When it comes to the origins of our creations, we aim to be as transparent as possible and to ensure that our high-quality materials are responsibly sourced.
As an extension of our Responsible Jewellery Council membership, we decided to go a step further in committing to the Journey to Sustainable Luxury, a long-term programme to ensure responsible sourcing throughout our supply chain. Given that every material generates different environmental and social impacts, we apply due diligence in compliance with international
standards, always seeking robust certifications and membership requirements to ensure that key material issues and related risks are properly addressed. Our materials are sourced in line with the requirements of the Chopard Code of Conduct for Partners, which covers a wide range of environmental and social criteria.
Gold is the raw material most widely used in our production. It is due to this that we devoted particular attention to ensuring that one of the biggest milestones of our Journey to Sustainable Luxury would be the sourcing of responsibly mined gold for our entire watch and jewellery production. This objective has been successfully met since July 2018 when Chopard began using 100% Ethically produced gold - verified as having met international best practice environmental and social standards - in its workshops.
More specifically, our Ethical gold is sourced through two transparent and traceable schemes:
ARTISANAL FRESHLY MINED GOLD PRODUCED IN A RESPONSIBLE MANNER
Artisanal and small-scale mining involves millions of men and women worldwide, working on an individual basis, in family groups or cooperatives, using relatively simple methods of exploration, extraction and processing.
Responsibly extracted gold from artisanal and small-scale mines is essential to our sourcing strategy, as it allows us to have full traceability from mine to market, while contributing to a positive socio-economic and environmental impact.
The artisanal and small-scale gold we purchase is exclusively sourced from mines located in Peru and Colombia, all participating either in the Swiss Better Gold Association (SBGA) system or in Fairmined and Fairtrade certification schemes.
The Fairmined Standard requires the miners to demonstrate that strict requirements for working conditions (including the prohibition of child labour) social development criteria and environmental protection are maintained during the mining process. We were directly responsible for a number of small scale mines achieving Fairmined certification, provided training, new processing plants and social and environmental support to help mines achieve the certification.
The SBGA, Swiss not-for-profit organisation created by Swiss players in the gold supply chain, from refiners to retailers, aims at creating a simple market-driven mechanism that enables formalized gold miners to adopt more socially inclusive and better environmental practices. Ahead of our commitment to achieving 100% Ethical gold, our Maison joined the SBGA as early as 2017.
Artisanal and small-scale gold today represents 40% of our fine gold sourcing. Our objective is to increase this proportion to over 60% by 2022.
« A unique fully-traceable sourcing initiative from responsible artisanal Gold Panners »
« Since 2019, Chopard has been involved in a challenging new project to support artisanal communities supplying gold from the “Barequeros”, artisanal gold miners from El Chocó in Colombia. This exciting and rewarding pilot initiative has built a fully-traceable and responsible international supply chain as well as improving the livelihoods of more than 700 independent individual miners. »
« The Barequeros have received support from an on-the-ground expert team to attain SBGA criteria of socially and environmentally responsible mining practices. The programme ensures that the miners receive not only a competitive price but also a special Incentive of 0.70 USD per gram for them to reinvest in improving their living and working conditions. “The people extracting the gold essential to the making of our creations seemed too often forgotten. »
« It is therefore essential to promote sustainability principles in the luxury industry by focusing on defending these communities. The El Chocó initiative is in line with this project and Chopard is proud to be associated with the Barequeros and the other partners involved.” Caroline Scheufele, Co-President, Chopard. »
As early as 1978, we were one of the first manufacturers to equip ourselves with our own foundry. Thanks to this independent approach, we are not only able to guarantee the origin of the gold we use in our production, but are above all able to directly resmelt gold scraps and production waste in order to recycle our unused material.
Encouraged by this approach to recycling our gold scraps, we created our second Ethical gold supply chain by purchasing gold through RJC Chain of Custody (CoC)-certified refineries.
The RJC CoC Standard sets out requirements for the identification and tracking of ‘Eligible Material’, such as recycled gold screened and confirmed as originating from eligible recyclable sources.
The diamond sector has undergone significant transformations over the past 15 years. Today, the Kimberley Process has been successful in virtually eliminating conflict diamonds from the market. It now embodies the most successful international consensus agreement in terms of regulating diamond mining. In the same vein, the Responsible Jewellery Council has provided effective standards and codes of practice for the industry to self-regulate.
