Maurice Lacroix Launches New Aikon Tide Collection
Thursday - 24 March 2022
The new Maurice Lacroix Aikon Tide watch requires a total of 17 plastic bottles to create its striking case design, forged into an ultra-strong yet lightweight composite material for wearing every day of the week.
Maurice Lacroix pledges to do something good for the planet by adding a splash of colour back into life with its new Aikon Tide watch made from recycled plastics. We saw Oris do it. Now it’s time for Maurice Lacroix to show the world what ocean conservation means to the brand by promising to recycle 10 million bottles in collaboration with Tide Ocean, an organization that collects bottles from the seas surrounding Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Each watch requires a total of 17 plastic bottles that are then transformed to recreate one of Maurice Lacroix’s most successful and popular chic luxe sports watches. In transforming this unwanted plastic into a stylish Aikon watch, Maurice Lacroix will also aim to support plastic collection activities by sponsoring them, paying for sorting warehouses, and helping to pay for educational programs that work to raise awareness surrounding the devastating effects caused by littering the world’s most beautiful oceans.
Manufacturing a luxury sports watch from recycled plastic is not as easy as it sounds. #Tide plays a vital role in the process of developing the correct composition for the case of the Aikon watch. This new luxury sports watch requires a special composite material that is achieved through plastic bottles that are first collected then washed before being sorted and then shredded into flakes. These flakes are then compacted in order to be transported to Tide Ocean’s Switzerland-based facilities, where the flakes are then converted into an even finer granule and combined with glass fibre (and other undisclosed materials) to yield the correct composite material for this new and exciting upcycled watch. As a result, the composite material is double the hardness of standard plastic, not to mention five times more resistant. If this didn’t already sound good enough, its carbon footprint is six times less than PET.
Freshly washed-up on the shores of Miami last weekend, Swiss watchmaker Maurice Lacroix unveiled the 10 new Aikon Tide upcycled watches in a full spectrum of colour. The 10 different shades include a vivid green, a bold blue, a lemon yellow, a zesty orange, and a black dial – all fitted on sporty black rubber straps. On white rubber straps, you have the choice to make between a light baby blue, a mint green, a bright magenta and a navy blue colour. Using Tide Ocean’s material for the bezel, buckle, caseback and crown, these striking new Aikon watches are all fitted with integrated rubber bands, however, Maurice Lacroix has already hinted at the possibility of a bracelet crafted from the same composite material. Clearly, Maurice Lacroix is keen to experiment further with this material, having revealed just last week that the case could also be executed with a brushing or polishing effect, opening up a plethora of options for this type of case in the future.
Making this new batch of Aikon watches feel more premium than expected for a watch made from recycled plastics - the composite material has a superior hardness. All the models measure a 40mm diameter and are fitted with a quartz movement, which, in conjunction with the composite case, gives the watch a nice lightweight feel on the wrist.
In terms of the dial, each display is adorned with a ‘Vague du Jura’ motif that references the beauty of the ocean, whilst adding depth and a sense of dimension to the design. Some models are also diamond-set like the mint green and pale pink version of the white rubber strap Aikon watch. Here, multiple diamonds form the stick markers for a luxurious twist. Each new Aikon Tide watch is a simple three-handed model with a rectangular date window situated at the 3 o’clock location. In addition to being 100-meter water-resistant, the new Aikon Tide watch is equipped with an interchangeable strap system. The easy-drying rubber bands can therefore be replaced with another strap material or swapped with a different colour to jazz the wrist up even more. The Easy Strap Changing System requires no tools so it’s super easy to transform the look of the watch quickly and effectively.
Each watch from this exciting new breed of Aikon watch from Maurice Lacroix, leveraged by an impressive five-year warranty, can be ordered here at Jura Watches. To check out the spec in more detail, you can visit the link here, or call and speak to a member of our sales team today on 01335 453453
