Watches that last: how ID Genève is transforming luxury watch-making by embracing the circular economy

Globally renowned for its artisan skills and technological innovation, the Swiss watch-making industry is the undisputed leader in the sector, generating annual revenue of more than CHF 50 billion¹. Today, over 90% of watches retailing at more than CHF 1,000 are produced in Switzerland². The sector nonetheless faces unprecedented challenges, with several NGOs, including the WWF³, pointing fingers at the industry for its reluctance to embrace sustainability within business models and across supply chains. Breaking with tradition, innovative players are now opening the way to more circular and environmentally-friendly watch-making. We met Nicolas Freudiger, co-founder and CEO of ID Genève, the leading luxury Swiss watch brand to have embraced the circular economy.

Nicolas Freudiger – could you introduce yourself and tell us why you started ID Genève?

I’m Nicholas Freudiger, a Genevan, like Cédric Mulhauser, co-founder of ID Genève. We set up ID Genève with Singal Depéry in 2020, three complementary co-founders – a watch-maker, a designer and an entrepreneur – who all came together with the same aim, to create a different identity of luxury and of watch-making. Three pillars are essential for us: sustainability, of course, transparency and traceability. These are at the heart of a brand which can be described as ‘impact native’. Creating a brand with a circular business model was paramount for us.

What role does sustainability play at ID Genève?

Instead of sustainability, I prefer to talk about the circular economy, which for me is the ‘Super League’ of sustainability. It goes far beyond just the product or only one aspect of sustainability. It enables us to switch from a linear to a circular business model, focussing on the value proposition in a holistic way. This involves using materials that are already in circulation and keeping a flow of materials, closing the loop to achieve a virtuous circle that can drastically reduce consumption of new raw materials.

Why did you choose not to use the ‘Swiss Made’ label and instead create your own label, ‘Circular Swiss Made’?

We are Swiss Made. All three of us, we love this industry, but we wanted to go further, particularly when it came to finding materials. So we put ‘Circular’ before ‘Swiss Made’ to show that we have a lot of respect for the Swiss Made industry.

Today, 90% of watches retailing at more than CHF 1,000 are Swiss Made. It’s really quite hard to believe. But we wanted to go further and to include the challenges associated with climate change. I think the circular economy is a huge economic opportunity and this is what we wanted to highlight.

Read also: How can a company reduce its carbon footprint ?

Is this understanding of the circular economy’s importance part of your clients’ buying criteria?

On the one hand, there are environmental activists driving change in society. We also appeal to people who are now questioning their consumer habits and want to change them.

To do this, the product needs strong aesthetics and an appealing story. I think the people who buy our watches could have bought another brand, but what they want most of all is for the efforts they make in their own lives, in terms of circularity and the environment, to be recognised.

I often say that to achieve major change you don’t need five people to be perfect. You need millions of people to improve step by step. Then the impact will be much greater. This is the message we want to get across with ID Genève. We want to be seen as an environmental marker. And for this approach to be a credible alternative, circular products have to be desirable too.

Your watches are designed to be 100% repairable. How did you overcome this technical challenge?

At ID Genève, we talk about eco-design, ensuring that our watches have one of the fundamentals of the circular economy, Design for Disassembly (DfD)⁴. This means taking a modular approach right from the design stage. This happened with our first collection, Circular 1, where all the parts are easily interchangeable. This conviction is part of our initial proposal for every collection.

For example, we are working with the famous ETA 2824 watch movement⁵, which we are reconditioning. When we have to replace it in one of our watches, we use unsold stock. And everyone knows that any watch-maker can repair it. In this aspect our brand is perhaps less ‘exclusive’, but we concentrate on repairability and modularity - factors that are close to our hearts.

In October 2023, you secured CHF 2 million in funding with the notable involvement of actor Leonardo DiCaprio. How did this meeting come about and what will you use the funds for?

This goes back a long way, to our crowdfunding in December 2020. We knew that we would be raising funds in the following three years. In November 2021, I said in an interview with the New York Times⁶, “My big dream is to have Leo DiCaprio [among the investors] within three years’ time. We recognise him as a real leader in terms of climate change. So if he’s reading this article, that’s perfect.” The IPCC had just published its report⁷, which is why we mentioned a timeframe of three to five years, a crucial period for change. It was in response to the IPCC report that we formulated the ambitious goal of working with him. I think the interview with the New York Times helped us, but from the start we had a vision, creating a project that encouraged ambassadors like Leonardo DiCaprio to want to wear our watches.

After some lengthy work, we started fundraising. We contacted his family office and everything went very well. We are really happy and we didn’t expect everything to go so quickly and smoothly. The fundraising means we can speed up our development. Series A is our objective by 2025. The best is yet to come.