Horological Meandering

Your moderator's conscience compels him to reconsider alligator and crocodile watch straps and consider the hidden costs in his everyday consumption. Photo Credit: Mirror UK A lot of PuristSPro members are animal lovers. While the animals we love are gene...

i always prefer rubber straps.

I like rubber straps too! Metal bracelets can be quite nice, although I'm sure the mining conditions for gold and the chemicals used to get gold out of gold ore is probably a very messy business.

This world is getting really hard to survive trying not to hurt anyone and the environment. Be so careful.

and it is rising. The worst is still to come.

Cobalt is one of the primary ingredient for car batteries. In Africa, they have children working in the mines. Journalists are going in undercover to expose these mines. www.cnn.com

And make sure you boycott Shark Fin soup (most of the shark is wasted when only the fins are harvested), all pork products, lamb (baby sheep), veal (baby cows), and don't forget all chicken meat including eggs (check out videos of industrial egg farms). O...

I am eating meat, but love vegetarian cooking as well. What I do not want is unnecessary suffering of beings. What is unnecessary? As always in life, there is no exact defini9tion, but one has to use his common sense to judge a specific case. For me, the ...

I agree with your assessment, and I try to observe similar practices. I'm not perfect, I'm a little hypocritical at times (example: foie gras), but I do try to be aware and somewhat cautious. There isn't an exact standard, this isn't an exact science.

It's a non-sensical comparsion to me and seems to be self-serving. My points were multiple including: - If the harvesting of farm-raised alligator/crocodiles disturbs, then the rest of the animal industry (meat cows, pork, sheep, etc) for both food and si...

I remember I was six years old, attending a wedding, eating shark fin soup and loving the chewy texture. Over the years, I've eaten a lot of shark fin soup. Then, I saw the video on cable tv of how they finned the shark and threw it back into the water. I...

But if that means never starting to change anything, then that is sad. One needs to start somewhere.....

Actually went off leather for a while but same argument about our food supply I guess. Thanks for the reminder and yes will put more thought into purchases.

A lot of parallels with our food supply. I definitely spend a lot of time there trying to source my produce and eggs from the best suppliers. But I'm sure some things slip through the cracks, I'm not perfect. Thank you nwk00 for the response!

tough to watch for sure. I admit I do prefer reptile straps, but I am starting to choose more textile based straps on some of my watches.

I like those reptile straps too, but at the end of the day, I realize, the alligator or crocodile on my wrist was once a life too. And while every consumer knows the animal had to give its life so the strap could be produced, not every consumer knows that...

no doubt about it, I have only ever had a single Crocodile strap which came on the Longines in question originally. While this is done aplenty for food manufacturing, as others have already noted, I definitely recognize the difference between necessity (f...

If you find a watch you love, go for it, even if it does come on a reptile strap. I'm all for that! This is purely for the awareness. Now, if Aston Martin starts offering interiors with alligator skins, I'm definitely not choosing that option! Normal cowh...

... I have still a few that were purc hased at least a decade ago, and used so rarely that they are still there. But meanwhile, very good calfskin straps with alligator structure are distinguished from the original only with difficulties. Also synthetic m...

Was it due to the fact you were aware of the poor treatment of alligators and crocodiles?

However, I am aware that our common sources for meat and leather are rarely treated better. I think the major problem is a widespread lack of respect for these sources. Whenever I buy meat from one of the organic farmers in my vicinity, I can afford only ...

I do order meat at restaurants when I dine out. Hopefully the restaurant has acquired the meat from a good producer. I definitely try to use my shoes till the bitter end, I go for high quality items that can be remade again. I take care of my possessions ...

... many years ago, I witnessed how the geese were stuffed in Hungary, and I lost my appetite for it. However, I also ate goose liver with natural dimensions, made from geese enjoying fresh air and large meadows. It might not be as soft and creamy as the ...

I didn't know it was still possible to get natural liver. All the farms here do the animal stuffing to get larger yield of foie gras. That's very admirable Marcus, you're a very aware consumer!

And admittedly, I still order it. It was banned from sale in San Francisco for a few years, but I think they found some loophole. At one point, when it was illegal to sell foie gras, restaurants could still serve it for free (they just couldn't charge for...

And no we didn’t have any fois gras

I would've remembered the foie gras part! Hope to see you sometime soon!

Cruelty to any living organism to provide for human pleasure should not be acceptable but is happening to various levels.

I can't think of another animal that is as vindictive as humans. Some animals make other animals raise their young by secretly inserting their eggs into another animal's nest. But few animals kill for pleasure.

I am sure if we were microscopic, we would be classed as one of the most aggressive parasites.

I like to believe that the reason we are surrounded by pain and suffering is because it gives us opportunities to chose the good we will do. History shows that there was never a time when life was free of evil, tragedy and misfortune and it seems unlikely...

That would be a profound goal, to eliminate an evil in the world...

Does anyone know what the IRV designation means for crocodile watch straps? An AD told me I could not leave my country of residence without it the associated seal as customs officials could confiscate my watch at the border.

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their su...

www.watchprosite.com S

Thank you Salman, I now recall that post. A worthy post that has kept me thinking the past year!

And if so; are we aware of a farm that kills the reptiles a bit more humane (find that a stupid word for killing animals, but that’s a side note)? Do all high end brands use skins from farms that use these practices? I say: naming and shaming! Remark: - O...

All the gator/croc skins come from Africa, Southern USA (like Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama provinces), and some come from South Asia (like Vietnam). South American farms produce Cayman Crocs, a lower value species since they're smaller and skins...

About the chickens; would you want to trade? I say the whole animal ‘industry’ should go back 100 years in time. ‘Humane’ farming. As a result prices would rise dramatically which would cause a huge reduction in meat consumption which would result in bett...

And consumers will constantly go for the cheaper variant as most cannot sense the difference. Then it just becomes a race to the bottom. The only way to really go back 100 years is for certain processes to be outlawed. And no government wants to tell thei...

There are only a few major tanneries in the world that process the alligator and crocodile skins. PuristSPro visited one many years ago: www.watchprosite.com 6 A large percentage of these tanneries are owned by Hermes or partially owned by Hermes ...

Always wear my pieces on a metal bracelet or a rubber strap. So, i am glad for that, in hindsight.

I predominantly wear bracelet watches too. But it wasn't a conscious in the past.