As the cavalcade of new watch releases was unveiled in the first half of this year, it quickly became apparent that one colour would dominate 2021 — green. Patek Philippe announced the swan song of the 5711 with a coveted green dial version. Rolex debuted a leafy new Datejust dial in green, and it seems like every other brand had a dial that looked like it had burst from a garden in springtime.
The explosion in popularity of green dials is, of course, just a trend. A fashionable fad. It is, however, representative — perhaps subconsciously — of a much more significant change sweeping through the business of luxury watches. It’s not just the dials that are going green; the broader industry is seeing a concerted shift towards sustainability. From corporate giants like Cartier to smaller independent brands, watchmakers from Geneva to the Jura are busy working out how to reduce, reuse and recycle in an effort to make their business more sustainable.
SUSTAINABILITY IS LUXURY
Of course, sustainable business is good for the planet and the bottom line. Consumers of luxury products — like watches — are becoming younger, with millennials and Generation Z driving growth in the sector. These consumers, as countless studies tell us, are prepared to put their money where their values are, and — you guessed it — sustainability and ethical production are increasingly important for these audiences.
Richemont, the corporate group behind Cartier, IWC, Panerai and many other luxury producers, as well as significant retailers YOOX Net-a-Porter and Watchfinder, are well aware of the importance of sustainability and ethical production to young people. So much so that as part of its new Transformational Strategy launched in 2019, Richemont conducted research exclusively with people under 25. In the 2020 report, Richemont acknowledged that not only did Generation Z make up an important stakeholder group as employees, but an increasingly significant consumer group as well, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. In this stakeholder analysis, climate change and environmental impact, in particular, the transparency and traceability of raw materials, were identified as the highest priority for both stakeholders and the business. As part of this process, Richemont has
