Hands on: Nuun Esencial
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Environmentally friendly watches
Did you know that on average, each year, approximately 14million tons of plastic ends up in the world's oceans? This makes up around 80% of the debris found in the oceans, and the effects this has on marine life is devastating. This plastic is consumed and entangles sea life, and causes horrific injury and pain. Anything that can be done to improve this awful situation is an excellent idea, in my opinion! Over the last couple of years, I have seen a positive push in the watch industry to try and impact this situation by using these discarded plastics in watch construction.
Several manufacturers, large and small, have been taking steps towards incorporating these plastics in either part or all of their watch construction. One of those most recent is Nuun with their Esencial range. Available in 4 colours, blue, white, green and black, the Esencial range is almost entirely made of recycled plastic from the ocean. These pieces feature Miyota quartz movements and mineral crystals. The rest of the watch, where possible, uses these plastics. The crown? Plastic. The case? Plastic. Even the case-back and screws are all recycled from these plastics. Quite a feat and for a terrific cause!
From a design point of view, these are simple watches as the Esencial name would imply. No bells and whistles here from a design point of view, just a simple Genta styled case and simple design for the dial and hands. Dial writing is kept to a minimum, but it proudly displays the watch uses ocean plastics. This simplistic approach suits me fine. These watches need to hit a price point that makes them accessible so people like you and me will buy them and help this cause, which is greater than the sum of these watches' parts.
As you would imagine on the wrist, this is a lightweight watch. With a case in plastic at 39mm, you don’t notice any weight at all! And the Rubber strap is very comfortable indeed. I'd go as far as to say I prefer the feel of this strap to the one featured on their N200 diver. This one feels incredible in terms of softness and flexibility. Overall a very comfy watch on the wrist with some simple but classic design inspiration. The punchy colour choices will make these great to match with outfits and give these watches a very fresh feel on the wrist.
It’s tough to critique a manufacturer like Nuun or any watch that is trying to not only be a product that appeals to the market as well as make a difference to the world in terms of the growing environmental damage being done daily. This is a practice I’d like to see more and more in the industry. These sorts of watches should be more mainstream moving forward. I think many people will enjoy this one from Nuun, both from the simple design and colours and the satisfaction of knowing they contribute to making a difference to a planet we all have to look after much better for future generations to enjoy.