Home / Watches / Automatic Watches

11 Sustainable Watches Made from Ocean Plastic

Believe it or not, upcycled plastic recovered from the sea is the latest trend in watchmaking materials.

ulysse nardin ocean plastics watch Ulysse Nardin

By Zen Love

Published

·

Updated

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

Plastic isn’t usually a material watchmakers clamor to be associated with. But when it’s used for a good reason, plastic can suddenly look a whole lot more attractive and meaningful. It’s one of the most interesting and unexpected recent trends in watches: recovering polluting plastic debris from the oceans and recycling it for use in watches — and even high-end Swiss brands are getting in on the action.

Watch brands are regularly involved in charitable and sustainability activities, and with the popularity of dive watches, it’s no surprise that many brands look toward the ocean for their charity of choice. Many of the watches you see here are made with material from the Swiss company Tide Ocean Material, which collects ocean plastic specifically from the Andaman Sea in South East Asia with regional partners and processes it in Switzerland using solar energy.

There are various ways in which brands’ work can contribute to or highlight ocean conservancy, but combining these efforts with advances in watchmaking materials makes it feel more tangible to the consumer. Little watches might not be using a lot of ocean plastic, but every bit counts and such initiatives at least help raise awareness. Tide’s recycled material is also used in other products.

Watch brands might be genuinely good-hearted, but they probably wouldn’t make such watches if you didn’t want to buy them (or at least hear about them). Besides, if you feel a little guilty buying a product you don’t need — such as a watch — a sense that you’re contributing to something positive might help you pull the trigger. These watches also often have unique designs to highlight their unique material — and there’s nothing like a watch with some character and talking points.

Watchmakers like Oris, Breitling and others have incorporated recycled ocean plastic into straps and packaging, but the watches below stand out for going all the way and offering full watch cases made from the material.

  • Diameter: 38mm
  • Movement: Quartz
  • Water Resistance: 50m

With a field watch aesthetic and a basic quartz movement, this Australian retailer is offering the full ocean plastic experience with case and strap made from the recycled material — it’s also probably the most accessible way to get an ocean plastic watch on your wrist. At sub-$100 prices and available in a range of colors, these can easily just be fun “why not?” summer watches.

  • Diameter: 40mm
  • Movement: Quartz
  • Water Resistance: 50m

The Armitron Wave series comes in four colorways with a pretty winning design. The Wave is a chronograph in the spirit of the Zenith El Primero A384, but our favorite detail: where watchmakers traditionally place text like “Swiss Made” under 6 o’clock is “ocean plastic” tastefully integrated.

  • Diameter: 40mm
  • Movement: Quartz
  • Water Resistance: 30m

Plastic is interesting in that it can take on nearly any property or color you can think of so, yes, we’re talking cases of various colors, as you’ll see from a number of brands. Timex is a go-to brand in this price range, and their Reclaim Ocean watches come in a range of sizes (37mm, 40mm and 42mm) and colors with the recycled plastic cases showing a cool speckled pattern.

  • Diameter: 37mm
  • Movement: Quartz
  • Water Resistance: 30m

Known for minimalist Scandinavian design and affordable prices, all that’s on display in this Grenen watch with the bonus that ocean plastic and other recycled materials were used to make not only its case, but also its strap and packaging. It’s also solar charging, which we always appreciate, and as part of this limited edition the brand is donating to an ocean conservancy charity.

  • Diameter: 37mm
  • Movement: Miyota 2035 quartz
  • Water Resistance: 100m

Triwa’s Time for Oceans collection includes field, dive and chronograph watch styles using cases and straps fully made from upcycled ocean plastic, offering a healthy range of options — all with moderate sizes of 37mm or 40mm for the dive-style and chronograph models. Vibrant colors, a cool wave pattern for the dials and 100m of water resistance give them a perfectly casual, beachy feel.

  • Diameter: 37mm
  • Movement: Epson solar-powered quartz
  • Water Resistance: 100m

Nixon’s fully ocean plastic watch and strap offers a pretty simple and cool design, with four available variations in a robust case with 100m of water resistance. A solar-charging quartz movement will mean the batteries last longer — and provide you with worry-free convenience.

  • Diameter: 45mm
  • Movement: Swiss quartz
  • Water Resistance: 200m

Luminox specializes in watches made to be tough and to live in the outdoors. With rugged military looks, a bold case size, a rotating diving bezel and a tritium-illuminated dial, this watch is as on brand as any in their broad collection. What’s different is that its case and strap are made from — you guessed it — recycled ocean-bound plastic material. The wavy pattern on the dial serves to complete the concept and further remind you of the watch’s nature.

  • Diameter: 40mm
  • Movement: Argonite 715 quartz
  • Water Resistance: 100m

Shinola’s ocean plastic Sea Creatures watch is eye-catching, with some variants rather vibrant. It’s moderately sized, however, at 40mm and, of course, fully made of ocean plastic from its case to its strap. It comes in three colorways for its case and dial, but offers further variation thanks to a couple more strap options — all pretty striking and unusual.

  • Diameter: 27mm
  • Movement: Swiss quartz
  • Water Resistance: 30m

Tom Ford is better known for expensive suits, but the brand also has a couple of its own watch collections priced to match it suits and compete with more established watchmakers. The move to produce them in recycled ocean plastic along with their own signature braid strap also made from the material caught our attention. Even the packaging is made from ocean plastic.

  • Diameter: 44mm
  • Movement: Sellita SW200 automatic
  • Water Resistance: 300m

We’re talking about a real dive watch here from a well respected Swiss brand with an automatic mechanical movement inside. The straps are made from recycled plastic bottles or apples, and the case’s ocean plastic material is collected from gyres, the oceans’ macro eddies where such refuse collects to form monstrous islands. $100 from each sale will be donated to the US National Park Foundation.

  • Diameter: 44mm
  • Movement: UN-118 automatic
  • Water Resistance: 300m

Inside you’ve got Ulysse Nardin’s highly regarded in-house automatic movement. Outside, you’ve got a case made from 40% “Carbonium” and 60% recycled plastic fishing nets. It’s edgy and surprising to see a high-end brand like Ulysse Nardin using plastic at all, much less for a watch case, but this is part of its ongoing partnerships and efforts to address and raise awareness for ocean conservancy. You can also get more dive watches from the brand using traditional case materials and straps made from ocean plastic.

, , , , ,