Together in a race against time to regenerate the Ocean by 2030, Ulysse Nardin and The Ocean Race are materializing their engagement for a decade of actions to protect the Ocean, with the new Diver The Ocean Race made from discarded fishing nets and other recycled materials.
FROM THE OCEAN, FOR THE OCEAN
Ulysse Nardin and The Ocean Race are seeing their shared commitment realized with THE Diver The Ocean Race, which will be the official timekeeper for the open-sea sailing race scheduled to start from Alicante, Spain, on January 15, 2023. With this new sophisticated and environmentally friendly watchmaking creation, the two partners are making a pledge to protect the Ocean and start the countdown for positive results by 2030.
The beginning of a new era for Ulysse Nardin.
We have been making marine chronometers for explorers since 1846. Today’s navigators are inevitably confronted with plastic pollution, with 5,000 billion pieces floating at sea. Fishing nets (mainly made of polyamide) are one of the main sources of this Ocean plastic pollution: up to 640,000 metric tons are lost or abandoned each year (UN), joining the nine million metric tons of plastic discharged into the sea.
“Our way of making people aware of the issue is upcycling. In this process, finding suppliers was a key factor,” confirms Patrick Pruniaux.
We have promised to move quickly from concept to marketing. In June 2022, the Diver The Ocean Race made from recycled fishing nets is the first sustainable luxury watch to be put on the market and offered in a limited edition of 200 pieces.
With the Diver The Ocean Race we would like to raise awareness by creating “new from old” and regenerating materials, especially plastic. We are conclusively making the change towards the circular economy with this movement of regeneration of nets.
To help us in this mission we have placed our trust in young Breton designers who have created the very first fishing net recycling business in France. FIL&FAB, a start-up in the field of industrial design and transition, recovers disused nets in French fishing ports and recycles them in the form of polyamide granules called Nylo®.
Our designers meticulously decorated the watch, water-resistant up to 300 m, with touches of bright green, a reflection of nature. These are everywhere: from the stitching on the strap to the markers and bezel, including the “double X” signature of the dial.
“A design object is creating one which has been thought out from start to finish to fulfill its functions without damaging the environment. Our association with Ulysse Nardin is natural: it is inevitably first and foremost linked to the sea, to Ulysses, the Odyssey, adventure. We also share the desire to produce reliable objects, made to last, while reducing the ecological impact.” Yann Louboutin, one of the three founders of FIL&FAB
A BEZEL DECORATION DESIGNED IN CARBONIUM®
The components the UN-118 mouvement are 95% sourced within a 30 km radius of the Manufacture, half of them coming from recycling channels (recycled steel and brass in particular: 100% of Ulysse Nardin movements make use of recycled brass). THE OCEAN RACE DIVER embodies innovation and tradition, since its movement retains its historical know-how. The caliber of a watch of this quality being by nature a sustainable product since it works on wrist power.
The unidirectional bezel is entirely decorated with Carbonium® (Lavoisier Composites). Carbonium® is made of the same fibers that are used for the fuselage and wings of the latest-generation aircrafts. The manufacture of Carbonium® has a 40% lower environmental impact than other carbon composites, since it makes use of the offcuts of aircraft parts. Created using a complex process under high pressure at high temperature, Carbonium® is a high-performance material that reveals the inner beauty of the organic pattern formed by carbon fibers that have a diameter of only 7 µm.
“The sea has always been part of our brand’s DNA and exploration has always been our spearhead. There is generally a strong willingness and interest of the staff members to support initiatives to improve the brand’s environmental performance. Our intention is not to be the first to innovate with sustainable materials, but rather to show the watch industry that it is possible to make our customers aware of recycled materials, even for luxury items. We would be very happy if our innovations were somehow ‘open-source’.” Patrick Pruniaux, CEO of Ulysse Nardin
