28
Timeless
Authenticity
Gebrüder Thonet Vienna chooses a
label with a technological heart to cer-
tify the authenticity of its collections.
A blockchain system, guarded by a
microchip, allows information to be
obtained through NFC (Near Field
Communication), simply using elec-
tronic devices.
This step is part of an ideal dialogue
between technology and production.
Already in the 19th century, Michael
Thonet had introduced a marking
system in his production. Initially, the
first firestamps branded on the inside
of the seats ‘Thonet Wien Gump 396’,
which bore the name of the company
together with the place of manufac-
ture (the laboratory in Vienna at 396
Gumpendorf Street), were combined
with letters and numbers, applied on
the chair legs, to simplify the assembly
of the products that used to be deliv-
ered disassembled to customers all
over the world.
After 1853, with the increasing expan-
sion of the business, the most com-
mon firestamps became ‘GbThonet’,
‘Thonet’ ‘Wien’ or ‘Gt’; later, after 1856,
it can be found ‘GB.THONET Wien’ or
‘GB. THONET WIEN’, until simply setting
on THONET or THONET AUSTRIA in the
late 19th century.
The great international success gave
birth to numerous companies that
marketed similar models of curved
wooden chairs. The need to distin-
guish its products from those of its
competitors became a priority and the
practical function of firebranding was
complemented by the certification of
authenticity, provided by the introduc-
tion of paper labels glued inside the
seat.
The search for useful tools to contrast
counterfeiting has seen a significant
breakthrough in recent years, when,
starting from 2014, Gebrüder Thonet
Vienna GmbH (GTV) introduced a coin
engraved with the ‘Wiener GTV Design’
logo alongside the firebrand mark,
which showed the year of manufac-
ture. The coin’s identification system
had been experimented already in the
early 2000s.
The solution applied today hence finds
an echo in the company’s long history.
The new technological label has pleas-
antly classic lines and is placed in the
wooden frame of the seats, in a posi-
tion opposite to the brand-embossed
mark. A choice that benefits the tracea-
bility and transparency of the products
and protects both the company and
customer.
A fascinating journey that spans three
centuries and tells the efforts needed
to recognise intellectual property and
the company’s attention to valuing
authenticity, the manufacturing pro-
cess and the quality of the product.
