Tom Ford’s new Ocean Plastic Timepiece is making waves on the eco-sustainability front.
In recent years, the discovery of new ways to be more green and sustainable is always a great thing, be it with shoes or in skincare. So when a new accessory that does as much good for the ocean as it will for daily accessorising pops up on our radar, we’re all about it.
Tom Ford teased the release earlier on 16 November with a CGI-snippet on Instagram, to the curiosity and awe of netizens. “This can’t be a scent,” one joked.
In fact, it was unveiled this week to be the Ocean Plastic Timepiece, a classic wristwatch made entirely from recycled ocean plastic.
Evident from its namesake, what gives this Swiss-made piece its well-deserved noise is the 35 bottles of ocean plastic used to create each watch. Created in collaboration with suppliers who share a similar sentiment to alleviating the current global plastic problem, where around 11 million tonnes of plastic spills into oceanic waters each year, plastic pieces were pulled out from oceans and picked upon along coastlines and uncontrolled landfills. It’s whole-hearted dedication from the American brand towards ethical luxury. “In my opinion, ethical luxury is THE greatest luxury of all,” Ford says.
With this in mind, every detail, from the creation process down to the packaging, was designed in consideration to the environment. Transportation for the plastic granules is carbon neutral, the manufacturing process is powered by solar energy in Switzerland, and the packaging is fully recyclable. As for the watch itself, no virgin or non-ocean-bound plastic made its way into the piece and the purely ocean plastic material can be traceable to the collection source.
From a purely aesthetic perspective, the Ocean Timepiece’s do-good characteristic is not strikingly obvious. In fact, it wears with a sleek, smart construction that holds many similarities to its Tom Ford 002 counterpart that launched last spring. The round 40mm case and DLC stainless steel screw caseback is especially timeless, as is the return of the Tom Ford signature braided strap (now woven from recycled plastic threads). With the white-on-black colourway, it’s versatile enough for everyday wear.
For every thousand Ocean Plastic timepiece produced and sold, 490 pounds of plastic waste will be permanently removed and prevented from entering the ocean, a remarkable step forward considering plastic pollution is fast-becoming the greatest toll on the environment. For this piece in particular, Tom Ford consulted 52HZ, the advisory arm of the marine conservation group Lonely Whale, in the shaping of the new Tom Ford Plastic Innovation Prize — a US$1 million-dollar prize initiative designed to encourage and inspire new, innovative solutions for replacing thin-film plastics at a scalable, market-ready level by 2025.
The Tom Ford Ocean Timepiece is priced at HK$7,700 and available at Tom Ford boutiques worldwide and online.
Lorria Sahmet
Editor
After two years writing in luxury retail, Lorria now covers food and drink happenings in Hong Kong. When not taste-testing for the best fries in the city (shoestring, always!), find her at home obsessing over tableware and attempting a fruit garden on her tiny bay window. She is happiest by the ocean with a giant fishbowl-glass of Aperol Spritz.
