Against a backdrop of eco-consumerism, increasingly heated debates about global warming, the provenance of diamonds and ethical gold, the question of jewelers and their contributions to charity is an important one. In an industry that drives and is driven by desire for excess, issues of corporate social responsibility are timelier than ever.

Temples of luxury continue to surface in London (Cartier has just opened a veritable cathedral on Bond Street with voituriers to park your car and offers of refreshments while you make your choices), in New York (November saw Chopard’s 100th store open on Madison Avenue with the largest choice of Chopard watches in the Americas; Graff will open its  flagship on the same street this year) and in Shanghai (Montblanc opened its largest store to date in November including a replica of the Montblanc mountain).

In a climate of such buoyant market growth, shouldn’t luxury brands emphasize how purchasing them will make a positive impact?

“Luxury is still about glamour and a prestigious image,” says Jonathan Kendall, chairman of the World Jewellery Confederation’s marketing and education commission.  “But high-end consumers are increasingly coming to expect luxury industries to take a proactive approach in delivering positive outcomes, rather than just great products. Top tier jewelry retailers are expected to be leaders and standard setters – not just in merchandising – but in corporate social responsibility. Wealthy customers are in a better position to choose and think about a product’s virtues when purchasing.”

So what are brands doing? The good news is that key top tier jewelry industry players are recognizing their responsibility and capability to bolster charitable coffers.  Among the major luxury jewelry houses, HIV/AIDS and children’s causes undoubtedly emerge as the two hottest issues for charitable endeavors.

Laurence Graff has published a huge coffee table book documenting the legendary story from his humble and impoverished beginnings in London’s East End to becoming one of the world’s leading diamantaires.  “As a fully integrated company, we are closely entwined with the people, history and future of South Africa.  I am delighted that we are supporting the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund with all proceeds from the sale of the book going to the charity,” he said recently.  Graff-supported charities include the Elton John AIDS Foundation, ChildLine  (a  free helpline  for children and young people  in  the UK), Clic Sargent  (a  children’s and youth cancer charity), Eve Appeal (a gynecological research fund), the Golden Age of Couture exhibit at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Red Cross and international children’s charity and ARK (Absolute  Return  for  Kids),  which works in South Africa to prevent children being orphaned by AIDS. Graff’s 2007 donations are in the region of $1 million or more, according to a spokesperson. They include proceeds from the Graff book and a donation to an ARK charity auction of a Graff 2.10 carat diamond flower pendant necklace.

Chopard sponsors Elton John’s Annual White Tie and Tiara Bal l every year, benefiting the pop star’s AIDS Foundation.  Chopard has also produced a book, Noel des Coeurs, for which international stars waived their fees to pose for photos and speak of their childhood, with profits entirely donated to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Chopard has also designed unique watches with opera singer Jose Carreras, the Prince of Wales and Sir Elton John, with proceeds aiding Chopard’s chosen charitable foundations.

 

Award-winning British jeweler Shaun Leane is another supporter of Sir Elton John’s AIDS Foundation. He also supports Teen with a Dream in the U.S. and the War Child Organisation in the UK, often by donating jewelry for dinner auctions.

Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev’s commitment to philanthropy is well-documented. Reported to give away $30 million to Jewish causes annually, his 1990 audience with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is legendary. During that meeting, Rabbi Schneerson advised Leviev to pursue business opportunities in the former Soviet Union  and  use  the  proceeds  to  help  the  needy remnants of Soviet  Jewry;  there’s no doubt  it was sound business advice.

 

Today  Leviev  is  also  extremely  active  in  supporting numerous  charitable  activities around  the world, including the Carousel of Hope ball and the Children’s Diabetes Foundation.

In October 2007, De Grisogono co-sponsored the first Cinema Against AIDS evening in Rome held by amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, auctioning off a pair of white gold earrings set with 178 amethysts totaling 11 carats in weight, 68 pink sapphires with a total weight of 3.95 carats, 120 orange sapphires weighing 9.35 carats and finished with 44 white diamonds.

