Editor’s Note
This article highlights a significant shift in the jewelry and watch industry, as major players like Richemont and Kering move from individual corporate sustainability efforts to launching a collective, industry-wide initiative. The “Watch & Jewelry Initiative 2030” represents a pivotal step toward coordinated action on the Sustainable Development Goals.
SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) activities are becoming increasingly active across various industries. In the jewelry industry, in October, Cartier (under Compagnie Financière Richemont, hereafter Richemont) and Kering Group (hereafter Kering), which owns brands like Boucheron, launched the “Watch & Jewelry Initiative 2030” (hereafter Initiative 2030). This is a major initiative calling for participation not only from groups and brands but from all companies in the jewelry industry. Here, we introduce the flow of SDGs in the jewelry industry to date, “Initiative 2030,” and the thoughts behind it.
SDGs efforts in the jewelry industry became full-scale about 20 years ago. This traces back to 2000 when major diamond producer De Beers Group (hereafter De Beers), diamond-producing country governments, the United Nations, and others established the “World Diamond Council (WDC)” with the aim of preventing the trade of conflict diamonds. In 2003, the “Kimberley Process” certification scheme emerged, mandating the attachment of certificates of origin when trading rough diamonds. Activities expanded, centered around movements concerning conflict diamonds, often called “blood diamonds.” In 2005, Cartier, De Beers’ sales and distribution division, Signet Group (the world’s largest diamond retail company), and others established the “Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC),” an international non-profit organization that develops norms and standards for social and environmental responsibility. To become a member, compliance certification with the norms must be obtained within two years. In 2012, a voluntary CoC (Chain of Custody) certification system concerning supply chain traceability also started. Many of the world’s top jewelers are certified as members of the RJC.
