Carbon

Description

Backstory of this watch:

For most of history, humans were nomads. We moved in small groups; there were no permanent settlements, just survival. Then we discovered farming. For the first time, we settled down, built permanent homes, and formed the world's first villages.

That was 8,000 years ago. Villages became towns. Towns became cities. Today, most humans live in urban centres. There are 37 megacities in the world, each with a population of more than 10 million people. These cities are engines of trade, architecture, economy, and culture. Most of all, they are icons of human ambition.

But there is a consequence: Carbon. Cities occupy just 2% of the Earth's land surface, yet generate nearly 70% of global carbon emissions. The Peninsula Carbon transforms captured carbon and particulate matter into a permanent object of craftsmanship. It reflects the energy and evolution of the world's cities, while reminding us of the carbon consequences of our progress. This is not a sustainability statement, but a cultural statement.

The Technical Challenge: Carbon Capture:

For the first time in the world, For the first time in the world, Bangalore Watch Company has developed ReforgeCarbon™ – a proprietary material that integrates carbon recovered from our atmosphere into a forged carbon composite dial for watchmaking. Called ReforgeCarbon™, it was developed in collaboration with Carbon Craft, a Bangalore-based design and material innovation company, with one simple question in mind: can captured carbon become something worth preserving?

The recovered carbon black used in ReforgeCarbon™ comes from end-of-life industrial waste and byproducts that undergo pyrolysis, a thermal process that recovers fine carbon particulate matter that would otherwise be subject to uncontrolled burning and released into the atmosphere. Unlike virgin carbon black, which is produced by burning crude oil, recovered carbon black gives existing carbon a second life.

ReforgeCarbon™ is created by compressing randomly oriented carbon fibres and recovered carbon black within a thermoset resin under high pressure. The resulting composite is exceptionally lightweight, dimensionally stable, and structurally strong in all directions. Its marbled appearance is not printed, coated, or designed. It is the natural consequence of how the material forms under pressure. No two dials are alike because no two compression events are ever the same.

The Design Touches:

The perfectly rounded case of the Carbon is inspired by an object that is ubiquitous across landscapes around the world – the pebble stone. The case is built out of surgical-grade stainless steel, with no sharp angles and hidden, concealed lugs in the back. A perfectly contoured shape, adorned by a super-domed sapphire crystal, forms a perfect sphere – an organic shape that hugs the wearer's wrist perfectly.

The dial retains the distinctive elements of the Peninsula collection. Dive watch styled applied indices provide depth and are filled with Swiss BGW9 Grade-A Super-Luminova® for unmatched visibility in low-light conditions. A "wave index" at the 3H position, custom designed to mimic the waves of the oceans, and a "forest index" at the 9H position, custom designed to mimic the rainforests, are both filled with Super-Luminova® with incredible attention to detail to provide a glow in the dark.

Replacing the traditional minute track is a mock-AQI scale, graduating from 50 to 500 and transitioning from soft green to deep amber. It is not an instrument of measurement, but a reminder of the carbon consequences of urban progress each time the wearer checks the time. On the back, a tasteful artwork etching depicting oceans, high peaks, and forests pays respects to our planet. A Swiss Made Sellita self-winding mechanical movement, 200 metres of watertightness, and a high-density fluoro-elastomer rubber strap make the Carbon a versatile companion for everyday wear and outdoor adventures.

Supplied by the brand to the GPHG for its entry.