From the blast of a gun to a quiet ticking, illicit small arms are being transformed from something deadly into something timely: A wristwatch, made of what’s being dubbed “Humanium” – metal derived from seized illegal firearms.

Humanium is the brainchild of Peter Brune, of the IM Swedish Development Partner organization, who produced the watch in conjunction with TRIWA watch company, short for transforming industry watches.

As Mr. Brune tells it, the watch industry is focused on status and diamonds, but TRIWA wanted to make a different kind of watch, one that “consists of the most valuable metal on earth” and “concentrates on real peace efforts.”

IM recently gifted UN Disarmament Affairs with a Humanium watch, symbolizing how peaceful transformation can be wrought from bloody conflict.
He shared with Liz Scaffidi how he came up with the innovative idea and outlined what his hopes for the “peace metal” were moving forward.