Looking for a new watch? Or perhaps you would like to gift a watch to a friend or loved one? With so many timepiece brands to choose from, it’s worth considering sustainable watches and brands that care for people and planet, as well as the quality of their watches.
In this guide, I wanted to share my favourite watch brands – three of which I personally own – and their backstories. I love knowing that the clothes I wear and jewellery I adorn are made fairly, by people who are happy, and with materials that are better for the planet.
What To Look For In Sustainable Watches
As with all my sustainable shopping guides, I look for four criteria to ensure real sustainability in the brands and items I recommend:
- Social Sustainability: providing clear, accessible knowledge of who makes the brand’s clothes, and how they treat their people ethically, with safe working conditions and fair pay.
- Environmental Sustainability: transparently listing out the natural and regenerated materials they use, as well as practices to lower their impact (e.g. reducing energy and water use, avoiding harmful chemicals).
- Slow Production: dropping four or less collections per year, or at the very least, making an attempt to reduce the amount of clothing they produce.
- Circular Practices: designing clothes that are long-lasting, re-sellable, and recyclable, as well as inviting customers to return garments, which go back into production within the brand, as opposed to charity donations, or worse – landfill.
Watches are a complex accessory to make. They require expert craftsmanship and precision for the timepiece element, as well as complementary design and materials to ensure they are equally beautiful and comfortable to wear. Adding sustainability into the mix can be more difficult for watchmaking than for your average garment. This is because there are more processes and materials involved, and these have functional applications too. However, there are so many brands achieving sustainability within the watch industry, from high street through to high end!
My Sustainable Watches Collection
To get you acquainted with a few of my favourite sustainable watch brands, I wanted to share the ones I personally own! Watches are such a versatile accessory, and I love wearing mine whenever I’m heading out for the day, both for their style and functionality.
Nordgreen Infinity Watch With Interchangeable Straps
The Infinity Watch* by Nordgreen was my first foray into the world of sustainable watches. I was gifted this watch a few years ago, and have enjoyed polishing up my standard outfits with its petite gold-rimmed watch face and vegan leather strap.
While I reviewed this watch five years ago, it’s still going strong even in 2025. You might remember me re-styling it for Valentine’s Day in 2023, where I showed how the watch looked with different interchangeable straps. Why buy a whole new watch when you can change the straps?
Nordgreen is favourite brand of mine because they are socially sustainable – factory partners that are held to Danish manufacturing standards, no matter where they are in the world. They’re also carbon neutral, doing so through reducing their impact as well as planting trees.
Solar-Powered Watch by Solios
One of the coolest watches in my collection is the Solios Solar Watch. This watch is beautiful, with a clean design, sleek profile, and interchangeable straps. Here, I’m wearing the 36mm white face with silver mesh strap, and above is the same watch with interchangeable eco vegan leather strap in brown.
This watch was kindly gifted to me so I could discover the beauty and innovation behind all of Solios watches: their solar powered technology. I was surprised to learn that all of Solios’ watches come with a small solar power board that replaces more traditional batteries. The average watch battery lasts 2 years, whereas a Solios watch will be powered for life, saving an average of 20 batteries per wearer. If all watchmakers followed in Solios’ footsteps, they would eliminate the need for 300 million batteries!
In addition to their sustainable designs, Solios is certified B-Corp, which indicates ethical practices throughout their supply chain.
Triwa Power Watch
The newest watch in my collection comes from Triwa. Triwa is a Swedish brand looking to shake up the watch industry, providing better transparency and fair pay.
The Time for Power watch pairs traditional design with contemporary values. This pale-yellow gold watch fits with the rest of my jewellery perfectly. It also symbolises female empowerment and sustainability, with the watch’s entire footprint being carbon offset by Triwa.
Vintage Cartier Watch from Bucherer
Ok, I have to admit, I wish this was my watch. This beautiful Cartier Baignoire is part of the Certified Pre-owned collection at Bucherer Covent Garden. I had the pleasure of visiting their store and discovering their selection of vintage timepieces and jewellery in a review in 2022.
I couldn’t write this guide without mentioning the value that certain watches hold. Just like vintage fashion, certain designs will gain value over time, and in my opinion, become more meaningful too.
10 Of The Best Sustainable Watches Brands in UK
Now, it’s over to you – what kind of watch are you looking for? Here’s a list of brands making sustainable watches available in the UK in 2025, with different designs, materials, and styles to suit everyone.
Bucherer: Discover luxury vintage watches in Bucherer’s Certified Pre-Owned collection.
eBay: Shop vintage luxury watches with eBay’s new Authenticity Guarantee. Find out more →
Farfetch*: Pre-owned watches and fine watches with hundreds of unique styles to choose from.
Hurtig Lane*: Spanish brand making vegan and cruelty-free watch straps.
Nordgreen*: Danish fashion design meets sustainable materials in unisex styles.
Solios: Minimalist solar-powered watches made with sustainable materials and practices.
The Sustainable Watch Company*: Watches and watch straps handmade from recycled wood furniture.
Triwa: Luxury watches made with recycled materials, bringing transparency into the watch industry.
Vanna*: Luxury watches that double as jewellery, engineered in Switzerland.
Votch*: Independent watch brand using wholly vegan materials including piñatex and more.
Let me know if this guide helps you to find a new (or pre-loved) timepiece!
