A solar-powered Cartier, smaller watches and green dials

The Alpina Seastrong Diver Gyre Automatic collection features straps made with recycled plastic from fishing nets in the Indian Ocean. Its NATO strap is made from recycled bottles. Alpina also offers a black vegetable leather strap that is created out of apple waste.

The watch fairs might be mostly online affairs and a majority of brands are yet to get their sales revved up, but the Swiss watch industry is moving things along. From the vantage point of the half-year mark, Moneycontrol surveys some of the more prominent trends of the year.

Green is the new black

Why is there a profusion of watches with green dials? No one really knows, but fact is, they are all around us. And in nearly every shade of green.

Breitling Premier B09 Chronograph with an uncommon pistachio-green dial.

Among the watchmakers that have embraced green is IWC. Its Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 is not just a touch smaller at 41mm, but it also sports a dark green dial.

Then, there’s Jaeger-LeCoultre, whose Reverso Tribute Small Seconds now has a version with dial that is inspired by the fir forests around its facility in Switzerland.

And the big boys, too, are not immune to the trend. Patek Philippe unveiled the legendary Nautilus, which is in its final year of production, in an olive green dial in April, while another soon to be discontinued icon, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Jumbo, now sports a smoky green sunburst dial.

We especially like the Breitling Premier B09 Chronograph, which features an uncommon pistachio-green dial and Glashütte Original’s SeaQ diver watch that comes with a reed green dial.

Sustainability is the new watchword

Earlier this year, Panerai showed the way forward for the watch industry with its Submersible eLAB-ID that is almost entirely made of recycled material. Panerai also introduced the Luminor Marina eSteel, whose dial and case are made of a “recycle-based steel alloy”.

Cartier, on the other hand, has gone solar. Its Tank Must collection features a new quartz piece that is powered by solar-charged photovoltaic cells, but loses none of its famed elegance. The SolarBeat movement took over two years to develop and will have an average lifespan of 16 years, says Cartier.

According to the company, tiny perforations in the black Roman numerals allow light to reach the photovoltaic cells hidden under the dial. The Tank’s strap is made from apple waste.

The Tank's SolarBeat movement took over two years to develop and will have an average lifespan of 16 years, according to Cartier.

Much lower down the hierarchy, you’ll find the Alpina Seastrong Diver Gyre Automatic collection. A collaboration between Alpina and Dutch watch brand Gyre, the collection features watches with cases and straps made from recycled plastic from fishing nets in the Indian Ocean. Its NATO strap is made from recycled bottles, but if that is not quite your scene, Alpina also offers a black vegetable leather strap that is created out of apple waste.

Size matters

Over the last 20-odd years, men with large bank balances but small wrists have often wrestled with a question: is my watch too big? Thankfully for them, the oversized watch trend appears to be fading. Several big watchmakers have started downsizing their offerings and often offer smaller models for those with smaller wrists.

The Panerai Submersible Bronzo Blu Abisso is now a more manageable 42mm, as opposed to its original 47mm dimensions. The Italian brand has also launched the Luminor Due that is not just smaller—38mm, and that’s quite radical for a Panerai—but also significantly thinner. Other watchmakers who’ve similarly shrunk their watches include IWC whose Big Pilot now comes in a 43mm stainless steel case as opposed to the original watch’s 46mm case; Rolex, whose Explorer has reverted to its 36mm original size; and Tag Heuer, which has resized its Aquaracer.

IWC Big Pilot's Watch 43