Watches is a huge industry and one of the main fashion accessories for for men and women, Forbes worked out that the value of Swiss watch exports worldwide rose by 6.3% to CHF 21.1-billion in 2018 but with many watches including leather it if often hard to find alternatives to wear without being forced to buy one with a heavy metal bracelet.
the leather industry is horrible and no vegan will ever support it, PETA wrote an article showcasing fourteen things that the leather industry doesn’t want you to see! When you think of leather you mostly think of cows however sheep, dogs, and cats are all slaughtered for their skin and fur!
Most of the worlds leather comes from India where poor cows are forced to walk for days on end with no water or food, marching to their own deaths. There are laws in India to protect these animals however they are so rarely enforced thousands suffer each and every day.
The problem with the leather industry is that it is so hard to trace leather back to where it comes from making it impossible to find out where expensive brands source their leather, even with brands that state they are “Made in the UK” the raw materials are often from India or China.
There is absolutely no reason to support this cruel industry
Vegan leather is now available in many countries, its often made from polyurethane which is a polymer which can be made to order with absolutely no animal cruelty involved. It can be made from many other sources such as cork, pineapple, apple peels, recycled plastic and other food which would usually go to waste.
Many designers are taking a strong stance against leather such as Stella Mcartney who only sell vegan leather in their stores. Many people love vegan leather as it doesn’t only make the wearer look good, it makes them feel good too!
Watch brands are now starting to release vegan leather watches to give you a killer accessory without any killing involved. We took a look on luxury UK watch retailer First Class Watches website and found many watches from fashion brand Olivia Burton a brand who has soured to fame over recent years after two young ladies started the brand and sold it recently to Movado group for a cool £60 million after turning over £15 million last year.
Olivia Burton also state the following on their website “We’re on a journey to be a more sustainable brand, working towards nurturing the very thing that inspires us every day – Our Planet” they go on to say “Throughout our sustainability journey, we want to be as transparent as possible with our customers, so we’ve introduced sustainability icons so that you can recognise our products by the story of its creation – weather eco-friendly, vegan, or contains sustainable materials such as Swarovski Crystals.
