Yangtze Jiangtun Limited Edition

YANGTZE JIANGTUN LIMITED EDITION

As its conservation mission continues, Oris announces a new partnership and a new watch in support of the Changjiang Conservation Foundation and the Yangtze finless porpoise

FOR ALL THE EARTH, FOR ALL TIME

At Oris, we remain dedicated to conserving this planet. A new project with the Changjiang Conservation Foundation picks up the story

Is it still fashionable to talk about sustainability? To think about the challenges facing the environment and the planet? What about conservation? Is that a turn-off now? Honestly, these aren’t questions we’re asking. It’s not our concern whether sustainability is “trending” at the moment. It never has been and it never will be. We remain convinced of our responsibility to look after our world and to leave it in a better place than we found it, for those generations still to come. We won’t change our mind on this, no matter what the prevailing views are. It’s just too important.

As it is, we embarked on an ambitious schedule of activities focused on our changing world, and specifically the oceans, back in the 2000s. It was then that we first partnered with some of the world’s most pioneering agents of change in the area of ocean conservation. It’s been a joy to support a catalogue of incredible individuals and non- profit organisations and to create special watches in their names.

Now the story continues with the critically               endangered         Yangtze finless porpoise, or “jiangtun” in Mandarin Chinese. This species of toothed whale is endemic to the Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world and the longest in China. Today, it’s the last remaining freshwater cetacean in the country, and its future is under threat. In 2022, a survey estimated a mere 1,249 of the finless porpoise remain. But there is hope for the jiangtun. Conservation efforts have already reversed population decline and work continues to ensure its survival. At Oris, we’re very proud to be workingwith            the    Changjiang Conservation Foundation (CCF) and to have created a watch for them, the    Yangtze         Jiangtun               Limited Edition. Together, our ambition is to raise awareness of the threat posed to the Yangtze finless porpoise, as well as funds to support the CCF’s conservation projects.

None of us can change the world alone. But each of us can make some of the difference that will.

WITH A PURPOSE

The new Yangtze Jiangtun Limited Edition is based on our Aquis Date 43.50 mm and created in partnership with the Changjiang Conservation Foundation

We’re delighted to introduce the new Yangtze Jiangtun Limited Edition. The watch has been produced with our new partner, China’s Changjiang Conservation Foundation, which is working to study and conserve the critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise. This is a performance watch with a real purpose.

The story of the partnership is told through a number of special details found in the watch. Most prominent is the dial, which is crafted from a blue-green mother-of-pearl, a material chosen because of the way it captures and reflects light like the surface of the Yangtze River. Mother-of-pearl is a delicate, brittle material prone to cracking, but using a precise printing process, we’ve added a wave pattern to it, inspired by the echo sound waves of the Yangtze finless porpoise’s high- frequency, narrow-band ultrasonic clicks, which it relies on for communication and navigation in the river’s cloudy waters.

The story continues on the case back (see pages 8 and 12), with engravings of a Yangtze finless porpoise and the limited-edition number, from 1 to 1,249, representing the number of the aquatic mammal thought to be left in existence.

Behind these is the Aquis Date 43.50 mm, our high-performance, highly versatile contemporary dive watch. It has a stainless steel case and tapered three-link metal bracelet, lumed hands and hour markers, a uni-directional rotating bezel with a tungsten insert and minutes scale, and a screw-down crown with protection. It’s water- resistant to 30 bar (300 metres) and runs on an automatic Swiss Made mechanical movement.

THE WAVE PATTERN IS INSPIRED BY THE PORPOISE’S CLICKS

A RIVER OF HOPE

Dr Qian, good to meet you. Tell us a little about yourself and your role. My name is Qian Zhengyi, and I graduated from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, majoring in Yangtze finless porpoise conservation ecology. I currently work at CCF as Project Director andDeputy Secretary- General. My main job is designing the        foundation’s         environmental protection projects, raising funds and implementing them, and engaging the public to contribute to the protection of the Yangtze River.

And tell us about the Changjiang Conservation Foundation (CCF): when was it founded and why?

The    Yangtze       River         Ecological Protection Foundation (now the CCF) was established in 2016 by a number of parties with a shared vision, and is the first privately initiated local environmental non-public fundraising foundation in the Hubei Province.

CCF is committed to the protection of the Yangtze River, focusing on flagship species such as the Yangtze finless porpoise, Chinese sturgeon, and Baer’s pochard. It aims to build a socialised conservation platform involving government, research institutions, charitable enterprises, NGOs and the public, fostering the growth of grassroots environmental NGOs, and uniting more social forces to address climate change, thus contributing to the ecological protection and sustainable development of the Yangtze River.

What are its mission and goals, and how will you achieve them?

To work together to save endangered species and restore the Yangtze River to its former lifeline, and to promote social participation in the protection of the Yangtze River. We’ll achieve them primarily by mobilising the public to effectively participate in public welfare actions focusing on the protection of the Yangtze flagship species, the Yangtze finless porpoise. This means incubating, driving, and supporting the development of grassroots local public welfare and environmental protection organisations; solving the most urgent environmental problems; and creating a positive social atmosphere.

And how is CCF funded?

Main funding comes from public fundraising projects and corporate donations.

Tell us more about the Yangtze finless porpoise…

The Yangtze finless porpoise is endemic to China and is currently the only remaining aquatic mammal in the Yangtze River. It is a flagship and indicator species of the Yangtze ecosystem, a Class I protected animal in China, and is found only in the main stream of the Yangtze River (from Yichang to Shanghai), Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake, and some tributaries.

In 2013, it was listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and by 2017, only 1,012 individuals remained.

Under the guidance of the Yangtze River Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, we launched a socialised effort to save the porpoise, establishing an auxiliary patrol system in the Yangtze River basin. The “Small Porpoise, Big Love” initiative fostered a society-wide atmosphere of shared responsibility for protecting the porpoise. In 2022, the porpoise population rebounded, recovering to 1,249 individuals.

How did it become so endangered? Many factors contributed. Climate change and extreme weather events such as ice storms caused them to suffocate and die because they could not surface to breathe. Water pollution, shipping, noise pollution, the construction of water conservancy projects and habitat loss all impacted its survival. Before 2020, the main impacts were hunger caused by declining fishery resources and direct deaths from illegal fishing.

What are the greatest challenges you face in working to conserve it? As well as the factors mentioned, the lack of continuous public funding.

Talking to government, industry and river users, what pressure have you been able to apply in your efforts to reverse the population decline of the Yangtze finless porpoise?

We have transformed fishermen into fish and porpoise protectors, establishing auxiliary patrol teams. Currently, there are over 20,000 of them across the Yangtze River, playing a “frontline” role in finless porpoise protection.

Why collaborate with Oris?

We found that Oris has long been committed to nature conservation, developing product lines such as the Great Barrier Reef. We share a goal to raise public awareness and encourage participation in environmental protection through our product. We’re very grateful to Oris for the attention to the protection of the Yangtze River ecosystem, especially the Yangtze finless porpoise.

What do you think of the watch? This Yangtze finless porpoise watch is fantastic! I believe people in China will love it. This coming 21 March, we will mark the 10th anniversary of the CCF. At the celebration event, we will auction eight watches donated by Oris to CCF. The proceeds will be used to carry out public welfare projects for the protection of finless porpoises.

And how will general funds raised from sales of the watch be used?

These will be used for public education and awareness campaigns on Yangtze finless porpoise conservation and to support conservation workers.

And how confident are you of your mission’s success?

Full of confidence. Although the process may be challenging, we believe we will succeed.