How Green is Your Watch?
While all-black and all-white are the hot trends in watches (see this issue’s cover sto-ry), green — as in environmentally conscious — is the “color” of choice these days for everything from cars to cuisine to clothing. Some watch brands are getting in on the green party, also. One is Obaku Harmony. The brand will be powering its models sold in the United States with new, eco-friendly, Swiss quartz movements developed by Ron-da. The movements are said to extend a watch battery’s life by 300 percent — up to 10 years — in effect lengthening the time between disposals and generating less environmental waste. The watches are also free of nickel, another potential pollutant.
Obaku Harmony was launched in 2007 and showcases the work of the veteran Danish design team of Lau Liengard Ruge and Christian kelsen, who previously designed watches for Gant, Lacoste, and Skagen.
The brand takes its name from a branch of Zen philosophy that emphasizes purity, harmony with nature, and freedom from superfluous details — an ethos reflected in the watches’ look, which merges Scandinavian and Asian design principles to achieve an aesthetic that is elegantly minimalist and functional. (The logo is based on the calligraphic Zen “circle of life” symbol.) The watches are manufactured in Japan and feature crystals made of a proprietary material called Titan glass, which the company claims to be the strongest ever used in watches. The line includes men’s and women’s models, priced from $150 to $330. For more information, go to www.obaku.com.
