Watchmakers say they’re going green to appeal to Gen Z customers, with recycled steel and vegan watch straps – but is it enough?
- Mining accounted for 10 per cent of the deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest in a decade. Watchmakers are big users of mined gold and precious stones
- Some brands are looking to become more sustainable to appeal to Gen Z customers, by using recycled or sustainably mined metals or choosing alternative materials
Watchmaking is all about tradition. And when it comes to sustainability, preserving tradition has held the industry back.
But some luxury watchmakers are finally stepping up their game to match the needs of their new clientele: Gen Z.
In a 2022 study of the Swiss watch industry, Deloitte found that one in three millennial and generation Z respondents considered it important to own a watch, and that these groups also place value on a timepiece’s sustainability credentials.
Meanwhile, Credit Suisse found that, in India and China, nine out of 10 consumers are concerned about sustainability, with “more than 15 per cent of young consumers in China and India [saying they now] only buy sustainable products”.
That said, the 2018 Watch and Jewellery Sector report by environmental charity WWF says “most companies in the watch and jewellery sector are either non-transparent or show no serious ambitions to become more sustainable”.
