TIFFANY & CO. Responsible Mining

Company Overview Tiffany and Co. is a jeweler and specialty retailer. Founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany Product line: Extensive selection of jewelry, timepieces, sterling silverware, china and other luxury accessories Business: Engage in product design, manufacturing and retailing activities Has more than 200 stores and boutiques and over 8000 employees worldwide

Company Overview Tiffany’s flagship store at New York is the filming location for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “Sweet Home Alabama” The Tiffany Yellow Diamond is one of the largest yellow diamond ever discovered, weighing 248.42 carats Tiffany & Co. trademarked its color “Tiffany Blue”

Responsible Mining Mining operations had been set up without respecting the local communities wishes and rights! Diamonds were used to finance wars! Slaves were used in mining precious gems! It is extremely important for jewelers like Tiffany & Co. to impose responsible mining practices, which is a part of responsible operations. Their actions include the following; Fight against blood diamonds Promote collaborative efforts in responsible mining Promote ethical business practices Fund the clearing of toxic waste from mines Raise awareness on corals preservation

The Fight Against Blood Diamonds Blood diamonds = Diamond mined in the war zone, smuggled by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments Usually in Africa: Angola, Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire, The Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe etc. Tiffany joined forces with the Human Rights Watch to fight against blood diamonds Recently, Tiffany publicly denounced and boycotted blood diamonds from Zimbabwe, the key source of revenue for Zimbabwe’s abusive government Besides, Tiffany purchases diamonds only from countries that are full participants in the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme

Collaborative Efforts Tiffany has taken a leading role in working closely with producers and end users of precious metals, jewelry industry groups and interested nongovernmental organizations, including Earthworks and Oxfam In 2003, Tiffany convened a conference on responsible mining, which was attended by nongovernmental organizations, retailers, investors, insurers and technical experts seeking to identify the best mining practices The conference led to the publication of the “Framework for Responsible Mining: A Guide to Evolving Standards” The first jeweler to embrace the objectives of the “No Dirty Gold” campaign, which established standards for the extraction of gold by seeking responsible miners

Promoting Ethical Business Conducts In 2005 Tiffany became the founding member of Responsible Jewelry Council, which developed Principles and a Code of Practices concerning with the entire supply chain of jewelers – from mining through manufacturing to retail showcase Supports the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, a group that includes participants from three broad sectors: mining, nongovernmental organizations and retail, with additional representation from labor groups and communities impacted by mining

Tiffany’s Role on Hard-Rock Mining in the American West Working to support the reform of the General Mining Law of 1872 and to pass legislation to assist in cleaning up abandoned hard-rock mines Established a permanent source of funding for organizations that incurred liability for voluntarily cleaning mine-related pollution they did not cause as the toxic legacy of abandoned mines in the American West became more severe Publicly and actively opposed inappropriate mine development on environmentally and culturally sensitive lands

Principled Position on Burmese Gemstones Refused to buy gemstones of Burmese origin, regardless of where the gems are cut or polished One of the few retail jewelers that had long respected the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, forbidding the importation of products from Burma (Myanmar) including some of the world’s most desirable gemstones, rubies and jade Burma (Myanmar) had been closely tied to human rights violations

Conserving Marine Habitats Tiffany has a "No Coral Sales" policy, where they refused to use real corals in their collections since 2002 Works actively with SeaWeb, a nonprofit marine conservation organization, designed to encourage coral conservation Supports the reauthorization of a stronger U.S. Coral Reef Conservation Act Displayed an “Under the Sea" theme in its global stores windows in June 2009, designed to raise awareness of the importance of corals

Conclusion We should all be aware of the issues behind a fancy piece of jewelry. It is important to ensure that precious gemstones are obtained through ethical means. However, rest assure as Tiffany & Co. had proved to be responsible in its operations, environment and ethics through this research.

References Company Profile: http://investor.tiffany.com/overview.cfm Tiffany’s Diamond Ring: http://allwomenstalk.com/diamond-engagement-ring-tiffanys-top-10/ Breakfast at Tiffany’s: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/Breakfast_at_Tiffanys.jpg Flagship store: http://www.sterlingtiffany.com/newspic/sterling_tiffany_news_0051_clip_image002.jpg HRW urges consumers to join fight against Zimbabwe blood diamonds: http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/english/News.aspx?boneId=918&objid=7201 Blood Diamond: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamond Hard-Rock Mining: http://www.mining-law-reform.info/Chino1.jpg Collaborative Efforts: http://www.tiffany.com/Sustainability/collaborative.aspx Conservation and Reform: http://www.tiffany.com/Sustainability/conservation.aspx No Dirty Gold: http://www.nodirtygold.org/home.cfm Tiffany Blue Box: http://www.tiffanyonlinestore.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/tiffany-blue- box.jpg