurality of acoustic events in said electrical signal,
• performing a transform of said processed electrical signal into a frequency domain to obtain a frequency-domain power spectrum indicating a variation of a power of said processed electrical signal as a function of frequency,
• processing said frequency-domain power spectrum so as to reveal at least one narrow peak in said frequency-domain power spectrum corresponding to at least one resonance frequency of a mechanical part of said timepiece resonating in a quiet zone,
• extracting said at least one resonance frequency corresponding to said at least one narrow peak,
• comparing said extracted at least one resonance frequency with at least one reference resonance frequency;
• and
• deriving an information on an authenticity of said timepiece based on the comparison result;
• (c) determining one or more characteristics of at least one gemstone (1420, 1505, 1510, 1515, 1520, 1530, 1535, 3105) of a timepiece;
• creating an identifier for the timepiece in dependence upon at least one of the one or more characteristics of the at least one gemstone (1420, 1505, 1510, 1515, 1520, 1530, 1535, 3105);
• and
• comparing the created identifier with one or more stored identifiers to determine whether the timepiece is authentic or a counterfeit;
• and
• (d) applying at least one excitation to the timepiece using an apparatus to generate a vibration of the timepiece;
• and
• detecting the vibration of the timepiece resulting from the excitation for determining the authenticity of the timepiece.