Roberto Coin, one of the world’s biggest fine jewelry manufacturers, with 975 outlets globally and 675 in the U.S., has been involved solely with YouthAIDS for the last few years. His 2007 advertising campaign focused on Christy Turlington Burns and the brand’s involvement with YouthAIDS. A special charitable event with the model is slated for this year. Coin aims to raise a total of half a million dollars for YouthAIDS this year.  “Giving is regenerative and empowering,” says Coin.

 

“We believe every charity starts from home so for personal reasons we support cancer-related charities, especially Macmillan Nurses,” says the jeweler loved by rock stars, Stephen Webster.  In 2001 Webster designed a UKinNY ring, with proceeds going to the New York Firefighters 9-11 Disaster Relief Fund. Other charities Webster has supported include UNICEF, Action on Addiction and Cancer Research UK. Last fall, Webster collaborated with Swarovski’s Fashion Rocks, by designing a Fashion Rocks pendant, with al l sale proceeds going to the Prince's Trust, a UK charity helping young people become financially independent.

Cartier is a brand partial to unashamed, high-profile extravagance. In London last fall, the brand staged two spectacular red carpet events within weeks of each other – one a world premiere of the latest high jewelry collection, Inde Mysterieuse, in the form of an invitee-only catwalk show at a specially opened government-owned Mayfair mansion, and the other a dinner for 400 guests in the dinosaur entrance hall at London’s Natural History Museum with the entire building exterior swathed in red light. While Cartier loves a good party, it is welcome news to learn that the company has regular charitable commitments to both the arts and social and welfare causes.

When Alain Dominique Perrin, Cartier’s president and a man passionate about the arts, opened the doors to Cartier’s Paris-based Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain (foundation for contemporary art) in 1984, his decision was ahead of its time and his thinking avant-garde. Twenty-four years later, the Cartier foundation’s commitment to promoting contemporary art in a variety of media–  from sculpture, painting and drawing to film, photography, design and even fashion  and  performance arts – has led to worldwide respect for both scouting out new  talent and playing host  to established world-class  stars. Design world darling Marc Newson is among the talents whom Cartier has helped to make famous.

 

Of course, charitable contributions may be part of a luxury retailer’s image and reputation-building activities. At Cartier, for example, it would appear that the brand’s charitable giving is high profile and inexorably linked to the brand’s communications strategy. While a Cartier spokesperson claims that Cartier’s giving is “active yet discreet,” the Cartier Loveday, held on 8 June 2007, was anything but. In a worldwide initiative, countries nominated a humanitarian organization to which they would each donate 10 percent of proceeds of the sales of the Love jewelry collection for that day and proceeds from the Love charity bracelet for six months. At the Great Wall of China, hundreds of children stood in a formation spelling the word Love and unleashed balloons with donations going to UNICEF for children with AIDS. Other charities that benefited included the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity in the World, Green Cross Japan, and the Laureus World Sports Foundation in Spain and the World Childhood Foundation in Germany. In New York, a collage of portraits of 250 smiling faces was projected onto the Rockefeller Center building for ten days, to coincide with Loveday.

In the past, Cartier has also supported charities including the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the American Heart Foundation and ELA, a European organization that helps children with genetic diseases.  But when probed about the proportion of company profits channeled into the Cartier Foundation, Bernard Fornas, Cartier’s chief executive, says he is less concerned with percentages than the amount it takes to complete a project successfully.

Fornas is not alone.  Tiffany declined to reveal any information about its charitable giving since it keeps the information private. Not one of the companies IDEX Magazine approached agreed to disclose percentages of revenue donated to charity, and only Graff and Roberto Coin revealed an approximate total of their 2007 giving. Perhaps percentages would inevitably sound miniscule in contrast to the shows of excess in which such companies specialize and result in undermining their gestures completely? Luxury goods companies at the top of their game simply have to give their customers opportunities for absolute indulgence. Some hold glamorous celebrity parties around the world on a monthly basis. There are industry insiders who argue that maintaining an image of extravagance is absolutely crucial to adding value to the products jewelers sell and ensuring people keep coming back for more.

In recent years, thanks to celebrity involvement and high profile givers such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, it has become more fashionable, especially in America, for charitable giving to take place visibly and publicly.

“Today’s high-end jewelry customer is compelled to ensure that their purchase is actually contributing to social and environmental causes, not just limiting negative outcomes. Charitable contributions might well become more and more important,” says Jonathan Kendall.