Method and system for authenticating a timepiece

A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instructions, which, upon being executed by a processor of a computer device, cause the processor to execute a method comprising:

• 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 respective quiet zones;
• 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 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
• determining information regarding an authenticity of said timepiece based on the comparing.

A system for authenticating a timepiece comprising:

• a measuring tool configured to measure 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 respective quiet zones;
• an attenuating tool configured to process said electrical signal to attenuate said plurality of acoustic events in said electrical signal;
• a transform tool configured to perform 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 using a processor of a computing device;
• a peak identification tool configured to process 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 part of said timepiece resonating in a quiet zone;
• an extraction tool configured to extract said at least one resonance frequency corresponding to said at least one narrow peak;
• and
• an identification tool configured to create an identification code based on said at least one resonance frequency.

A method for generating an identifier for a timepiece, the method comprising:

• 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 respective quiet zones;
• 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 using a processor of a computing device;
• processing said frequency-domain power spectrum so as to identify at least one narrow peak in said frequency-domain power spectrum corresponding to at least one resonance frequency of a part of said timepiece resonating in a quiet zone;
• extracting said at least one resonance frequency corresponding to said at least one narrow peak;
• and
• creating an identification code based on the at least one resonance frequency.

A method for generating an identifier for a timepiece, the method comprising:

• measuring acoustic vibrations emitted by said timepiece to obtain an electrical signal;
• identifying at least one narrow peak in a frequency-domain power spectrum corresponding to at least one resonance frequency of a part of said timepiece resonating using a processor of a computing device;
• extracting said at least one resonance frequency corresponding to said at least one narrow peak;
• and
• creating an identification code based on the at least one resonance frequency.

A method for authenticating an item, the method comprising:

• measuring acoustic vibrations emitted by the item to obtain an electrical signal;
• identifying at least one resonance frequency using the electrical signal;
• and
• creating an identification code based on the at least one resonance frequency using a processor of a computing device.