Swiss watchmaker Hublot has teamed up with Nespresso for what is said to be the first luxury timepiece made using recycled aluminum coffee capsules. Other novel materials also feature in the watch strap.
Showcasing “the infinite possibilities of upcycling”, Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin is the fruit of a partnership between Swiss companies Hublot and Nespresso. It leverages Nespresso’s capsule recycling system that separates the aluminum from coffee grounds.
Some 28% of the recycled aluminum used to make the watch’s 42mm case comes from Nespresso coffee capsules. The case anodized in green – a nod to Nespresso’s Master Origins Peru Organic capsule –, satin-finished and polished. Recycled aluminum is also used for the watch’s bezel, pusher, and crown – the latter is engraved with Nespresso’s “N” logo.
Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin comes with two strap options. The rubber strap contains 4.1% recycled coffee grounds from Nespresso capsules and 8.2% recycled rubber, while the Velcro strap uses SingTex’s SCafé fabric made of 5% recycled coffee grounds and 95% recycled polyester.
“It took the R&D teams a whole year to achieve the uniformity of color of the watch’s seven different materials, find the right balance of ingredients and perform the quality and durability testing on all the product components,” Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe said in a statement. Just 200 of the watches were produced.
Hublot Greenbox secondary packaging
The Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin is the first of the watchmaker’s timepieces to adopt the Hublot Greenbox case for its secondary packaging. The box and its hinges are made from oak. The interior is “98% made from recycled fabrics, plastic yarns and PET, as well as recycled paper and cardboard”. It is removable, so the box can be kept and reused. Recycled coffee grounds are used to create the Nespresso and Hublot logos that feature on the box.
While Hublot has opted for oak, other luxury watchmakers have explored recycled and novel materials for their secondary packaging. These include Breitling’s watch box made of recycled plastic bottles that was produced by packaging supplier Dahlinger, and ID Genève’s seaweed watch box created with sustainable packaging start-up Notpla.
