Kering, Cartier Forge Ahead With Watch and Jewelry Initiative
● The companies officially founded the association at the Watches and Wonders fair.
GENEVA, Switzerland — Kering and Cartier's joint initiative to promote sustainability in the jewelry sector has suffered a setback following their decision to sever ties with the Responsible Jewelry Council, their partner in the project, but in a signal of confidence the companies went ahead with the official founding of the association at the Watches and Wonders trade fair here.
During a panel discussion on Friday, Marie-Claire Daveu, chief sustainability and institutional affairs officer at Kering, and Cyrille Vigneron, president and chief executive officer of Cartier International, revealed that four new members had joined the Watch and Jewelry Initiative 2030: Chanel's watches and jewelry division, Montblanc, Swarovski and diamond trading firm Rosy Blue.
However, they added that the program, initially unveiled last October, would now take longer to implement, since one of the conditions for joining had been to become a member of the RJC and become certified in its code of practices in the following two years.
Cartier's parent company, Compagnie Financière Richemont, and Kering were among several firms that said they were stepping down from the RJC in protest over its failure to exclude Russian diamond mining company Alrosa, which accounts for around a quarter of global diamond production, in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
“With what happened recently, with the war starting, then with some members being really linked to a state which is in war, then the diamonds coming into the supply chain come to be conflict diamonds,” Vigneron said. “So it was really sad to have no other option than taking this decision.”
In the wake of their withdrawal on Thursday, Iris Van der Veken quit as executive director of the RJC, throwing the group's leadership into disarray. Daveu said despite the reversal, she was confident the Watch and Jewelry Initiative would gain steam.
“I'm very confident about the initiative, because I have the feeling that around this initiative, you have a good energy.
So of course, we have to be honest, it will be perhaps a little bit more complex. But in the sustainability field, we like the complexity, so I'm sure we will find some solutions,” she said.
Like Kering's Fashion Pact, launched in 2019, the Watch and Jewelry Initiative spans high and low players, including brands, distributors and suppliers. Members must commit to progress in three areas — building climate resilience, preserving resources and fostering inclusiveness — and are required to report on progress on a regular basis.
The founding members are Cartier and the Kering-owned Gucci Watches, Boucheron, Pomellato, Dodo and Qeelin.
“The next challenge is to know what happens with the RJC and to know whether we can reform and change the governance or whether we have to rebuild something else,” Vigneron said.
“We have a lot of hope and anyway, we know that there is a lot of goodwill in there, and everything that has been created in 15 years still exists. We just have to find a different body and a different governance. That's easier than to recreate everything from scratch,” he added.