Description
Oris announces a new partnership with the social enterprise Bracenet, which makes accessories from upcycled ‘ghost’ fishing nets – and now, spectacular watch dials.
Ocean plastic statistics make difficult reading. For example, scientists believe the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), an area of plastic waste drifting between Hawaii and California, is four-and- a-half times the size of Germany.
That figure was calculated by the environmental engineering organisation The Ocean Cleanup, which also estimates that 46 per cent of the GPGP is made up of fishing nets that have been lost or discarded. This is particularly serious because while they may no longer be in use, these ‘ghost’ fishing nets still catch and kill marine life as they hover in the water.
Experts estimate that up to a million tonnes of fishing nets enter the oceans every year, and that a ghost net will keep fishing for 400-600 years.
It’s only recently that awareness of ghost nets has begun to rise, thanks to the vision and efforts of people like Benjamin Wenke and Madeleine von Hohenthal, founders of our new partner, the social enterprise Bracenet.
They became aware of this grim phenomenon while diving off the coast of Tanzania in 2015 and determined to do something about it. They began making bracelets out of upcycled ghost nets, and Bracenet was born. Today, the company makes a catalogue of products and accessories that transform this potentially life-threatening waste product into something beautiful that also makes a statement: change must come.
Oris is thrilled to have entered into a new partnership with Bracenet, and to present the Oris x Bracenet, a pair of watches based on our evergreen Aquis Date diver’s watch that feature colourful dials made of recycled fishing nets. Each dial is unique and tells the story of ocean conservation and the powerful changes we can bring when we act together to bring Change for the Better.
