Oris announces a new partnership with the social enterprise Bracenet, which makes accessories from upcycled ‘ghost’ fishing nets – and now, spectacular watch dials
Changing the landscape
Our long-running Change for the Better campaign has inspired collaborations with some of the world’s leading agents of change.
When it comes to thinking, behaving and acting sustainably, there are a number of things a company like Oris can do. First, we can look at our set-up and make changes to how we run our business. Second, we can look at how our watches are produced. And third, we can look beyond our immediate surroundings to see how and where we can affect positive change.
After years of hard work and exploration, we’re very proud to say that we’re active in all three of these areas. We’ve significantly reduced the environmental impact of our factory at our home in Hölstein; we’re expanding our portfolio of sustainable suppliers; and we are fortunate to have partnered with a wide body of pioneering charities, social enterprises, non-profits and businesses with a sustainability profile that matches ours. We firmly believe that we can only achieve our goal to bring Change for the Better when we work together.
In 2021, we were awarded climate neutral status by the independent organisation ClimatePartner, which helped us calculate our global carbon footprint and find formal ways to offset it.
Last year, we released our first Oris Sustainability Report and initiated the Oris Emissions Reduction Programme. Its purpose is to reduce our carbon emissions by 10 per cent a year for three years. It’s a tall order, but we’re determined.
We’re also proud to have collaborated with some of the world’s most effective agents of change. We’ve produced watches with conservationists and humanitarians, including the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, Billion Oyster Project and Wings of Hope, which has twice been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
We’ve also partnered with the Swiss company Cervo Volante to produce watch straps made of sustainably sourced and tanned deer leather.
And now, we’re very pleased to introduce a new collaboration with the social enterprise Bracenet and the Oris X Bracenet, a watch with a dial made of ‘ghost’ and end-of-life fishing nets.
Caught in the act
Introducing the Oris X Bracenet and our new collaboration with the social enterprise Bracenet, which upcycle ‘ghost’ fishing nets into accessories.
Ocean plastic statistics make difficult reading. For example, scientists believe the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), an area of plastic waste drifting between Hawaii and California, is four- and-a-half times the size of Germany.
That figure was calculated by the environmental engineering organisation The Ocean Cleanup, which also estimates that 46 per cent of the GPGP is made up of fishing nets that have been lost or discarded. This is particularly serious because while they may no longer be in use, these ‘ghost’ fishing nets still catch and kill marine life as they hover in the water.
Experts estimate that up to a million tonnes of fishing nets enter the oceans every year, and that a ghost net will keep fishing for 400-600 years.
It’s only recently that awareness of ghost nets has begun to rise, thanks to the vision and efforts of people like Benjamin Wenke (see next page) and Madeleine von Hohenthal, founders of our new partner, the social enterprise Bracenet.
They became aware of this grim phenomenon while diving off the coast of Tanzania in 2015 and determined to do something about it. They began making bracelets out of upcycled ghost nets, and Bracenet was born. Today, the company makes a catalogue of products and accessories that transform this potentially life-threatening waste product into something beautiful that also makes a statement: change must come.
Now, we’re very proud to introduce the Oris X Bracenet, a special-edition version of the Aquis Date diver’s watch with a spectacular dial made of recycled ghost and end-of-life nets.
Making these kaleidoscopic dials involves taking small green, blue and white offcuts and gently warming them until they melt into the raw material. As they cool, they harden into a thin sheet of material. This is then cut to size, planed, and sanded down until it’s just 0.3mm thick. The material contains no additives, fillers or glues. No two dials are the same.
There’ll be two stainless steel versions of the watch, one with a 43.50 mm case and a second with a 36.50 mm case. Both have automatic mechanical movements and uni-directional rotating bezels, and are water-resistant to 30 bar (300 metres). More importantly, both are symbols of the change we want to see.
The net effect
Bracenet co-founder Benjamin Wenke on the story behind his company, how his products are made and the power luxury has to steer change
Benjamin, tell us a bit about yourself…
Hi, my name’s Benjamin Wenke, I’m 38 and together, Madeleine von Hohenthal and I set up the social enterprise Bracenet in 2015. Before we went full-time with the project, I was CMO of Bosch in my home country Germany.
That’s a solid job and career: what made you decide to go your own way?
Yes, we had good careers. Madeleine was head of art buying at the comms agency BBDO. But everything changed when we were on holiday diving off the coast of Tanzania around Zanzibar. We saw these waste fishing nets everywhere – on the beach and underwater. It really troubled us. Was this just a local problem, or global? We decided to learn more and do something about it.
What did you discover?
A mess! What we had found were so-called ‘ghost’ fishing nets that were lost or discarded
at sea. We learned that they are everywhere. Back in 2015-16, the conversation around ocean conservation hadn’t really found its momentum. We founded Bracenet to create bracelets from these nets, and to give people an opportunity to play their part. Around 2017, the conversation took off and press, brands and customers found us. Suddenly the business was flying and we quit our jobs to focus on it.
What do Bracenet products symbolise?
Our motto is: ‘Save the seas, wear a net!’ That’s the statement behind our products. If you’re wearing or using a Bracenet product, every day you know you did something for the oceans. And because they’re colourful, stylish and obviously made from nets instead of new material, our products spark conversations, too. What is that? Why are you wearing it? This connects people to the ghost net problem, which is a really important part of a Bracenet product.
How do you get hold of your nets?
We collaborate with some amazing organisations, such as Ghost Diving, Healthy Seas and Nofir. They recover nets from the seabed or shipwrecks with their technical diving teams, or source end- of-life fishing nets directly from fisheries. We also work with other non-profits that salvage nets, for instance Sea Shepherd Germany.
And then what happens to them?
Once they arrive on land, we need to clean them. The first step is with a pressure washer, using only water. Then we put the nets into a washing machine inside special bags that filter microplastics. There are no chemicals involved. Next, our team sorts the nets by colour, cuts them to size and handcrafts them into new products.
What products do you offer now?
Our core product is still bracelets, but the range has expanded to earrings, bags, keychains and more. Right now, we’re also producing goal nets for the Bundesliga, the German professional football league. And because Oris works with the Ligue de Football Professionnel in France, we’re moving into that space, too.
What’s the story of the Oris X Bracenet?
Oris approached us about creating a product using upcycled fishing nets, but we saw an opportunity to create something even more special. When we cut the nets to create our products, there are always offcuts. We thought: what if we turned some of these into watch dials? This would basically mean that the nets used for the dials have been upcycled twice.
And how is that dial made?
We gently warm the offcuts until they melt into a raw material that then hardens. These are then planed and sanded until you get a beautiful, swirly sheet of colourful material that’s only 0.3mm thick that can be cut into dials. There are no additives, fillers or glues. And what’s really special is that every dial is unique.
What does this collaboration achieve?
Luxury brands have a powerful voice. When they get involved in conservation, and they really mean it, they can achieve a lot. We can tell Oris really wants to bring change. The Oris X Bracenet amplifies the conversation, and generates donations for our non-profit partners, too.
