For the first time ever, watches made with Fairmined gold from Peru were presented to the world, when Chopard earlier this week unveiled their new “L.U.C Tourbillon Qualité Fleurier Fairmined” watch at the leading watch and jewelry industry event Baselworld 2014 in Basel, Switzerland. The watches are made with Fairmined gold from the mining organizations AURELSA and SOTRAMI in Peru.

“This is a significant milestone for the Fairmined initiative because it now opens up a new market segment for the certified Fairmined miners.  The luxury watch sector is a significant consumer of gold and can also offer increased visibility and awareness among consumers.” said Kenneth Porter from the Fairmined Unit at the Alliance for Responsible Mining.

Since 2013, the Alliance for Responsible Mining, Chopard and the local support organization, ASOMIRCOL, have collaborated on a project supporting the Coodmilla cooperative, located in the Nariño Department of Colombia, to achieve Fairmined certification.  Chopard has also committed to purchase a substantial part of the cooperative’s output and will continue to do so once the Fairmined standards have been met. Chopard has set itself the target of buying a significant percentage of its gold form other Fairmined gold stocks and is also taking an interest in other cooperatives in South America, with a view to supporting them in achieving Fairmined certification.

Photo: Chopard