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The Watch and Jewellery Initiative 2030 (WJI), launched in 2021 by Cartier and Kering to drive action on sustainability in these categories, is expanding to reach smaller businesses.
WJI has created the Small Medium Enterprise SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) 2030 Solutions Lab in collaboration with the United Nations Global Compact, a non-binding pact to encourage businesses to adopt sustainable policies. The goal is to include smaller brands and suppliers in its efforts to reduce environmental impacts and improve livelihoods within the watch and jewellery sector.
The Richemont-owned jewellery powerhouse and the French luxury conglomerate team up with the Responsible Jewellery Council on a new initiative aiming to make the industry more sustainable.
“Many of our members work with big supplier communities in different tiers. What we believe is that we need to take that responsibility together to accelerate the wider supply chain and to bring them along the journey,” says Iris Van der Veken, executive director and secretary general of the WJI. “We have done a multi-stakeholder consultation for the past six months. One thread throughout was that we need to bring the wider supplier community [into] the ecosystem. And that can only happen through education, capacity building and looking at piloting projects to see what works, what doesn’t work and where it is tough for them to be able to improve.”
WJI was launched jointly in October 2021 by Cartier (on behalf of parent company Richemont) and Kering, which owns brands including Boucheron and Pomellato, and was joined six months later by Chanel Horlogerie Joaillerie, Montblanc, Rosy Blue and Swarovski. Formed in partnership with the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), the initiative requires participating brands to set science-based targets for emissions; measure and reduce their impact on biodiversity and water waste in sourcing key raw materials; and take certain steps towards greater inclusivity and transparency across the supply chain — although the map for meeting those targets was, and remains, unclear.
WJI intends for the Solutions Lab project to provide education and expertise from the UN Global Compact and others to guide SMEs on enhancing transparency and to “operationalise sustainability” throughout the value chain. In the initial stage, that will involve guidance and assistance for small-medium companies, and a formal consultation process will be launched to involve key players — from within the industry as well as associations and nonprofits — in the development of content.
A working group expected to launch in March — which will include the World Jewelry Confederation (CIBJO), the French Union of Jewelry (BJOP) and the design department of Polytechnic University of Milan — will aim to develop a framework for responsible supply chain practices. They say that will lead to increased transparency reporting. Overall, according to WJI, the Solutions Lab “seeks to prove that it is possible — and profitable — for small businesses to do the right thing, the right way, in the global jewellery and watch industry”.
The Solutions Lab will be transparent, data-driven and collaborative, with multiple stakeholders involved, says Van der Veken. However, until they see how the Solutions Lab works in practice, observers are hesitant to speculate on how likely it is to deliver real change in the jewellery industry.
“For the Solutions Lab to be successful, it’s vital [that] WJI fully engage stakeholders from the SME sector in developing and testing potential resources from the outset. We’ve seen several initiatives in the past that have been developed by big business but, inevitably, they don’t meet the needs of smaller jewellers,” says Victoria Waugh, co-founder of sustainability consultancy V&V.
Without the scale of resources and influence that large companies have, it can be harder for smaller jewellers to “practically implement new ways of working”, she says. The supply chain for sustainable product offerings is limited, and minimum order quantities can be out of reach for small businesses. “If WJI were able to support the supply chain to increase the product offer or provide a platform for SMEs to consolidate orders and meet factory minimums, it could make a difference.”
Fine jewellery brand Tabayer only manufactures with Fairmined gold, which limits the number of factories they can work with, says founder and CEO Nigora Tokhtabayeva. That impacts her manufacturing costs. Diamonds are even harder for small businesses focused on sustainability, she adds. “It is not currently possible to fully trace diamonds back to the exact mine from which they were sourced. The only exceptions are the very largest miners and distributors who own their own mines,” she says. “We hope one day we will be able to track our diamonds in the same way as we do our gold. This will require industry collaboration, in which we are keen to play our part.”
Smaller companies need support, but V&V’s Waugh says the details for what that support looks like are what matter. “We welcome all resources aimed at supporting the small-medium brands and designer-makers. These businesses are often the ones at the forefront of the movement for change, but they don't necessarily have the time or money needed to achieve their goals.”
“How are we going to make it a supported supply chain?”
As the initiative takes shape, observers will be watching how some of the biggest areas of uncertainty unfold, including who is involved in the decision-making and who the target audience for the Solutions Lab is.
WJI’s Van der Veken says that while everyone is welcome, the main target is the supplier community. “Within our membership, you already have big brands but also smaller brands — so they will be testing the waters, but it will be mostly focused on the supplier communities.”
She did not provide further details — whether the emphasis within the industry’s wide web of suppliers will be on mines or mineral traders, refineries or manufacturers of chains, for example — yet that will determine everything about how it moves forward, says Susan Wheeler, founder of the Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference and advisory committee member of the Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network, a joint initiative of the UN Office for Partnerships.
“When I think suppliers, I think miners,” she says. It will be telling, for an initiative that’s talking about scaling sustainability for small and medium sized businesses in the jewellery sector, if artisanal and small-scale mining, or ASM, is not a top priority focus. “There are articles after articles saying, if you want to address the SDGs, you have to address ASM. And none of these groups [involved in the working group] are experienced with ASM,” she says. They are industry groups that are more familiar with large-scale operations than the nuances of small-scale mining and the needs of artisanal mining communities, she says. Her bottom line concern will be whether the initiative can drive real change — on the ground, and not just create more paperwork for companies to have on file as evidence that they’re taking responsibility, when they haven’t done much in reality. “How are they going to get into that dialogue — how are we going to talk to suppliers, not push them aside? How are we going to make it a supported supply chain, not a verified supply chain?”
Asked which groups WJI is consulting with regarding ASM, Van der Veken says they have been talking to Fairmined, UN Environment Programme, Swiss Better Gold, Pure Earth, Pact and Resolve, and that “multi-stakeholder engagement on all focus topics is key for WJI 2030”.
Other concerns include how the Solutions Lab will come up with the tools and resources it plans to share, and whether it will turn to existing players already doing good, respected work on the ground — or whether it will start anew, which would raise red flags for some.
“There’s a significant amount of free educational material and tools already available to businesses through certification schemes like B Corporation, or industry bodies such as the National Association of Jewellers in the UK, or Gemstone and Jewellery Community Platform,” says Waugh. Others, such as Fair Luxury in the UK and the Scottish Goldsmiths Trust, have developed tools for SMEs to share knowledge and information about suppliers, materials and other resources, she adds. “Hopefully, WJI will build on existing resources, rather than starting from scratch. What we find lacking for SMEs is financial support to implement sustainability systems or trial new ways of working. We’d like to see WJI finding ways to support SMEs more practically through grant funding, subsidised consultancy support and mentoring programmes.”
That is the plan, says Van der Veken. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. We want to be humble. The Solutions Lab is about us working together.”
Clarification: Story updated to clarify that the Solutions Lab is working with multiple stakeholders in a process that will be transparent. (14 February 2023)
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