Editor’s Note
This article examines the Watch & Jewelry Initiative 2030, an industry effort to enhance sustainability and traceability in the gemstone supply chain. It highlights the initiative’s core requirements and the practical challenges brands face in certifying their supply networks.
Making the precious gemstone supply chain more sustainable and transparent by tracing it back to its source is the ambitious goal of the Watch & Jewelry Initiative 2030. Launched in early October by Cartier and the Kering Group, it requires participating brands to be certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), an NGO that sets standards for sustainability. Participants must convert their main suppliers to this approach by 2025, with secondary suppliers having until 2030 to obtain their certification. The initiative is welcomed by Geneva gemstone dealers, who are holding a salon from November 4 to 7, but some believe it remains difficult to implement in practice.
An estimated 30 million artisanal miners are believed to be active in colored gemstone extraction.