Unconventional Luxury: Material Innovations for Jewellery & Watches

Published 17 August 2023

Author

2 min read

Disruptive jewellery and watch brands are rethinking conventions with unexpected material sourcing and enhanced qualities. From coffee-derived rubber to flexible gold, we highlight three innovative projects from across the luxury sector.

X-Ray Film Silver: The quest for raw materials in an age of depleting resources is taking resourceful brands and makers to overlooked places. In the UK, The Royal Mint has partnered with metal experts Betts to recover silver from unused and abandoned medical X-ray films. The precious metal is currently being engineered into understated pieces for its 886 jewellery range.

Later this year, with the launch of a precious metals recovery plant, The Royal Mint will expand into using recovered gold extracted from circuit boards found in mobile phones and laptops.
Coffee-Infused Timepiece: Also making use of unlikely waste streams is Swiss horologist Hublot with its Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin watch, created in collaboration with Nespresso. Waste coffee grounds are transformed into rubber and fabric straps – the latter of which makes use of Taiwanese textile mill Singtex’s Café material – while aluminium from coffee capsules is recycled into the case, bezel, crown and pushers.
Flexible Gold: Swiss brand Giberg has developed AuroTwist, a genuine 14-carat gold for jewellery that is pliable. The innovation sees gold micro-particles combined with a high-tech silicone compound to offer a hybrid material with complete flexibility and suppleness (thus enhanced comfort and versatility), while still maintaining a gold content of 585 per mille.

X-Ray Film Silver: The quest for raw materials in an age of depleting resources is taking resourceful brands and makers to overlooked places. In the UK, The Royal Mint has partnered with metal experts Betts to recover silver from unused and abandoned medical X-ray films. The precious metal is currently being engineered into understated pieces for its 886 jewellery range.

Later this year, with the launch of a precious metals recovery plant, The Royal Mint will expand into using recovered gold extracted from circuit boards found in mobile phones and laptops.
Coffee-Infused Timepiece: Also making use of unlikely waste streams is Swiss horologist Hublot with its Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin watch, created in collaboration with Nespresso. Waste coffee grounds are transformed into rubber and fabric straps – the latter of which makes use of Taiwanese textile mill Singtex’s Café material – while aluminium from coffee capsules is recycled into the case, bezel, crown and pushers.
Flexible Gold: Swiss brand Giberg has developed AuroTwist, a genuine 14-carat gold for jewellery that is pliable. The innovation sees gold micro-particles combined with a high-tech silicone compound to offer a hybrid material with complete flexibility and suppleness (thus enhanced comfort and versatility), while still maintaining a gold content of 585 per mille.

The Royal Mint

Hublot

The Royal Mint

Hublot