Chopard's journey to sustainable luxury

On the occasion of the Watches and Wonders Geneva Salon, Chopard Co-Presidents Caroline and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, together with Chopard Ambassador Julia Roberts, revealed the latest step in the Journey to Sustainable Luxury.

Interviewed by Alexandre Kouchner, they announced Chopard’s commitment to roll out recycled steel for its watches: by the end of 2023, the Maison will use Lucent Steel™ for the production of all its steel watches, including bracelets and cases. Lucent Steel™ is made with a recycling rate of at least 80%. The ambition is to reach at least 90% recycled steel in the Lucent Steel™ by 2025.

“In today’s world, luxury Maisons are major drivers for change, and Chopard has been such a pioneer on the field of sustainability. It’s thus a great honour for me to join Chopard in its commitment to use more responsible materials. I feel really good wearing watches which I know have been made with a conscious approach of sustainability” said Julia Roberts on the occasion of the announcement.

As a consequence of this project, Chopard will significantly reduce the carbon footprint of its steel. To endorse its commitment, Chopard is also the first luxury Maison to join Climate Group’s SteelZero initiative, in order to work with the industry to speed up the transition to a net zero steel.

The Journey to Sustainable Luxury is a long-term programme through which Chopard has been working since 2013 to promote respect for the highest social and environmental criteria in the luxury business. As one of the key steps in this Journey, Chopard has been using 100% ethical gold for the production of its watches and jewellery since 2018.

“Chopard is committed to a long-term process of responsible sourcing of the raw materials that make our business possible. We are proud of the work we have accomplished in just ten years. Through our ethical gold sourcing, which began progressively in 2013 with the goal of using 100% ethical gold in our workshops by 2018, followed today by our commitment to 80% recycled steel, we are approaching the ideal of ensuring the production of fully responsible watches and jewellery” explained Chopard Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele.

“The challenges of sourcing steel are totally different to those we have encountered with gold. That is part of the beauty of our Journey to Sustainable Luxury: we have one goal, but many, very different ways of getting there. While gold led us to focus on the working conditions of artisanal miners, steel has been an opportunity for us to tackle the impact of our products in terms of carbon footprint.” added Chopard Co-President and Artistic Director Caroline Scheufele.