A luxury watch might make a better sustainability case than most things in fashion. It’s small and usually produced in relatively modest numbers. A good one can spend decades on one wrist before being passed on to another, perhaps across generations. Mechanical watches can often be repaired long after their first owner is gone, and in a world that produces a 92 million metric tons of textile waste each year, according to a 2025 United Nations Environment Programme estimate, there’s something to be said for an object people want to keep.
Of course, making a watch still takes mined metals, energy and plenty of labor. And a nature-inspired dial or a vaguely worded promise to protect the ocean doesn’t reveal much about how a brand handles any of that. The five watches below give us more to go on, from recycled materials and light-powered movements to responsible gold sourcing and conservation funding.
The ID Genève Circular S
From CHF 4,440
ID Genève was founded in 2020 with recycled materials and repairable watches at the core of its business. Leonardo DiCaprio joined a funding round three years later, drawing wider attention to the young Swiss brand. For the Circular S, steel waste from the watch and medical industries is remelted in a solar furnace that uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight. The watch is also designed so that components can be swapped and the movement serviced. ID Genève says its goal is to keep its watches in use for 100 years.
The Circular S has a 41mm case and a refurbished ETA 2824 automatic movement sourced from unsold stock. It’s a familiar caliber that watchmakers around the world can repair, with a 38-hour power reserve. Strap options include fabrics made from hemp, banana-plant fibers or grape waste, as well as a recycled-steel bracelet.
The ID Genève Circle S.
Courtesy ID Genève
The Citizen Attesa UNITE with BLUE
$1,225
Citizen has been making light-powered watches since 1976, when it introduced the world’s first analog watch to use the technology. G-Shock, TAG Heuer and Cartier have since developed their own versions, but few brands have made it as central to their identity as Citizen has with Eco-Drive. The system runs on sunlight or indoor light, storing energy in a rechargeable cell and eliminating the regular battery changes required by a conventional quartz watch.
There’s more to this Attesa UNITE with BLUE than Eco-Drive. The 40.6mm Super Titanium case and matching bracelet are lightweight, while radio-controlled timekeeping, world time across 26 time zones and a perpetual calendar make it well suited to travel. What earns this edition a place here, though, is its blue-green dial, made from 100 percent recycled polycarbonate. The watch is limited to 2,000 pieces and, at $1,225, is the least expensive on this list.
The Citizen Attesa UNITE with BLUE.
Courtesy Citizen
The Chopard L.U.C Quattro Mark IV
$46,000
Since 2018, Chopard has used what it calls “Ethical Gold” throughout its watch and jewelry workshops. It sources the metal either through refineries certified to the Responsible Jewellery Council’s Chain of Custody standard or from small-scale mines in Peru and Colombia that participate in Swiss Better Gold or Fairtrade programs. In one Colombian program, Chopard says, miners receive an additional $0.70 per gram to invest in improving their living and working conditions.
The L.U.C Quattro Mark IV puts that policy into practice in a 39mm rose-gold case. Its manually wound movement uses four barrels to deliver a nine-day power reserve, and the watch carries both COSC chronometer certification and the Geneva Seal.
The Chopard L.U.C Quattro Mark IV.
Courtesy Chopard
The Oris Aquis Date Upcycle Calibre 400
$4,400
Oris has long supported marine conservation through its work with the Resilient Reefs Foundation and New York’s Billion Oyster Project, releasing numerous watches over the years to fund their efforts. With the Aquis Date Upcycle, the brand turns its attention to material waste. The multicolored dial is made from recycled PET plastic, which forms a different pattern on every watch. It’s only one component, but Oris has made it the centerpiece.
The dial sits inside a 43.5mm steel diver with 300 meters of water resistance. Oris’s automatic Calibre 400 runs for five days on a full wind and has a recommended service interval of 10 years. Registering the watch extends its warranty to 10 years, too—an unusually long guarantee that strengthens the case for keeping it on the wrist.
The Oris Aquis Date Upcycle Calibre 400.
Courtesy Oris
The Ulysse Nardin Diver Hammerhead Shark
$14,800
Since 2020, Ulysse Nardin has supported shark research with OCEARCH, a nonprofit that tracks sharks in the wild, and it also works with the Shark Trust, a U.K. charity focused on shark conservation. The Diver Hammerhead Shark turns that work into a concrete commitment, with the brand pledging one percent of the watch’s sales through 1% for the Planet to support shark conservation. It’s the latest in a series of Ulysse Nardin divers named for threatened shark species, and the partnership gives the ocean theme a purpose beyond the dial.
Limited to 300 pieces, the watch has a 44mm blue-coated titanium case, an engraved hammerhead on the caseback and 300 meters of water resistance. Its automatic UN-118 movement provides a 60-hour power reserve, displayed on a gauge at 12 o’clock.
The Ulysse Nardin Diver Hammerhead Shark.
Courtesy Ulysse Nardin