In watchmaking, the term covers very different practices, and confusing them is a common mistake even among professionals. There are at least three distinct levels: the starting material (recycled, bio-based, upcycled), the production process (energy, waste, traceability), and commercial communication that often amplifies the first while ignoring the second.
On the materials front, numerous solutions are now on the market. Recycled steel reaches 80% recovered content in Chopard's Lucent Steel, a proprietary alloy developed with Voestalpine Böhler that is also harder and more reflective than common stainless steel. Panerai's eSteel follows a similar path. Recycled titanium appears in Awake Concept cases with a 70% share. Among polymers, Swatch introduced Bioceramic, a composite of bioplastic and ceramic; G-Shock uses bio-based resins for bezels and straps; Biopoly, derived from the castor plant, is chosen by Awake Concept as an alternative to petroleum-based polymers. Ocean-sourced plastics have opened a separate chapter: the #Tide organization recovers marine waste, grinds it into pellets and brings it to injection-molded cases by Maurice Lacroix and Timex. For the Oris Aquis Date Upcycle, ocean plastic becomes the dial. Bracenet goes further: it collects ghost nets, abandoned fishing nets that alone constitute 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, shapes them in thicknesses of 0.3 mm and makes dials from them. Ulysse Nardin produces Carbonium for the Freak One OPS from waste of the French aerospace industry, reducing according to the brand the environmental impact by 40% compared to traditional carbon fiber production.
On dials in alternative materials, there are already verifiable results in terms of durability and workability. More open remains the question of plant-based materials for straps: Norqain's AppleSkin (at least 50% powder derived from apple peels and cores), Nortide (yarns from ocean plastic waste with AppleSkin backing), Longines versions with exterior from apple waste and interior from corn rubber. Promising, but the durability over time and wear behavior are still less documented compared to traditional leather.
Lab-grown diamonds enter the discussion because they are chemically and physically identical to natural diamonds, with guaranteed ethical traceability and lower cost; the jewelry industry considers them separately, but in watchmaking they already appear in some high-end dials and indices.
From my workbench, I notice one thing: brands that claim sustainability on materials are almost always silent on the energy consumption of their own movement, on intercontinental logistics and on packaging. The voice is real, but the narrative is selective. Buying a watch with ocean plastic case does not compensate for a flight to pick it up at a boutique in Geneva.