The Ethical Mission of Jewelry

What do Fiji, South Africa and Greenland have in common? The answer is simple: the positive impact on local communities in countries that are sources of precious raw materials. The topic was discussed yesterday at Vicenzaoro at an event organized by IEG Italian Exhibition Group in collaboration with CIBJO, during the seminar entitled “Emphasizing jewelry's positive impact on society, as an integral part of its value proposition”, which saw speakers such as Hayley Henning, Chief Commercial Officer at Greenland Ruby, Justin Hunter, Founder of J. Hunter Pearls Fiji, Christopher Bull, Director of Operations at Dimexon, Charles Betts, CEO of The Betts Group, Huw Daniel, CEO of Platinum Guild International, moderated by Edward Johnson, Founder of Edward Johnson Consulting. Assessing the impact on the environment and on the populations affected by mining sites has always been one of CIBJO's main missions, with the aim of improving the quality of life, eliminating gender and social inequalities in general, reducing migration, developing local businesses in disadvantaged areas and implementing compliance in order to have the same international trade laws for greater harmonization. The second seminar of the morning, entitled “Innovation and technology in jewelry manufacturing, supporting creativity and driving sustainable impact”, focused instead on sustainability. The panel addressing this debate included Huw Daniel, CEO of Platinum Guild International, Josh Helmich, Founder of The Helmich Luxury Group, Peter Crump, CEO of Vipa Designs, Damiano Zito, CEO of Progold S.p.A. and Kelvin James, CEO of Diamond Center Wales. Hundreds of people connected via streaming to both sessions, which, together with the 50 delegates present in the hall, underlined the importance of such a significant moment as CIBJO’s first ever General Assembly. A debut in all respects, which found in Vicenzaoro the ideal context, public and partner, as Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, has repeatedly stated in recent days. Another first was IEG’s new format specifically for the contemporary watchmaking sector. VO'Clock Privè, as the new event is called, opened its doors with an interesting exchange between Marco Mantovani, CEO of Locman, and Carlo Boggio Ferraris, grandson of Domenico Morezzi, founder of OISA 1937, who told the behind- the-scenes story that, in over five years of studies and projects, led to the birth of the “Cinque Ponti”, a mechanical movement with manual winding that marks the return to totally Made in Italy workmanship in the haute horlogerie sector. Storytelling that merges passion, Italian pride and technological innovation, concepts that were also echoed in the afternoon on the stage of the Assogemme talk, ‘Teaching beauty - The professions of excellence for the new jewelry generations’. Presenting their experience as designers and entrepreneurs were Paolo Cesari, President of Assogemme, Alessia Crivelli, President of the Mani Intelligenti Foundation, Loredana Prosperi, Director at IGI Milan, Giampiero Bodino, Artistic Director at Richemont and Simone Rizzetto, CEO of Laboratorio Damiani. The event could be summed up with a concept of its moderator, Raffaele Ciardulli, Coach, trainer and luxury consultant, who commented on the second day of Vicenzaoro. A beautiful piece of jewelry must be the sum of many stories. It is a narrative constellation that tells the story of the person who devised it, created it, chose it, produced it and then made it available in that precise form, with that precise material. The future protagonists of the jewelry professions must be bearers of beauty, and for this reason they must be trained to understand how much this value is at the basis of all processes - creative, productive and relational.