Luxury watches from fishing nets, paper, food scraps

With the world of haute horology speaking about sustainability so aggressively in 2021, these are the timepieces to know

The pandemic has, among other things, forced us to review our sustainable choices. Which is why the 51st annual Earth Day saw active participation on social media – from Google’s doodle to Snapchat’s launch of AR lenses and bitmojis to help users share conservation tips to content creators listing smart Instagram captions. At the recent edition of Watches and Wonders, the terms sustainability and eco-materials made more than a guest appearance. Watchmakers are going all out by encouraging ethical sourcing of precious materials, even imposing sustainable standards for retailers. Panerai’s CEO Jean-Marc Pontroué, at an experts panel held at the virtual fair, evoked luxury carmakers and even Swiss coffee powerhouse, Nespresso’s, shift towards sustainability as one of the major triggers. “In the future, all Panerai’s watches will have a share of recycled elements in some percentage or the other,” Pontroué committed, offering to share the supply chain behind the recycled parts for the new Panerai Ecologico E-LabID, the first watch to be made almost entirely of sustainable material. CEO Sascha Moeri said that as part of Carl F Bucherer’s comprehensive CSR programme, “not only do the novelties feature recycled materials but our close work with the Manta Trust Foundation based in the UK ties into a larger sustainability picture”. There is a call for major stakeholders in the industry to collaborate to push this trend. At another Watches and Wonders forum, Chopard’s CEO Karl-Friedrich Scheufele opined, “We recently revived a watch line called Alpine Eagle, made of 70 per cent recycled steel. I’d be very happy if someone else picked this idea up, it’s not something that we feel we should exclusively own”. The question remains if Indian customers are ready to pay high premiums for these eco-material watches. Retail specialist Gaurav Bhatia, founder of Art of Time, seems optimistic about “seasoned watch collectors who want to own a green timepiece”. He adds that this is certainly a trend to watch in India.