For prestige watchmakers, keeping tabs on the world is almost as much of a priority as keeping time for their customers: Philanthropy is at the core of their missions. Whether cleaning the oceans or improving education, they’re renowned for the generosity of their spirits — and wallets.

Given how many watchmakers have maritime connections, ocean conservation is the clock world’s most popular rallying cause. It was 1953 when Blancpain developed the first modern diving watch, the Fifty Fathoms, and it has been synonymous with seagoing ever since. The company has even established its philanthropic arm Blancpain Ocean Commitment (BOC). BOC’s newest initiative, launched earlier this year, was the Protectors, which will support six stand-alone projects making major advances toward the 30-by-30 goal: 30 percent of the world’s oceans reaching protected status by 2030.

IWC Schaffhausen has also long manufactured divers’ watches, producing its first Aquatimer 51 years ago, and earning fans like Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett along the way. It partnered years ago with the Charles Darwin Foundation, sharing the goal of safeguarding the Galapagos Islands. The company makes an annual donation underwriting the research station there and its limited-edition Aquatimers flag the connection.

As for Jaeger-LeCoultre, the company has been donating unique watches earmarked for auction to raise funds for the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The focus is protecting marine sites, such as the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.

Then there’s Breitling, the favorite watch brand of everyone from Charlize Theron to Adam Driver. Its new link to the Ocean Conservancy will help the nonprofit fight for cleaner beaches and healthier oceans. In addition to organizing its own beach cleanups and donating a portion of its sales, the firm has tapped a trio of surfers — Kelly Slater, Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons — as ambassadors, championing the health of our oceans.

Breguet also recently announced a new collaboration with Race for Water, which campaigns to purge the oceans of plastics. The watchmaker will underwrite the charity’s research vessel, Odyssey, for the next three years, as it sails around the world, stopping in more than 30 different locations for research, campaigns and meetings.

Baume & Mercier’s philanthropic focus is also on clean water. The brand is working with 1001 Fontaines to provide clean drinking water in Cambodia — with a special emphasis on schools — and helping to reduce the infant-mortality rate there.

Meanwhile, championing youth across the world is the other major focus of most watchmakers’ philanthropy. Piaget is a key partner of Educate Girls, a decade-old NGO in India geared toward improving the literacy rate and school attendance among young girls there, as well as helping build a school in Niger through the Pierre Rabhi Endowment Fund.

Jaeger-LeCoultre has a long-term investment in the work of the Spain-based Aladina Foundation and its mission to improve the lives of children with cancer; the camps it hosts each summer are aimed at helping those kids recharge and take a medically supervised break from hospital visits and doctors’ appointments.

Panerai’s youth-focused program is part of its Classic Yachts Challenge, which created the new Challenger Trophy in partnership with the OnBoard program from Britain’s Royal Yachting Association. This three-year initiative is aimed at promoting access to sailing, no matter a teenager’s social or economic background. The first honoree is 18-year-old Nicola Stockdale, whose sailing club will now receive funding from the watchmaker.

Of course, do-gooding is sometimes as simple as leading by example — as with Chopard’s sustainability program. It’s a byproduct of the brand’s long association with Colin Firth and his eco-activist wife, Livia, founder of the Green Carpet Challenge. As of July 2018, the Swiss house uses 100-percent responsibly sourced gold in all its collections and is now the largest buyer of Fairmined gold.

So next time you feel a pang of guilt at splurging on a pricey timepiece, remember: There’s more than mere profit driving most watchmakers.

All at London Jewelers, 2046 Northern Blvd., Manhasset, LI