ORIS Aquis Date UPCYCLE [the ugly face of ocean conservation?]

If this is what ocean conservation looks like, then I’m going straight back to single use plastic!

Woah, easy there, Greta, I was only kidding besides, everyone knows the real reason that our oceans look like the contents of the Death Star’s garbage compactor, is thanks to abandoned fishing nets. 

When I was a wee lad, I was served boil-in-the-bag cod-in-sauce which happily gave me a lifelong aversion to seafood, so I take absolutely no responsibility for the state of our oceans – no, don’t thank me, thank my mum.

As for the rest of the fish eating world, hang your heads in shame, you’ve had your last Filet-O-Fish sandwich. 

All joking aside, this is one ugly watch dial and if I’m honest it doesn’t exactly endear me to the issue of ocean plastic which, yes, I do realize is not only attributed to fishing nets.

In fact as much as 13 million tons of plastic is allowed to spew into our oceans, according to UN Environment - this equates to about a truckload every minute. 

An article on Nat Geo reasons that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste in our oceans, of which 269,000 tons float on the surface. Only 9% of all plastic ever produced is thought to have been recycled.

But don’t worry Oris is here to save our oceans one watch at a time and this is there latest ocean eco release, the Aquis Upcycle – 

the product of a partnership with Everwave to promote the development of an innovative floating platform designed to stop plastic waste seeping into the ocean.

The Aquis Date Upcycle is available with either a 41.5 mm or 36.5 mm case, both with recycled ocean-plastic dials. 

Each watch will be unique because the plastic recycling process produces random patterns, meaning no two dials will be the same. 

Beyond the dial, the watches share their architecture with the popular Aquis Date 41.5 mm and 36.5 mm models.

Both have a Stainless steel case and a unidirectional rotating diver’s bezel with a scratch-resistant grey ceramic insert. 

They also have a Stainless steel bracelet with a clasp extension system, crown protectors, a screw-down crown and a Swiss Made automatic mechanical movement. 

Every watch comes in an Oris grey presentation box made from sustainable and recyclable paper. The watches are available as of September 2021 with a Swiss retail price of 2,100CHF.

Thoughts? I get that this is a bit of an environmental statement piece but I’m just not a fun of the mottled, multicolored appearance of the dial. 

But I am a fan of ECONYL® watch straps and the use of parley ocean plastic for my running shoes etc. etc. So perhaps Oris could create a more sober looking dial with this material. 

But what do you think?