Chopard Makes Ethical-Gold Commitment

RAPAPORT... Chopard has vowed to use 100% ethically sourced gold in all ofits jewelry and watch collections by the end of July, the company said lastweek. The jeweler has created an in-house gold foundry that will giveit complete oversight of all processes from the manufacturing stage to thefinished product. "As a family-run business, ethics have always been animportant part of our family philosophy," said copresident and creativedirector Caroline Scheufele during a press conference at the Baselworld jewelry andwatch fair. "The luxury comes only when you know the handprint of your supplychain, and I am very proud of our gold-sourcing program." Beginning in July, Chopard will procure its gold from onlytwo traceable sources. One is artisanal freshly mined metal from small minesparticipating in the Swiss Better Gold Association (SBGA), Fairmined andFairtrade schemes. The other is gold from the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC)Chain of Custody, through Chopard's partnership with RJC-certified refineries. Celebrity supporters of the brand, including Colin Firth andJulianne Moore, attended the Baselworld conference. In February, Human Rights Watch ranked Chopard as"weak" in a report examining the sourcing practices of 13 leading jewelrycompanies.