Chopard Champions Fairmined Gold

Cultural Perspectives • 12 Sep 2019

Chopard Champions Fairmined Gold


While an ethical philosophy has been at the heart of Chopard for decades, in recent years the Swiss manufacturer has become practically synonymous with its conscientious approach to watch-making. Chopard has become something of a leader in sustainability, spearheading the industry’s shift towards ethically sourced materials and better manufacturing practices.

Underpinning the company’s honest ethos is its commitment to independence, one of its essential seven core values. A vertically integrated business, Chopard oversees all aspects of production across its jewellery and watch-making arms, allowing the company to tread its own ethical path. The Swiss manufacturer’s commitment to superior social and environmental standards isn’t new, though; Chopard has championed its cause for many years, deftly combining luxury and sustainability to prove that fine watch-making and ethically and environmentally sound practices can work in tandem.

Caroline Scheufele

Chopard’s mission is steered by artistic director and co-president, Caroline Scheufele, who heads the company with her brother, Karl-Friedrich. Their father, Karl Scheufele III, took over Chopard in 1963, grew it into a burgeoning empire, and eventually bestowed the company to his two children. They joined the company in the 1980s, when Caroline notably initiated Chopard’s jewellery production.

Since they acquired the company, the Scheufele family consistently instilled the value of ethics into Chopard’s core ideology. But the first physical iteration of Chopard’s sustainable journey came in 2010, when the company partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to launch an Haute Joaillerie collection inspired by – and aimed at protecting – wildlife. The release coincided with Chopard’s 150th anniversary and featured 150 different models containing motifs of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and insects, united under Caroline’s aim to conserve the wildlife she was so passionate about protecting. In line with the fact that 2010 was the Year of the Tiger, Chopard’s target was to support the WWF Tiger Initiative and double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022.

That same year, Chopard joined the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). True to its name, the purpose of the Council is to promote responsible ethical, social and environmental practices in the jewellery industry. Through its membership with the RJC, Chopard has supported the Kimberley Process and the World Diamond Council ever since, backing the organisations’ shared aim to halt the trade of conflict-zone diamonds.

RJC membership involves adhering to a set of specific standards in order to uphold the Council’s ethos. But, the Scheufele family wanted to take its commitment even further, embracing a comprehensive ideology that acted as a framework for the entire company. So, in 2013 Chopard embarked on The Journey to Sustainable Luxury, the maison’s pre-eminent campaign to become an ethical and environmentally responsible manufacturer across the board. In the Scheufele family’s own words, “We believe that the world’s most precious creation is in fact the planet itself and it is our duty to preserve its purity and integrity for the next generations.”

The Journey started with the launch of the Green Carpet collection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival – a global platform that allowed Chopard to start a powerful conversation around sustainability in the jewellery and watch-making industries. The setting made perfect sense; Chopard is an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival and has been making its trophies since 1998.

The Green Carpet collection was the first Haute Joaillerie line that exclusively used Fairmined gold, complemented by RJC-certified jewels. This meant that each piece was made with South American gold that had been responsibly extracted and provided miners with a fair wage and a premium that they could inject back into the community.

The collection wasn’t just a one-off display, though; it was part of a broader goal to enable mining communities to reach Fairmined certification. In partnership with South American mining NGO the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), 2013 saw Chopard start to support independent mining cooperatives across South America. Their first enterprise was with the Coodmilla cooperative, a mining community located in the Nariño region of Colombia.

The jewellery line was followed a year later by a watch using the same ethically sourced precious metal.The launch of the L.U.C Tourbillon QF Fairmined at Baselworld 2014 set a new precedent for the maison and the watch-making industry at large. The watch was a world-first, and proof that sustainability and luxury didn’t need to act independently of one another; instead, the two actually connected incredibly well. That same year, Chopard crafted a ‘green’ Palme d’Or for the 2014 Cannes Film Festival using Fairmined gold, altogether cementing the company as an ethical force.

In 2015, Chopard launched another timepiece made using Fairmined gold: the L.U.C XPS Fairmined, a classic watch with clean lines that used ethically sourced rose gold alloy across its case-back, middle case, lugs and bezel. That same year, the company began supporting a second gold mine in Bolivia, followed closely by the announcement of its partnership with the Swiss gold refinery company, PX Précinox SA. The union would see the establishment of the world’s first commercial export route for Fairmined gold between Bolivia and Europe.

Just last year, Chopard announced that it would be using 100 per cent ethical gold across its jewellery and watch collections. The declaration was a significant one; it meant all Chopard gold would be sourced from either smaller mines participating in the Swiss Better Gold Association (SBGA), Fairmined and Fairtrade schemes, or the RJC Chain of Custody, which implements high standards across human rights, labour standards, environmental impact and business ethics in the precious metals supply chain.

Chopard’s achievements are nothing if not admirable. Much has been said about the Scheufeles’ dedication to bettering their manufacturing procedures and creating a more sustainable benchmark for the watch-making and jewellery industries. But these kinds of monumental shifts towards better and more socially and environmentally ethical practices are possible because the maison’s leaders are decisively focused and retain control over every part of the business. Their efforts are not least due to their pioneering attitude, and their dedication to doing things differently. In essence, their commitment to independence.

Tags: chopard fairmined gold happy sport


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