SpotlightThe Net Effect: Oris Partner With Bracenet For Their Latest Aquis Special Edition—Oris X Bracenet

In the past, we’ve seen Oris collaborate with some of the world’s most effective agents of change, including the likes of the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, the Billion Oyster Project, Wings of Hope, and Pacific Garbage Screening, among others. Their collaborations have seen them reduce their plastic waste, support aerial firefighters, and even produce straps from sustainable deer leather—all of which fall under their ‘Change for the better’ mantra. Their latest novelty, unveiled at Geneva Watch Days 2023, follows suit. The Oris X Bracenet timepiece tackles the environmental damage caused by ‘ghost’ fishing nets, which, even though discarded, continue to keep fishing for 400 to 600 years. Bracenet, a social enterprise, upcycle discarded fishing nets into accessories. This collaboration gave rise to a spectacular new Aquis Date.

The Environmental Menace: How Bracenet And Oris Upcycle ‘Ghost’ Fishing Nets

“Ocean plastic statistics make difficult reading,” say the maison. Rightly so, as they’ve pointed out that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is about four and a half times the size of Germany, and 46 percent of the Garbage Patch has been made up of lost or discarded fishing nets.

Benjamin Wenke and Madeleine von Hohenthal, founders of Bracenet, learned about this problem in 2015 and have since been on a mission to incite change for the better. It’s almost as though Bracenet and Oris were destined to meet.

With the upcycled ghost fishing nets, Bracenet make products such as bracelets, keys, bags, and earrings, among other things. A statement from Bracenet describes how the collaboration came about. It states: “Oris approached us about creating a product using upcycled fishing nets, but we saw an opportunity to create something even more special. When we cut the nets to create our products, there are always offcuts. We thought: what if we turned some of these into watch dials? This would basically mean that the nets used for the dials have been upcycled twice.”

Making these incredible dials involves taking small green, blue, and white offcuts and gently warming them until they melt into the raw material. As they cool, they harden into a thin sheet of material. That material is then cut to size, planed, and sanded down until it’s just 0.3mm thick. Due to the unique patterns created, no two dials are the same.

One Man’s Trash: The Oris X Bracenet Timepiece

Now, on to the watch itself. The result of this collaboration is a special edition of the Aquis Date by Oris, with, of course, the dial material being completely new. The timepiece is being released in two sizes—43.5mm and 36.5mm, both rendered in stainless steel. As you’d expect from all Oris timepieces, the watches continue to be hallmarks of Swiss watchmaking heritage.

The timepiece is being released in two sizes—43.5mm and 36.5mm, both rendered in stainless steel. As you'd expect from all Oris timepieces, the watches continue to be hallmarks of Swiss watchmaking heritage

Making these incredible dials involves taking small green, blue, and white offcuts and gently warming them until they melt into the raw material. As they cool, they harden into a thin sheet of material. That material is then cut to size, planed, and sanded down until it’s just 0.3mm thick

The reliable automatic calibre 733 runs the date display at six, which has ‘instantaneous date’, and date corrector features. Both versions are water-resistant to 300m and come with a unidirectional-rotating bezel. “More importantly,” the brand note after detailing the aforementioned details, “both are symbols of the change we want to see.”

They are symbols of change, and quite gorgeous ones at that. The unique dial of each timepiece, housed in its superbly executed stainless steel case, doesn’t just make it an incredible timepiece; it is destined to be a conversation starter as well. “What is that? Why are you wearing it? This connects people to the ghost net problem, which is a really important part of a Bracenet product,” says Wenke, cofounder of Bracenet.

The reliable automatic calibre 733 runs the date display at six, which has ‘instantaneous date’, and date corrector features. Both versions are water-resistant to 300m

All in all, Oris continue to spearhead sustainable initiatives that the watch industry is in dire need of. By turning discarded materials into striking watch dials, Oris and Bracenet bring awareness to the ocean’s challenges and inspire wearers to become agents of change.