The logo of luxurious products group Richemont’s flagship brand Cartier is witnessed at a department in Zurich, Switzerland, January 12, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/
GENEVA, March 30 (Reuters) – Cartier and other labels of the Richemont (CFR.S) team have stepped down from the Dependable Jewelry Council (RJC) after the industry system failed to cut ties with Russia, executives from the group explained to reporters at the Watches and Miracles watchmakers business reasonable on Wednesday.
“It is not section of our Richemont values to be element of an business in which some users are supporting conflicts and wars,” said Cyrille Vigneron, president and chief govt officer of Cartier.
Jewellery maker Pandora PNDORA.CO also mentioned on Wednesday it was slicing ties with the RJC, which sets ethical specifications for the jewellery and check out industry.
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The membership of Russia’s state-owned Alrosa (ALRS.MM) in the RJC has drawn scrutiny, even while the company stepped down voluntarily from the RJC’s board before this month.
The Russian diamond producer — the world’s biggest — was added to a British isles sanctions record final 7 days and Washington has focused both equally the business and its CEO Sergei Ivanov, who, the U.S. Treasury said, is reportedly 1 of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies.
In an emailed assertion to Reuters Wednesday, RJC chair David A. Bouffard, mentioned a third-celebration legal evaluation of Alrosa’s membership position, kicked off at the get started of the war, would be concluded “imminently”, noting the business “appreciates that the pace of this method may perhaps be frustrating.”
“We’re not attempting to make a statement per se, we are attempting to uphold the incredibly superior specifications we’ve been shaping more than final 15 many years. If RJC can not uphold maximum of criteria, then we can not be component of that. That is why we stepped down,” Richemont chief monetary officer Burkhart Grund reported of the luxurious group’s determination to go away the RJC.
Grund added that the luxurious group would search into how to certify its labels in purchase to reassure shoppers.
Richemont, which has suspended pursuits which includes e-commerce in Russia, also reported it has stopped sourcing diamonds from the nation considering the fact that Feb. 24.
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Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz and Mimosa Spencer, producing by Mimosa Spencer, Editing by Louise Heavens, William Maclean
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