Dr Frank Müller, former CEO of Glashütte Original, has joined the Advisory Board of Haelixa, bringing extensive leadership experience from A. Lange & Söhne and Swatch Group to accelerate the adoption of DNA authentication technology across luxury.
Haelixa is pleased to welcome Dr Frank Müller, former CEO of Glashütte Original, to its Advisory Board. His appointment adds deep, international luxury leadership to Haelixa as the company expands ProofDNA™, its DNA-based authentication solution for watches, jewellery and luxury handbags.
For luxury brands, authenticity is no longer only a question of product quality or brand storytelling. It has become an operational issue across production, retail, after-sales, resale and returns. When a product’s origin cannot be confirmed with certainty, the result is more than a single disputed item: consumer confidence, brand equity and the value of the wider ecosystem can all be affected.
Luxury experience meets product-level proof
Dr Müller brings almost three decades of leadership experience in Swiss and German watchmaking and luxury brand management. Before serving as CEO of Glashütte Original, he was Managing Director of A. Lange & Söhne and held a position on the extended executive management board of Swatch Group AG. He holds a doctorate from the University of St. Gallen and now leads the global consultancy The Bridge To Luxury, advising international luxury brands on positioning and stewardship.
That perspective is particularly valuable as Haelixa takes its scientific expertise further into the luxury sector. ProofDNA™ embeds an invisible, brand-specific DNA marker directly at material level, creating physical evidence that remains with the product throughout its lifecycle. It is designed to support authentication wherever it matters: in a boutique, warehouse, service centre, return desk or resale environment.
When authenticity cannot be confirmed with certainty, brand equity erodes, operational risk rises, and consumer trust weakens. According to OECD data, counterfeiting drives an estimated $250 billion in annual losses across the global luxury sector. In Switzerland alone, the watch industry is thought to lose $1.88 billion each year to counterfeit activity.
Unlike systems that depend solely on documentation, labels or digital links, ProofDNA™ places the proof in the product itself. Authentication is performed with a simple surface swab and on-site qPCR analysis, giving a clear binary result within 30 minutes. This makes independent product-level verification possible without relying on a specialist to inspect every item.
For Maisons, that has the potential to bring greater confidence to the moments that are often hardest to manage: a product being returned, serviced, sold again or questioned by a customer. The objective is simple: a reliable way to confirm whether the item in front of you is genuine.
Making verification simpler
Unlike systems that depend solely on documentation, labels or digital links, ProofDNA™ places the proof in the product itself. Authentication is performed with a simple surface swab and on-site qPCR analysis, giving a clear binary result within 30 minutes. This makes independent product-level verification possible without relying on a specialist to inspect every item.
For Maisons, that has the potential to bring greater confidence to the moments that are often hardest to manage: a product being returned, serviced, sold again or questioned by a customer. The objective is simple: a reliable way to confirm whether the item in front of you is genuine.
A shared view of what luxury needs next
Dr Müller’s decision to join Haelixa reflects a shared belief that verification should feel practical, not burdensome. As he explains:
“What convinced me about Haelixa is its simplicity: the proof lives in the material itself, with nothing extra to install or maintain. I’d like to see a swab test become as ordinary a part of authentication as a hallmark once was. Why is that important? The reliable and easy to execute validation of origin will increase consumer trust in the luxury industry’s offerings.”
Patrick Strumpf, CEO of Haelixa, adds: “Frank’s international experience leading some of the most respected names in fine watchmaking and luxury gives Haelixa direct insight into what Maisons need. We’re delighted to have him as an advisor as we grow Haelixa within the luxury, watch and jewellery sector.”
Building the next chapter
The appointment is an important step in Haelixa’s continued development of practical, science-backed authentication for high-value goods. With Dr Müller’s strategic insight and Haelixa’s patented DNA marker technology, the company is well positioned to help luxury brands make product-level proof a more natural part of the customer experience, from first sale to the next generation of ownership.
