CHOPARD GREEN CARPET
Chopard has enriched its Green Carpet Collection with responsibly mined emeralds. By adding coloured stones to its roadmap towards sustainable luxury, the Geneva-based Maison continues to play a pioneering role in the jewellery industry.
IT WAS IN 2013 that Chopard began “The Journey to Sustainable Luxury”, a project intended to position Chopard as a market leader in sustainable luxury in the watchmaking/ jewellery sector. The Geneva-based House committed itself to working alongside EcoAge and its creative director, Livia Firth, who strives to promote ethics in the fashion world through the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC).
After gold, diamonds and opals, coloured stones are taking their place in the Green Carpet Collection via a strategic partnership by Chopard with Gemfields, world leader in the extraction of coloured gemstones. New creations in the Green Carpet Collections are adorned with responsibly mined Zambian emeralds from Gemfields’ Kagem mine.
“The Journey” begins at the very start of the production chain, with respectful sourcing of raw materials validated by Eco-Age. The ethically certified Fairmined gold from which the jewellery models are made comes from mining communities in South America supported by the Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM). Chopard was determined to put in place a lasting cooperative endeavour with these mines, laying the foundations for local populations to achieve real economic and social development.
The diamonds come from the IGC group, one of the world’s oldest diamond companies, which is certified by the practices of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) and meets the demands of this supervisory body in ethical, social and environmental terms.
A first for the industry in the terms of coloured gemstones, the emeralds used by Chopard meet the Principles of Sustainable Excellence. An expert in sustainable mining practice and a partner to Chopard in developing the
Journey to Sustainable Luxury, EcoAge uses the GCC Principles of Sustainable Excellence to check mining sites, notably social and environmental protection, training and worker’s safety.
In 2014, Chopard enriched Green Carpet with diamonds from RJCcertified supplier, featuring a design inspired by the Palme d’or, the famous golden palm-leaf trophy that the Geneva-based House created for the Cannes Film Festival. Responsibly sourced emeralds from Gemfields mines are now embellishing these iconic jewellery creations through a watch, a pair of earrings and a ring in ethical 18K white gold certified Fairmined.