DEKAT DIGITAL 2019 - 2020

IWC’s watch production and headquarters in Switzerland are powered by renewable energy, as is
their supplier of precious metals. IWC takes efforts to primarily source recycled metals, and ensures
that all of its suppliers of precious metals and diamonds meet the industry best practice standards set
out by the Responsible Jewellery Council. Since 2013, IWC has been a recipient of Positive Luxury’s
‘Brand to Trust’ Butterfly Award. The next steps for IWC’s management of its environmental impact
include further efforts to address the greenhouse gas emissions generated by shipping, reducing
the volume and weight of its packaging, and seeking to ensure plastics are reusable, recyclable or
compostable.
Richemont brands Cartier, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre completed the top five
of the WWF ranking, followed by Chopard and TAG Heuer. As part of its transformational corporate social
responsibility strategy, in the short term, Richemont will map responsible sourcing risks for leather and marketing
materials, and define relevant action plans, including audits. The group will also deploy ICFA certification for
alligator skin suppliers to ensure the highest standard of animal welfare.
Livia Firth, founder of sustainable consultancy Eco-Age, told Forbes magazine in a recent interview that
Chopard defines ethical gold as coming from either artisanal small-scale mines that participate in the Swiss
Better Gold Association’s (SBGA) Fairmined and Fairtrade programmes, or gold sourced with the Responsible
Jewellery Council’s Chain of Custody certification through the maison’s partnership with RJC-certified refineries.
Chopard, in partnership with Eco-Age, started ‘The Journey To Sustainable Luxury’ in which they “forged a
strategic alliance with the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), the NGO operating in Latin America with smallscale
mining communities... It would have been very easy for Chopard to just source through them the available
amounts of Fairmined certified gold, but Chopard went beyond that and actually supported ARM in bringing more
mining communities to Fairmined certification. That meant through the years the amount of gold increased.”
This is one way Chopard is able to source 100% ethical gold. The Forbes article highlights another unique
way: having its own in-house foundry, which contributes significantly to the company’s commitment to vertical
integration of its production. “Obviously (the foundry) makes a huge difference as it adds lots of value to being
a sustainable business,” says Firth. “Having it in-house also means they can fully control the process and recycle
their own gold.”
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