GOING CLEAR

The issue of transparency in watchmaking is moving from the fringes to the mainstream, thanks to a focus by younger collectors on sustainability. Yet the lack of standards is worrying. We look at the issues, and propose a modest compromise WORDS

- ASHOK SOMAN

It may be strange to find this written anywhere, but this moment in time is perhaps still too early to ask questions about sustainability in watchmaking. Not premature mind you, just a little too early to get useful answers. It is the useful answers part there that informed the decision to begin this section with caveats. On the face of it, given that climate change is progressing no matter our perspective on it, the discussion on this subject is still at the start line. For example, the industry has just about come around to the idea that the origins of the materials used to make the watches are key. As far as we know, the first public discussion of the realities of the supply chain was at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (now called Watches & Wonders) in 2019.

Unfortunately, this is not an indication that watchmaking is ahead of the game here because public reports, including the World Wildlife Fund had already called for greater transparency in this regard as early as 2018, as we dig into elsewhere in this section. Prior to this, some watchmaking maisons were talking about how their new manufactures were carbon neutral, and of course their support for various causes. These days though, just these steps will fall short of the mark, at best. At worst, they open the industry to accusations of greenwashing. This is really a shame because a lot of good work is being done, or supported by watchmaking brands.