The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) was established in 2005, two years after the launch of the Kimberley Process (Diamond Certification System to Prevent conflict diamonds from entering. Since the late 1990s, the world of jewelry had been largely shaken by this scandal, remember the film "Blood diamond". It was obvious that non governmental organizations would not stop there, there were still areas of uncertainty in terms of sustainability and social responsibility in the sector.
In the beginning there were 14 members!
It is in view of this sword of Damocles that 14 key players in the jewelry sector have launched the Responsible Jewellery Council in total discretion. They represented almost the entire supply chain, even the banking sector was represented. De Beers Group was in the list, and for good reason, the group has subsidiaries in almost the entire value chain.
The Responsible Jewelry Council in a few words.
The RJC Code of Practice covers a multitude of topics such as environmental, social and ethical practices while respecting human rights. Certification is mandatory within 2 years after joining the JCR and renewable every two years.
The RJC provides its members with tools to assist them in their certification process. The final audit is carried out by independent bodies.
Since 2012 a certification of the supply chain whose traceability of gold, metals from the platinum mine, and other diamonds completes this virtuous chain. Every upstream supplier of a company's value chain is questioned when a company decides to proceed with this certification.
15 years later, they are more than 1000
What, 15 years ago seemed a rather "cosmetic" approach, seems to have contaminated many players in the trade. To work with major CoC certified brands, you have to be certified. Jewelry workshop know something about it. In France, Cartier, the first member to be certified, played a major role. Without bragging about it. But for the sure purpose of being blameless just in case. Most recently, PIAT, a company specializing in natural colored stones, was the first in its segment to be certified. Bizarrely Mikimoto and Graff, two jewellers from Place Vendôme are not on the list. I imagine it will be soon.
And jewelry retailers globally, even though they are on the front line when customers doubt, are few to be certified. They are only around 80 out of more than 1000 companies to be certified. Once listed the big brands and the big jewelry chains this figure is quickly reached. Already in 2011 the RJC mentioned the subject in an interview. Will it take another scandal for things to move forward? Perhaps the small retailers are they waiting for big brands to do the work upstream because they have the power to coerce the chain's players.
What Could Change in the Post Covid World.
At an online JCR roundtable on May,21, attended by Sue Allchurch of the United Nations, Tyler Gillard for the OECD, Pomellato, Bulgary, Roberto Coin and De Beers Group, some comments caught my attention:
"Jewellery is sustainable because it is easy to recycle." Indeed, you either pass on your jewelry as a witness of memorable moments with your beloved, or, if you find them cheesy, you can take the stones off, melt the precious metal and make a jewel to your taste.
"The sale of statutory jewelry is declining, millennial are looking for special values behind the products they buy". They expect a marketing that makes sense, that offers "less, but better". To this day, we, the jewelers sector, "communicate very little about our virtuous actions and values that deserve our pride".
Add to these reflections the arrival of synthetic diamonds on the market, difficult to identify and cheaper. In this context of "diamond war", the major actors develop new block chain initiatives.
We're going to have to explain things to consumers.
To 4C's could be added the 4P's!
Listening to the conference, between the lines, it seems obvious that the market goes towards the jewelry sector promoting Jewels as the "eternal luxury of the future". The starting point are 4 words in the latest promotional video of the RJC that coincidentally pose 4 major topics to care about in jewelry "People, Peace, Planet, Prosperity", perhaps the 4P's of jewelry like the 4C's of the diamonds.
To be followed!