EVERYBODY’S TALKING about sustainability

sustainability

EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT sustainability More and more, watchmakers must think outside the box to meet the consumer demand for suppliers with more sustainable practices. BY DEBBIE HATHWAY

It’s been four years since the WWF published its environmental rating and industry report that demanded more transparency and responsibility in the watch and jewellery sector, calling out those whose sustainability practices fell short of modern standards.

Today, Google searches for

‘fine jewellery’, ‘fine watches’, and

‘sustainability’ have spiked. The authors of the State of Fashion: Watches and

Jewellery report released by Business of Fashion and McKinsey in 2021 expect purchases of fine jewellery with sustainability in mind to more than triple in the years ahead. They emphasised the need for the industry to establish more transparency and traceability in its supply chains to show buyers they are serious about driving environmental and social progress. “If the brand doesn’t have a sustainability agenda or credentials, then for many consumers – millennials in particular – it will just not be viable,” says co-author Alexander Thiel.

Sustainability was a central theme at Watches and Wonders Geneva this year, with panel discussions focusing on transparency, circularity and responsible

The Manufacture is powered by 100% renewable energy globally, and they are developing and implementing a green IT strategy because “computers and networks have a footprint too”. They successfully renewed their ‘Great Place to Work’ sourcing. The event, the most prestigious certifi cation and have also achieved equal pay certifi cation. The of the watchmaking world’s annual philosophy underpins everything IWC does in that they “care reveals, also saw the signing of the about what you wear – down to the smallest detail”. founding documents of the Watch and Jewellery Initiative 2030. Spearheaded BRANDS LIKE ROLEX, OMEGA AND PANERAI ARE by Cartier, delegated by parent company INVOLVED IN CONSERVATION PROJECTS Richemont, and Kering, the owner of Rolex helps protect the oceans through various partnerships Boucheron and Pomellato, the initiative and grants to individuals and organisations. These include is designed to inspire positive change with Rolex Awards laureates Barbara Block, Vreni Häussermann Chanel Horlogerie Joaillerie, Montblanc, and Brad Norman; Rolex Awards Associate Laureate Emma Rosy Blue, Swarovski, Gucci Watches, Camp; and global networks of marine scientists such as Our Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo and Qeelin World-Underwater Scholarship Society. The organisation also part of a growing membership. partners with the Monaco Blue Initiative, which unites experts,

Cyrille Vigneron, President and CEO policymakers, business entrepreneurs and NGOs to discuss of Cartier International, says, “We all solutions to challenges in this environment. fi rmly believe the global Sustainable Furthermore, it has supported expeditions such as Under the Development Goals (SDG) and aspirations Pole III, where teams have been “diving for science in some of the for a sustainable industry can be achieved most remote and hostile places on earth” since 2017 to research only through collaborative initiatives. We the mesophotic coral ecosystems between 30 and 150 metres and remain committed to sharing our common develop underwater exploration techniques. vision of a future where all Maisons, Mission Blue is a marine conservation organisation championed their suppliers and business partners are by Rolex as part of its Perpetual Planet initiative. It works together empowered to impact the planet and its to explore, restore, revive and guard the world’s oceans to have 30 people positively.” percent of our oceans protected by 2030.

IWC was the fi rst in the industry to Dr Sylvia Earle, founder of Mission Blue and a Rolex publish a sustainability report and was Testimonee since 1982, introduced the idea of Hope Spots to top of the WWF list for companies protect critical ocean ecosystems. They also recognise, empower doing the right thing in that sphere. It and support people involved in its protection. There are now 147 has set 25 sustainability targets for top worldwide. “Like Rolex, I feel we have to continue our e orts management to reach by March 2023. towards a Perpetual Planet so that the marvels of the ocean in all CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr is vocal its teeming diversity are not lost to future generations,” she says. about its achievements, including being the “Together, we can make a di erence.” fi rst industry brand to be RJC chain-of- Hope Spots are notable for their remarkable abundance or custody certifi ed. “Sustainability is more diversity of species, habitats or ecosystems; play host to rare, than surface level at IWC. We don’t throw threatened or endemic species; exist on a site with the potential to around pledges of progress without backing reverse damage from negative human impacts or are the location them up or asking ourselves the tough for natural spectacles such as major migrations or spawning questions needed to move things forward grounds; have historical, cultural or spiritual signifi cance and and faster,” he says. economic value for the community. Examples include the Great

No ocean, no life.

No ocean, no us. SYLVIA EARLE, FOUNDER OF MISSION BLUE

Atlantic spotted dolphins off Santa Maria Island in the Azores. The rich marine biodiversity and the local efforts to protect it led to the Azores being named a Hope Spot. ©Nuno Sá - Atlantic Ridge Productions

Sylvia Earle, founder of Mission Blue, during an expedition to a Hope Spot at Cabo Pulmo, Los Cabos,

Mexico, in 2017. © Rolex/Kip Evans Fringing Reef, the first Hope Spot in the Red Sea, ‘The Whales City’ in South San Jorge Gulf in Argentina, and a new marine protected area in Israel’s Palmahim Slide.

Meanwhile, OMEGA collaborated with GoodPlanet Foundation to make the award-winning documentary Planet Ocean, a love letter to the seas, filmed by 10 aerial and 13 underwater cameramen who captured the splendour above and below the ocean’s surface to show how we can all help improve their health. The ethos behind OMEGA’s Seamaster Planet Ocean 600m collection sustains its rich legacy of ocean conservation. OMEGA has since supported ‘Time for the Planet’, two projects designed to maintain Indonesia’s natural heritage and preserve local economic activities.

OMEGA also partners with Privateer in a critical mission to track satellites and debris dangerous to human activity in space. Space junk is hazardous to the satellites we rely on for communication, positioning and climate monitoring and must be tracked to remove it e ectively. OMEGA has been flight-qualified by NASA since 1965 and was the supplier of watches for all six moon landings.

This year, Panerai launched the Panerai Ocean Conservation Initiative in a twoyear collaboration with IOC-UNESCO– the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO – to develop an Ocean Literacy programme in the framework of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). It is a global educational and awareness-raising programme that encourages diverse stakeholders to become agents of change and ocean stewards. It’s about “transforming ocean knowledge into action”.

Part of the education focus involves lectures for students at 100 universities. They will learn more about how a luxury brand like Panerai can work against climate change and ocean pollution and be inspired to think about the ocean di erently. Mainly, the goal is for them to become active agents of change.

Panerai’s Submersible QuarantaQuattro eSteel™ line is made of Panerai eSteel™, which comprises 95% recycled steel.