“Luxury needn’t be synonymous with waste or excess, and it’s immensely gratifying to be able to design with sustainability in mind while still meeting our highest standards of quality and craftmanship.” – Christian Knoop, Director Creative Center of IWC Schaffhausen

“United by a shared belief that responsible business is good business, we are working together to create a globally sustainable future for our industry.” – RJC

Background

For a long time, people’s impressions of luxury goods have been negative images such as profligacy and waste. But in recent years, as people around the world have begun to awaken their environmental awareness, the sustainability of various types of products, including luxury goods, has gradually attracted attention. The Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC), founded in 2005, whose goal is to establish responsible standards for the entire jewellery and watch supply chain, from the extraction of raw materials through their processing, to the retailing of the merchandise. In 2020, IWC Schaffhausen was one of the few big-name brands that were committed to complying with the RJC’s “Code of Practices” and got certified. In the following passage, let’s dig deep into what IWC has contributed towards sustainability and how has IWC been performing so far in ethical and ecological responsibility.

Precious metals and diamonds can present some of the most glaring contradictions: beautiful materials can have a background of great social and environmental harm. To ensure it has not contributed to such damage, IWC has enforced a thorough sustainability management system which covers all of its business chains and is led by its Sustainability Committee. The main focuses of IWC’s sustainability management system are identified through stakeholders’ engagement, from which issues under Sourcing, Environment, Employment and Community Investment these four categories were identified as the most concerned issues in IWC.

Approaches

In 2018, basing on the 2017 baseline, IWC set eight sustainability targets to be reached in 2020, which provide it with a traceable, measurable roadmap for taking actions. Working in a 2-year-cycle, IWC review and report on the progress biennially so as to keep track on an ongoing basis. In 2020, IWC has successfully fulfilled the promises made two years ago, and has gone a step further to set the goals for the next cycle (2022). The table below shows the highlights of IWC’s sustainability approaches and its performance:

For more in-depth analysis of IWC’s sustainability approaches and performance, please contact us for applying for the membership of our monthly ESG research and newsletter.

Source:
  1. IWC Schaffhausen Sustainability Report 2020, https://www.iwc.com/en/company/sustainability-at-iwc/digital-report-2020.html
  2. Responsible Jewellery Council, https://www.responsiblejewellery.com/about/vision-2030/
  3. How Green is My Watch? How Watch Brands Are Embracing Sustainability, https://www.watchtime.com/featured/how-green-is-my-watch-how-watch-brands-are-embracing-sustainability/