ID Genève

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Sep 30, 2024

There are still so many up-and-coming watch brands around, it is not easy to follow. In their office and showroom we met Nicolas Freudiger, co-founder and CEO of perhaps one of the most exciting among them, ID Genève.

There is an interesting and obvious relationship between luxury and over-consumption. In fact, going beyond the bare necessities, extravagant living, profusion and delicacy define luxury. It has taken some time for humankind to realise that grand living in the now comes at a price in the future. Realisation is one thing, but shifting needs and finding new sources of a dopamine rush is another. When it comes to the luxury sector, the excess value is primarily derived from the rarity of the material and the level of craftsmanship and attention that goes into the creation (beyond provenance). The two also typically result in the scarcity of the product.

For many years the main ‘excuse’ of the luxury companies was that luxury products are rare, timeless and long-lasting and thus inherently sustainable. The approach to sustainability of many of these brands centered around using the same materials but recycled or fair-mined (e.g. gold) or from better traceable sources (e.g. conflict free diamonds). With fellow students at the sustainability course in Lausanne we debated so much about the complexity of this issue over examples from various industries. Using more sustainable materials, ensuring ethical labour practices throughout the supply chain, rethinking packaging in many ways, making commitments to reduce carbon footprints – are these ‘enough’?

The Geneva based watchmaking startup ID Genève has taken a new approach by putting circularity at their core. The way every product development and manufacturing decision is permeated by the aspiration to produce desirable objects at no cost to the environment is where their innovation lies. The three founders, Nicolas Freudiger (CEO), Cédric Mulhauser (COO) and Singal Depéry (Designer) have imagined ID Genève as a piece in the fabric of companies that collaborate to amplify each other’s environmental and social impact while making quality products. This ecosystem consists of specialists who collect and process used steel with solar energy (Panatere), startups that grow packaging from mushroom (Magical Mushroom) or seaweed (Notpla), others, who develop leather alternatives from grape residue (Nisiar) or hemp (Revoltech), and again others who create easily repairable composites from recycled carbon (CompPair). Everyone aims to serve a wide range of traditionally environmentally harmful human need with high quality alternatives produced by low impact processes. By collaborating, the demands imposed by new industries such as watchmaking takes them improving their products and processes further.

With circular economy the notion of ‘waste’ changes completely: anything non-biodegradable is collected immediately as it forms the raw material of something else. Packaging, such as the one used by ID Genève for their watches can be dissolved in water, for example, while used or unsold movements get refurbished by the brand and built into their timepieces. The choice of movements itself (ETA 2824 and ETA 2892) was a conscious decision primarily driven by the desire to use ‘workhorses’ that are well known for their reliability, and are reparable anywhere in the world. Closing the loop, they also buy back, refurbish and find new lovers to their timepieces.

The first collection called Circular 1 was launched in a crowd funding campaign in December 2020. Circular S issued in 2023 was made with a 100% recycled steel re-melted in a solar furnace, producing the same 316L steel with 165 times lower carbon footprint than the industry average. Circular C followed featuring 100% recycled carbon fibres from wind turbine manufacturing waste. The material features CompPair’s unique technology, creating a ‘regenerative’ watch.

The company achieved the B Corp™ certification, which ‘is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials’.

ID Genève announced last October, that they raised CHF 2 million seed funding round with the participation of actor and environmental advocate Leonardo DiCaprio as well as several Swiss family offices.

Elements

This Autumn ID Genève introduced the Elements, a completely new ‘genderless’ collection. The recycled steel case has been casted in a round shape this time with a diameter of 37mm. The inspiration for the motifs and colours of the Air, Water, Earth, Fire and 5th Element models has been drawn from nature. The dials have been created using the nano-engraving technology of another Swiss startup, Morphotonix. The holographic effect by the security grade engraving results in a very exciting and constantly changing shimmering of the watch face. Going out from the artificial light of a room to the sunlight may completely change the character of the timepiece.

The watches are well-built and the alternatives used do not lower the sense of quality. Of course, it will be interesting to see how grape straps age, for example.

The collections’ stylish models offer a well thought-out story created with a holistic approach and a clear purpose to renew our perceptions to luxury. Elevating factors such as aiming for no environmental impact, reusability, repairability, zero waste and transparency to the same level as design and quality brings in new details an increasing number of luxury buyers will appreciate.

The new ‘Elements’ collection of ID Genève goes on tour (New York – 18-20 October, London – 1-2 November, Paris – 15-17 November).