F L A U N T
On the weekend of March 18th, Swiss watch manufacturer Maurice Lacroix launched its brand new, eco-minded iteration of the AIKON, the AIKON #tide, unveiled in the palpable warmth of Miami just a jump away from the ocean. With this new iteration of the AIKON, the brand’s reimagining of the classic Calypso model of the 90s, the watch employs #tide technology to turn ocean plastics into the body. Made from a composite material created from upcycled plastic bottles and glass fibre, the resulting material is twice as hard as plastic, five times more resistant, and has a carbon footprint six times less than PET. “I'm getting emails from people saying, ‘what are you doing with the packaging?’ ‘How is it?’ I even got emails from people saying, ‘Is your watch vegan?’ This kind of hit a plug at the company and we said, ‘Okay, we have to do something with materials, and we have to do something with materials which are sustainable,’” says Maurice Lacroix Managing Director, Stephane Waser.
The AIKON #tide comes in an array of vibrant colors, from red, to green, to pink, to black and more, with the options of black or white wristbands. On the dial sits a ‘Vague du Jura’ motif, a reference to the ocean the materials used to make this watch come from. The AIKON #tide case measures 40mm in diameter, features a flat sapphire crystal, and is available with diamond-set indexes (sourced from reliable, certified sources, according to Waser).
But what of this verbiage that guides this drop: “That’s What a Drop Makes”? The idea behind the campaign is that, while it may seem like one drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of sustainability, but what of all of the drops together? “We don’t pretend to be the only ones that will do this. But we are certainly among the first,” says Waser, continuing, “What does a drop make now? You’re not gonna change the world, but at least you can do something if you want to.” Beginning with the AIKON #tide, Maurice Lacroix hopes to set a new bar for other manufacturers to reach to.
Maurice Lacroix has been aiming for a more youthful demographic. With the more faithful, longtime customers being millennials, they are now targeting the emerging Gen Z customer-base. The decision to offer something more sustainable taps into a desire of the younger gen to be environmentally conscious. This announcement comes off the heels of several other announcements, including Maurice Lacroix’s joining as an official sponsor of Red Bull Dance Your Style. “How do we get the younger generations into the brand?” asks Waser. “You will not start with a $2000/$3000 watch from Maurice Lacroix,” he continues on Gen Z’s foray into the brand, saying, “Maybe you like our classical models and parts, and then you make your way into icon. That’s the idea.”
For Maurice Lacroix and the AIKON, the AIKON #tide is just the beginning. With plans to find a solution for the rubber wristband and to further refine this technology, Maurice Lacroix is just making its first drops in what they hope to be the following tide.
