Month: October 2023

Five Big Steps Towards Sustainability

Breitling introduces an ambitious sustainability agenda to 2025 and a gorgeous new collection to go with it.

It was in a hotel ballroom during Geneva Replica Watches Days that the world’s press sat down to discover Breitling’s new Origins Collection and its latest sustainability news. Honestly, I was half expecting a range of new vegan straps and perhaps some recycled steel, but what I was to witness was a serious program for change that matches with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and marks a new level of commitment in the luxury watch industry. So, let’s take a look at the plan. 

Step 1 – Better Gold

When it comes to the circular economy, wristwatches are extremely sustainable. Firstly, they are well made and last for years, and secondly, they can be repaired, resold, and re-loved over and over. And lastly, for the most part, they are produced in state-of-the-art, eco-responsible buildings that recycle all their waste. But there is a dark side to the industry, and that comes from the precious raw materials that come into play in the fabrication of a wristwatch in the form of gold and/or gemstones. 

Super Chronomat 38 Origins

One way to avoid this could be to stop producing gold watches altogether, or only use recycled gold, but this could actually create more problems for the planet and its people. Over 20 million individuals are working in the gold mining industry, most of whom are part of artisanal and small-scale mining operations. If demand drops, this could be detrimental to their financial well-being. 

One solution – and the one that Breitling has chosen – is to work towards “Better Gold”. This initiative is to work with the miners to extract gold in a sustainable way by reducing air and water pollution, replanting trees, protecting wildlife, and so forth. But it isn’t only about protecting the planet, Better Gold is also committed to providing safe working conditions to paying a legal wage, and to supporting the education of local children, and more. 

Step 2 – Lab-Grown Diamonds

The next step in Breitling’s programme is the use of lab-grown diamonds. As the majority of melée diamonds (the tiny mixed diamonds that are used to set watches) are impossible to trace, Breitling has decided to use lab-grown diamonds instead. There is some controversy over these kinds of diamonds as it takes huge amounts of energy to produce them. For Breitling, they have made a point to work with producers that are climate neutral and/or transitioning towards renewable energy or using low-carbon energy sources. 

Super Chronomat 38 Origins

Step 3 – The Diamond Support Fund

As is the case with the gold miners, the diamond miners could also be under threat if supply drops drastically. For this reason, Breitling has set up its Diamond Support Fund that makes a contribution to a social impact fund in diamond-producing communities for each carat sold, until these melée diamonds can be properly traced. 

Step 4 – Blockchain and NFTs

Thanks to blockchain technology, all new Breitling Super Chronomat 38 Origins timepieces will be issued with an NFT that follows the watch’s components from the mine to the finished piece. Each step of the way is independently verified to ensure that the whole watchmaking process can be traceable. 

Super Chronomat 38 Origins

Step 5 – Countdown to 2025

For the moment, it is only this new Breitling Replica Super Chronomat 38 that will feature all these sustainable criteria, but the objective is to roll them out to the entire Breitling collection by the year 2025. 

Let’s hope this is the start of a new movement that will see other brands join the cause over the coming months because time is something that we are fast running out of when it comes to protecting the planet and its people. 

The latest news from Rolex

While busy manufacturing at full capacity, Rolex is still creating new models, and making changes within


From Biel to Geneva and its suburbs, all four Rolex manufacturing facilities are running at full speed. Even though they’re immense and profusely equipped, they’re far from meeting the insatiable demand their watches are in. And that is certainly keeping them very busy. But they still have room for novelties and changes.

The most defining is also the most discrete of all. According to a Geneva source, Mr. Bertrand Gros has resigned his position a few days ago. Starting in 2007, the attorney had become President of most of the group companies’ boards, which as a whole represent what we commonly refer to as swiss replica rolex watches. He left a deep mark on the group’s policies and strategy, not the least of which is the hiring of Mr Jean-Frédéric Dufour as CEO in 2015.

He is succeeded by Mr Nicolas Brünschwig, who is among others a head of the Bongénie Swiss retail chain. He was already a member of the board at Fondation Hans Wilsdorf, Rolex’s sole shareholder, and at the Biel manufacturing facilities. His appointment confirms the fundamental ties between the world leader in watches and Geneva, its institutions and more specifically its business elite.

But these news are of little importance to watch lovers. They’d rather know about what they can put around their wrist. During its first participation in Watches & Wonders, Rolex had unveiled a series of novelties that have been the talk of the town. So we won’t expand on the GMT Master II ref 126720 VTNR, whose black and green bezel and leftie crown have become quite the affair. We’d rather mention its twin-stepsister with a Jubilee bracelet. That one wasn’t made available for tryouts during the Geneva presentations, but only showcased in the protected display windows wrapped around their booth. Which is why we’re offering a shot of both versions side by side.

Another striking piece was also caged in these windows : Rolex fake watches is bringing back the Day-Date with stone dials. It’s the rebirth of those fantastic yellow gold pieces, with a President bracelet and onyx dial. Only this time, they’ve found another type of onyx, with more texture and less uniformly black, called lined onyx. On the wrist, it is plain gorgeous, with subtle hues and depth which make for a rare type of elegance : one that’s for the wearer’s eyes only.

Another timepiece has this effect : a new and under-the-radar variation of the Yacht Master 42. From a distance, nothing separates it from the original model launched in 2019. Upon much closer examination, the dial isn’t black lacquer, but made of falcon’s eye. This black mineral has magnificent subtle grayish and blue highlights and almost invisible veins within.

More famous, more in demand, this model is making buyers frantic. And it’s easily recognized as it’s one of the precious few that get to wear the Ice Blue dial. The platinum Day-Date 40, and in particular the new ref. 228236, is insanely hot. Its markups are among the highest of all speculative replica watches, and that’s saying a lot about how attractive this piece is. It’s got an all-new fluted platinum bezel, something the brand hadn’t managed to craft satisfyingly so far. It adds one more ornamental layer to this vivid, bright, shiny and light (although heavy) timepiece.