Sustainability In Luxury Watchmaking Is Attracting A New Generation Of Watch Collectors

Transparency, traceability, and luxury with a higher purpose extend the allure of fine watchmaking to younger watch aficionados

Long before sustainability became a necessary call to action of our times, luxury watchmaking had already made it central to its spirit. The best and most precious watches, after all, are built to last; passed from generation to generation, their value growing as the years roll by.

Sustainability In Luxury Watchmaking Is Attracting A New Generation Of Watch Collectors - Cortina Watch — The Coodmilla Mining Cooperative in Colombia was the very first artisanal community supported by Chopard to reach Fairmined certification

This spirit of longevity now carries a second meaning with a newer audience. Beyond wanting a watch that will outlast its owner, many young collectors believe that choosing one made and sourced with conscience says something about who they are.

Kantar’s research into affluent Gen Z luxury buyers found that 69 per cent now let environmental conscience shape their purchases. Deloitte’s most recent Swiss Watch Industry Study points to the same motivation: sustainability now sits alongside uniqueness among the qualities younger buyers weigh most when deciding what to buy. For an industry built on tradition, this is a new generation discovering, from its own perspective, why fine watchmaking still matters.

Taking a different route with material sourcing, Breitling is phasing out mined diamonds in favour of stones grown and cut in climate-neutral facilities in India. This shift also builds sustainability into a watch from the first sketch, rather than retrofitting it once the design is done.

Breitling’s fifth Sustainability Mission Report from 2025 put figures behind the intent: a voluntary premium of US$1.35 per gram flows back into the artisanal mining communities that supply its gold, and 30 Swiss francs per carat into the communities behind its lab-grown diamonds, funding, among other things, an education programme in Colombia.

Blancpain, incidentally the inventor of the first modern dive watch, the Fifty Fathoms, launched in 1953, is a tireless advocate for marine preservation. As founding partner of the Pristine Seas expeditions, the company has backed numerous voyages, 12 of which led governments to sign decrees to safeguard marine protected areas. Its support runs wider than that single partnership, from Laurent Ballesta’s Gombessa expeditions to the shark research of the Mokarran Protection Society and PADI’s Blueprint for Ocean Action.

What distinguishes the Blancpain Ocean Commitment from a conventional sponsorship is its choice of subject. Rather than campaigning on loss, Blancpain backs those who document what remains intact, as well as the belief that people protect what they have been shown to love.

As for Norqain, a brand founded in 2018 that arguably understands today’s young watch lovers most intimately, the company prioritises holistic, eco-conscious watchmaking from the onset.

The brand does not sell a single watch on a leather strap, running instead on rubber, fabric, and recycled alternatives across its range: a Nortide strap woven from ocean-bound plastic reclaimed by the Basel recycler tide ocean SA, and a lining made from AppleSkin, derived from apple skins discarded by the food industry. The red gold in its Wild ONE collection comes from Swiss supplier PX Group, mined artisanally, free of mercury, and fully traceable to source. That same instinct extends to people: 10 per cent of proceeds from its Neverest watch support the Butterfly Help Project, aiding the families of Sherpas who have died working in the Himalayas.

Watches With Purpose

Having conceived their sustainability aims with genuine intentions, these watch companies prove that businesses with purpose have a place in modern luxury watchmaking. But none of the efforts would matter to a younger collector if they read as marketing dressed up as conviction.

After all, Millennial and Gen Z buyers are not choosing between a sustainability report and a timepiece. They are choosing a watch, and asking it to justify itself twice over, once on the wrist and once against everything a house claims to stand for. Each of these watchmaking houses above has spent years building the conviction. Here are four examples where their efforts take physical form.

Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 XPS

A patterned motif inspired by an eagle’s iris gives the Alpine Eagle 41 XPS its captivating dial, but the material making up the case and bracelet expresses the watch’s true principles. Lucent Steel, a proprietary steel alloy refined through Chopard’s own remelting process, currently carries a recycling rate of 80 per cent, a hypoallergenic hardness close to surgical grade, and a brilliance that rivals gold. The 22k micro-rotor winding the L.U.C Calibre 96.40-L is crafted from ethical gold, as are the white gold hour-markers and hands. Beyond the watch, Chopard’s commitment extends to the Alpine Eagle Foundation, which funds the reintroduction of the white-tailed eagle around Lake Geneva and protects its golden cousin in the Swiss Alps.

Breitling Lady Premier 36

Breitling’s “modern retro” aesthetic sensibility comes to the fore once again with the Lady Premier 36, channelling 1940s-inspired design into the feminine creation. Here, the watch shines with even greater lustre, thanks to the sparkle of lab-grown diamonds that adorn its 36mm steel case and lugs. Sheathed in monochromatic sage, a tone that accentuates the nostalgic allure and complements the stones’ sustainability-powered glamour, the watch remains a workhorse at heart. The Lady Premier runs on a COSC-certified self-winding movement providing 42 hours of power reserve.

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech BOC IV

Blancpain’s relationship with the ocean predates many marine conservation programmes by decades, and the Fifty Fathoms Tech BOC IV continues to uphold that legacy. Limited to 100 pieces, the titanium dive watch ticks off every performance metric: high-contrast dial for optimum legibility, helium valve to aid decompression sequences during dives, and the in-house Calibre 1315A that delivers five days of power reserve. But the watch’s real currency lies elsewhere: 1,000 euros from every sale funds the new Blancpain x Sulubaaï Marine Research Center in Palawan, part of a Sea Academy programme now creating protected waters around Pangatalan Island.

Norqain Wild ONE Skeleton Chrono

The Wild ONE Skeleton Chrono is billed as one of Norqain’s most innovative creations: an ingenious use of materials that makes the watch ultra-light and super robust at once. Its NORTEQ carbon-fibre cage and titanium case house the in-house 8K Calibre, a flyback chronograph with 62 hours of power reserve, while wafer-thin floating discs replace conventional sub-dials to striking effect. The line comes in three iterations: a standard black NORTEQ edition with turquoise detailing, a burgundy NORTEQ edition limited to 400 pieces, and a special edition limited to 75. That last version carries a red gold bezel and lug toppers sourced through Swiss partner PX Group—ethically mined, mercury-free, and traceable from ground to case back.

Sustainability In Luxury Watchmaking Is Attracting A New Generation Of Watch Collectors

Watches With Purpose

Chopard Alpine Eagle 41 XPS

Breitling Lady Premier 36

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Tech BOC IV

Norqain Wild ONE Skeleton Chrono