ID Geneve and Circular Manufacturing
About ten days ago, news broke that Leonardo DiCaprio had just invested in ID Geneve, a circular watch start-up focused on using recycled steel, deadstock, and byproduct waste from other industries.
The watch dials from ID Geneve are 100% made of recycled steel from the Jura region in Switzerland. The steel waste is collected from within a 200 km radius, and is then remelted for the company’s manufacturing operations. It is estimated that the production of steel in 2020 accounted for 7-9% of the all global carbon emissions that year. Whilst recycled steel alloys are widely used across heavy industries, such as car manufacturing and construction, watchmakers have kept their distance from the material due to aesthetic concerns. ID Geneve, however, recently launched the Circular S model, a watch made of “solar steel”, an material derived from a furnace operated by the sun’s rays and a system of mirrors. If the price of recycled steel is usually 10% higher than that of virgin steel, solar steel, which is equivalent in quality, costs as much as gold.
The straps are made by Biophilica, a London-based company that makes, Treekind, a plastic-free leather alternative made with lignocellulosic feedstocks and inedible agricultural feedstock. It is compostable and non-toxic.
The movements are sourced from deadstock that has been returned by brands and retailers. Subsequently, ID Geneve cleans and restores the movements before using them in production. This process is estimated to be 10% more expensive than buying brand new movements, and limits production to very small quantities. However, the brand is seeking to eventually move into making their own movements using recycled materials, which would ramp up their manufacturing capacity, and consequently, lower production costs.
ID Geneve is so committed to sustainability that their packaging is a plain and functional beige box with the word compost printed on top it. According to the watchmaker, the boxes, which are made a blend of mycelium and agricultural waste, such as hemp, cork, and sawdust, are meant to decompose within 45 days when left in a garden, thus circumventing the industrial composting industry, which is currently inefficient and energy-intensive. Ecovative design developed the sustainable packaging as an alternative to polystyrene and other polymers, and licensed exclusive rights in the UK and the EU to Magical Mushroom, the vendor supplying ID Geneve with their signature boxes. Other materials they have used for their packaging include Notpla, a material made of seaweed. For further reading on sustainable packaging read here!
Prices for an ID Geneve watch range between GBP 3,190 and GBP 3,990.
