‘Sustainability’ is a term increasingly bandied about by everyone from Greenpeace activists to your vegan next-door neighbour who eschews any form of animal product in diet or dress.
While this can be viewed as a personal choice, large corporations are also making it their mission to be kinder to the planet with more eco-friendly products, as well as introducing sustainable measures in their day-to-day operations. But we wonder: Does this really matter to the end consumer when it comes to watches? Here’s what three head honchos have to say.
JEAN-MARC PONTROUÉ
CEO, OFFICINE PANERAI
Why has the issue of environmental sustainability become important to Panerai?
Environmental sustainability is not new to Panerai. Looking back at our history, the brand has always been close to nature as, from the very beginning, Panerai’s destiny has been inseparable from the marine world. We are now at a turning point and I think that each company plays an important role in shaping the future, so we all have to act to develop projects and ad hoc activities to protect the environment.
"SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT AN OPTION ANYMORE, BUT A GIVEN FOR CUSTOMERS"
What is Panerai’s approach to sustainability and how has it evolved over the years?
At the beginning, our goal was to be able to turn the Manufacture in Neuchatel into a 100 per cent eco-friendly building, reducing carbon footprint and gas emissions. Now, we are moving towards a new direction, which involves the production of sustainable watches, as Panerai already did with the Submersible eLAB-ID and the Luminor Marina eSteel.
But the brand is not only focusing on product-related aspects, but also on more concrete ones. That’s the reason why we are partnering with IOC-UNESCO to ensure that citizens, stakeholders, and institutions understand the interaction with the ocean and apply this knowledge to develop transformative solutions toward building a more sustainable, equitable society, protecting the marine world.
What are some environmental
