Chopard’s Caroline Scheufele has won a top green award at a prestigious awards ceremony in the US that has come to be regarded as the Oscars of Latin American business.

The Co-President and Artistic Director of the Swiss manufacturer of jewellery and watches was named Environmentalist of the Year at the Bravo Business Awards, held during the Latin Trade Symposium in Miami on November 7.

The awards are presented by the Latin Trade Group, a leading provider of information and business services to companies in Latin America.

Now in its 20^th edition, the annual awards recognise the most influential business leaders in the Americas in diverse categories that include Environmentalist of the Year, Innovative Corporate Leader of the Year, Social Responsibility CEO of the Year, Sustainability CEO of the Year, and the Trade Americas Bravo Award.

Scheufele received the award from Livia Firth, Creative Director of Eco-Age, for her role in championing Chopard’s initiative to use suppliers who are environmentally and socially conscious, setting new standards for the luxury retail industry.


THE JOURNEY

Under the initiative called The Journey to Sustainable Luxury, Chopard is deepening its commitment to sustainable luxury by sourcing materials from businesses that are committed to responsible, ethical, social and environmental practices. 

Launched in partnership with Eco-Age, the initiative started with Chopard forging a philanthropic relationship with the influential Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM), a South American mining non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Working alongside ARM, Chopard has begun to transform the lives of artisanal gold miners in small, remote South American communities in Colombia, providing social welfare, education and training whilst protecting the natural resources and wildlife habitats they depend on.

Chopard has also become the first watches and luxury jewellery manufacturer to support and enable artisanal miners achieve Fairmined certification.

This certification provides artisanal miners stable access to markets and a fair deal for their gold.

 “As a century-old family-run business, we are very aware of our responsibilities in our journey to sustainable luxury,” says Scheufele. “It is not an easy journey, but it is the right one. The Journey is an exciting multi-year programme that will ensure we are working towards our goal of sustainable jewellery.”

By providing financial support to mining communities and working with ARM, Chopard is helping artisanal mining communities get premium rates while sourcing the gold directly from them.

Chopard has also created high jewellery in accordance with the Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) ethical benchmarking, which has been aptly named the Green Carpet Collection.