Chopard continues sustainability journey 20 years into Cannes sponsorship

Swiss jeweler Chopard is celebrating 20 years as the official sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival May 17-28 in Cannes, France.

For two decades, Chopard has acted as the official sponsor for the international film festival and has used the event to promote its high-jewelry collections on the red carpet. The film festival, now in its 70th year, generates buzz for Chopard’s jewelry and has become a platform for the jeweler to show off its latest designs and sustainable mining initiatives.

Green carpets
To continue its ongoing trend of working sustainability into its “green carpet” appearances during Cannes, as well as celebrating the dual anniversary, Chopard has redesigned the Palme d’Or trophy.

Chopard's 2017 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or trophy

The redesign does not change the appearance of the palm-shaped trophy, given to the year’s best film, but instead incorporates ethical diamonds into the structure.

Chopard’s Palme d’Or is made from 118 grams of fairmined-certified 18-karat ethical gold and sits on top of an emerald-cut piece of rock crystal. The trophy’s creation process takes a team of five Chopard artisans in Geneva approximately 40 hours to complete.

This year, Chopard’s artisans inlaid dozens of ethical diamonds into the frond tips, and stems are meant to resemble stardust. Each diamond has been sourced from a supplier certified by the Responsible Jewelry Council (RJC) to ensure the integrity and quality.

The Palme d’Or of the Festival de Cannes, crafted by Chopard

Last year, Chopard announced its eco-conscious partnership with colored-gemstone miner Gemfields to further the jeweler’s “Journey to Sustainable Luxury.”

The partnership sees that the emeralds used in Chopard’s jewelry, and sourced by Gemfields, are validated by Eco-Age’s Green Carpet Challenge (GCC) Principles of Sustainable Excellence (see story).

For the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Chopard introduced its first jewelry line crafted from ethically mined gold.

Chopard’s Palme Verte is made of Fairmined 18-karat yellow gold, sourced from artisan and small-scale miners. The collection of earrings, a pendant, a ring and a bracelet are based on the Palme d’Or trophy made by the jeweler and presented to the winner at the film festival, making the line a collector’s item, as well as something they can feel good about wearing (see story).