At Chopard, we support and follow the principles for transparency stipulated by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the World Diamond Council System of Warranties. We have also put in place a self-regulation initiative for all diamond suppliers, requiring them to refrain from buying or selling conflict diamonds, diamonds from suspect or unknown sources, as well as diamonds from countries and regions that have not implemented the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Stones not complying with this scheme are immediately refused.
« A powerful commitment to best practices in the mining and sourcing of an exceptional 342-carat raw stone »
« As part of our Journey to Sustainable Luxury, in 2017 we presented the Garden of Kalahari. Collection: An exceptional Haute Joaillerie set made of Ethical gold featuring D-Flawless diamonds of rare purity cut from a responsibly mined 342-carat raw stone. To date, this is the most precious creation ever made in our workshops and a milestone that was only possible thanks to our close collaboration with Lucara, its Karowe mine in Botswana as well as sustainability experts who conducted the due diligence process. »
« The Garden of Kalahari showcases our powerful commitment to best practices in the mining and sourcing of raw materials, with leadership in the forging of industry alliances and support for local communities in the most remote regions. »
Unlike diamonds, coloured stones were not subject to any international regulations to guarantee their traceability and mining conditions. Since 2019, the Responsible Jewellery Council has included coloured gemstones in their certification scope.
At Chopard we continually strive to increase the overall sustainability performance of our collections while working closely with our sourcing partners to ensure the greatest possible transparency with regard to the provenance of coloured gemstones.
Well aware of the numerous challenges associated with the responsible sourcing of coloured gemstones, we joined the Coloured Gemstones Working Group (CGWG) in 2019, a unique alliance between the world's leading luxury jewellery brands and gemstone mining companies that intends to improve and make corporate sustainability accessible to all in the gemstone industry. The main goal is to provide relevant and appropriate educational, training and management resources as well as expert support to enable any business in the coloured gemstone supply chain to demonstrate its commitment to sustainable development and participate in a responsible and transparent industry.
« From our legendary Red Carpet Collection to the Green Carpet Collection, a capsule collection made entirely with Ethical gold and responsibly mined stones »
« In 2013, Caroline Scheufele launched the Green Carpet Collection, a capsule collection made entirely with Ethical gold and responsibly mined stones from our legendary Red Carpet Collection. While the first creations in this Haute Joaillerie collection were initially composed of diamonds from suppliers certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council, the collection was expanded in 2015 to include traceable opals responsibly extracted from the family-owned Aurora mine in Australia. »
« The following year, a partnership with Gemfields enabled us to incorporate the first responsibly sourced emeralds from the Kagem mine in Zambia. The latest coloured stone in the Green Carpet Collection is the Paraiba tourmaline, thanks to a guaranteed supply from the Mavuco mine in Mozambique. »
Because ethical concerns should not focus exclusively on gold, our Journey to Sustainable Luxury also extends to straps and leather goods accessories. Consequently, we are committed to building internal standards covering traceability, social and environmental impact as well as animal welfare with regard to other key raw materials such as leather.
We work closely with our strap suppliers to map our supply chain, including full traceability requirements for all tanneries and visibility in terms of the slaughterhouses and breeding farms in various countries.
« Our first Green Carpet Leather Collection made out of traceable leather »
« In 2019, we launched the first leather goods item within our Green Carpet Leather Collection working closely with our suppliers to ensure that the bag was aligned with Eco-Age Principles for Sustainable Excellence. This included responsibly sourced and traceable leather, working with Bonaudo a tannery with a robust environmental management system and traceability certification, as well as using reinforcement materials made from natural latex and recycled vegetable tanned leather. »
SEAQUAL INITIATIVE is a unique collaborative community that works with ocean clean-up programs around the world to transform the marine litter they recover into Upcycled Marine Plastic; a new, fullytraceable raw material with the power to raise awareness of the issue of marine pollution and highlight those helping to fight it. In choosing products containing Upcycled Marine Plastic, you are helping to clean our oceans.
Our Responsible Sourcing Programme strives to achieve the best sustainability practices in our supply chain with monitoring and implementing our suppliers’ capacity building.
