Haute jewellery- and watch-maker, Chopard recently announced that by July 2018, it will use 100% Ethical Gold in its jewellery and watch creations. As a family-run business, sustainability has always been a core value, and today sees the culmination of a vision started more than 30 years ago.
Long-term supporters and friends of Chopard; Colin and Livia Firth, Julianne Moore, models and activists Arizona Muse and Noella Coursaris and Chinese singer Roy Wang came to champion the gold landmark announcement, made by Chopard co-presidents Caroline and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, in front of a packed audience at Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Fair.
Speaking at the event, the co-presidents outlined how they were able to achieve this milestone: Chopard defines “Ethical Gold” as gold acquired from responsible sources, verified as having met international best practice environmental and social standards. From July 2018 Chopard gold will be responsibly sourced from one of two traceable routes:
- Artisanal freshly mined gold from small-scale mines participating in the Swiss Better Gold Association (SBGA), Fairmined and Fairtrade schemes.
- RJC Chain of Custody gold, through Chopard’s partnership with RJC-certified refineries.
In order to further increase its contribution in artisanal gold miners’ improvement initiatives and therefore contribute to a further growth of volumes of ethically extracted gold, Chopard joined SBGA (Swiss Better Gold Association) in 2017.
Speaking at the press conference Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-president of Chopard said: “We are incredibly proud of being able to say that from July 2018 all of our gold will be purchased from responsible sources.” Chopard’s vision is to increase, as much as it possibly can, the proportion of artisanal gold the maison buys as it becomes more available on the market. Today, Chopard is the largest buyer of Fairmined gold. “It is a bold commitment, but one that we must pursue if we are to make a difference to the lives of people who make our business possible.
“We have been able to achieve this because more than 30 years ago, we developed a vertically integrated in-house production, and invested in mastering all crafts internally, from creating a rare in-house gold foundry as early as 1978, to the skills of high jewellery artisans and expert watchmakers.”
Continuing the conversation Caroline Scheufele, co-president and creative director of Chopard said: “As a family-run business, ethics has always been an important part of our family philosophy. Naturally, we have always put ethics at the heart of the values of Chopard.
“True luxury comes only when you know the handprint of your supply chain, and I am very proud of our gold sourcing programme. As creative director of the brand, I am so proud to share the stories behind each beautiful piece to our customers and know they will wear these stories with pride.”
As part of Chopard’s commitment to ethical gold, new High Jewellery Green Carpet Collection pieces presented at Baselworld are exclusively made from Fairmined gold, as well as the High Horlogery L.U.C Full Strike watch and the Happy Palm watch.