Sustainability lies at the heart of the Tiffany & Co. brand—it’s both our legacy and our future. Tiffany’s promise to the world is to protect its beauty, nurture its people and conduct our business with care.
Alessandro Bogliolo, Chief Executive Officer OF Tiffany
Simple but effective.
What is the diamond industry doing to embrace sustainability?
According to De Beers, the diamond industry has annual sales of about $80 billion and, as we have seen here, very high margins.
Many scandals of child labour and blood diamonds have affected the repuation of the industry, prompting leaders to react.
De Beers in 2019 took on sustainability by introducing synthetic diamonds.
Tiffany has now announced the Diamond Source Initiative. One hundred percent clear traceability of the diamonds customers are going to buy.
What is the Tiffany Diamond Source Initiative?
Through the Diamond Source Initiative, Tiffany provides provenance—the region or countries of origin—for every newly sourced, individually registered diamond set.
Under the new initiative, every consumer can trace each and every one of Tiffany’s individually-registered diamonds. That is, all diamonds 0.18 carats and larger back to their region or countries of origin.
Said provenance information will be available on Tiffany diamond certificates and displayed in global merchandising case lines of the Love & Engagement collection.
You may think that the provenance of a component of a product should be given/clear. Well, it is not when we refer to diamonds.
the traceability of diamonds has been until now a big question mark because the majority of mines are located in emerging countries where regulations are still in evolution.
How important is it from a sustainability point of view?
Sustainability does not mean only pollute less. Sustainability means also contributing in the improvement of health conditions.
Regulating the diamond industry and putting it under the worldwide spot-light generates a huge shift in terms of investments.
Demand drives offer. Offer reacts to the demand. Easy to understand that if consumers are aware of what they are buying and what they are financing the “opaque” market should disappear.
This is the reason why it is fundamental to certify the origin of a diamond.
What is the commitment of Tiffany & Co?
Sustainability is paramount at Tiffany. Diamonds are sourced in countries without diamond-related human rights concerns like Botswana, Canada, Namibia, Russia and South Africa.
Through responsible sourcing practices it seeks to promote the protection of human rights and the environment. Not only. Tiffany contributes as well as to create economic opportunity for communities along the diamond supply chain.
According to Tiffany’s website, in 2018 the brand provided more than USD $59 million in economic benefits to Botswana’s economy. In the same year it hired 99% of the international manufacturing workforce directly from the communities around their operations.
How is articulated the Tiffany Sustainability plan?
Tiffany’s sustainability effort is a great example considering the way it articulates. Among other activities, when talking about diamonds we see three main pillars.
- REGULATIONS: Tiffany respects the Kimberly Process, which is a protocol that works to remove the flow of conflict diamonds from the global supply chain. A set of rules that have to be strictly followed to be compliant.
- SOURCE: Tiffany accepts diamonds that originate in countries without diamond-related human rights concerns, such as Botswana, Canada, Namibia, Russia and South Africa.
- SOCIAL IMPACT: To contribute to the change Tiffany helped the launch of the Initiative for Responsibile Mining Assurance (IRMA) in 2006. IRMA’s approach to responsible mining is to certify social and environmental performance at mine sites globally using an internationally recognized standard that has been developed in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders.
What to expect in the future?
The Future is what makes investments profitable. The Future is in the hands of Generation Z.
A generation that truly believes in respect, ethics and diversity.
To win the hearts of Gen Z, Companies must demonstrate their commitment to a broader set of societal challenges, such as sustainability, climate change and hunger.
Tiffany & Co. is certainly proceeding in the right direction.
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