Ulysse Nardin Introduces A New Dive Watch Made From Recycled Ocean Plastic

Ulysse Nardin falls in the former camp with its latest release: a concept watch based on the Diver X with a case entirely made from plastics upcycled from abandoned fishing nets It's a veritable drop in the ocean where, by comparison, over ten million combined tons of plastic and fishing nets are dumped or lost annually, disrupting the balance of delicate ecosystems and endangering scores of sea life along the way Concept watch or not, the Ulysse Nardin Diver NET, as it's being called, is not actually the first reference we've seen that's built around a case made with plastic matter reclaimed from the ocean - that honor actually goes to the Seastrong Gyre from Alpina, which made its debut earlier this year.

The case isn't the only reductive, conservation-minded element of the NET Interestingly, the crystal is made from a new kind of transparent ceramic glass, whose manufacturing process requires less energy than the watch industry's traditional sapphire glass, further reducing the watch's overall environmental impact Also like the Diver X, the NET is powered by Ulysse Nardin's in-house automatic caliber, the UN-118, which bears a number of unique signatures, including an escapement made from an ultralight and super-hard material called DIAMonSIL, and a silicium hairspring - both elements that aid in the movement's long-term stability and accuracy.

The Diver NET comes fitted on the brand's new "R-STRAP," which was announced a few weeks ago - another new nylon strap made from recycled fishing nets and is compatible with the rest of the brand's Diver, Marine, and Freak X watches Though the Diver NET is, in practice, a concept watch, its existence in the greater context of the Kering Group's own footprint-reduction pledge certainly hints at what could be in the product road map for future Ulysse Nardin watches. . Source