How watch brand Mondaine brought sustainability to Swiss watchmaking

“Ecology played a role in our foundation,” says André Bernheim of Mondaine Group, a portfolio of four Swiss brands, led by the namesake watches and Luminox.

Swiss watchmaker Mondaine has a decade head start in bringing sustainability to its base operations, making the company a head above and beyond even the high-priced names in the business. Founded in 1951 by the father of today’s owners Ronnie and Andre, the company produced the first-ever solar-powered analog wristwatch in 1973, and began making watch cases from recycled scrap metal in the early 1990s, an early example of true upcycling at a large scale. Considerations around environmental impact have always been at the forefront of Mondaine’s manufacturing effort, especially when it comes to transparency in watch and clock production.

The company is one of the first in the industry to achieve carbon neutrality, using a combination of photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Swiss main headquarters to gain energy from the sun. This creates up to 80% of the buildings energy needs. The rest of the energy is created from renewable energy - water, solar and bio-gas.

"Carbon neutrality is a huge achievement for this company, and we're working to become carbon-negative for both the Group and it's brands in the next two to three years", Bernheim says.