In the middle of the Indian Ocean, off Madagascar, is the small island of Mauritius. Encircling it like a necklace is one of the world’s largest coral reefs, which, like coral reefs everywhere, is threatened by warming oceans. Over the past few decades, Mauritius’ beaches have shrunk by 65 feet, in part due to damage to its reefs.
The country is also home to one of Tiffany & Co.’s diamond polishing operations: the stones are flown from Antwerp and further refined there. Technicians examine them under a microscope and polish them using a machine that looks a lot like a turntable (if it had a diamond where the needle is). Since the island is so important to the process, one of the goals of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, the charitable arm of the jewelry house, is to protect its coral reefs and marine biodiversity. (In 2004, the company stopped selling coral jewelry for moral reasons. “We just don’t think there is a way to responsibly harvest it,” says Andy Hart, senior vice president of the diamonds and jewelry supply.)
The jeweler has long made social responsibility and transparency a priority. Earlier this year, it announced its Diamond Source initiative, which will indicate the country of origin of all “individually registered diamonds” (those 0.18 carats and above). These include the new Tiffany True diamonds, the majority of which are polished in Mauritius. While Tiffany’s commitment to preserving the island’s coral reefs has nothing technically to do with diamond production, Anisa Kamadoli Costa, the brand’s sustainability manager, explains that everything is linked. “People want to keep things in mind: ‘It’s an environmental issue; it is a social problem.’ But in real there are very less issues where it is not both. If we don’t take care of the oceans, we cannot take care of the local communities that make a living from the fishing economy.” Not to mention the non-human species they support. She explains, “Coral is known as the nursery of the oceans because it is home to hundreds of thousands of species.” It’s not hard to imagine that the damage to the reefs could threaten the entire future of the island.
It was founded in the year 2000, the Tiffany & Co. Foundation awarded its first grant to support coral and sea conservation. Since then, it has awarded more than $20 million in grants to the cause, funds which we badly need. As Kamadoli Costa points out, only 1% of philanthropic funding for the environment goes to the oceans, despite the fact that they cover three quarters of the globe and play such an important role in cooling the planet and seizing carbon.
When the company introduced the Tiffany True diamond in fall 2018, it was its first new engagement ring size in nearly a decade. Each stone is laser engraved with a serial number that traces its provenance. Hart says this idea doesn’t come from survey data on millennials and their need for socially responsible products. He says, “We’ve been working on this since before millennials were millennials, before they consumed.” Next year, the company will start sharing even more about its diamonds, educating the public on the details of the manufacturing process. As Hart says, “I’m delighted to share anything about our diamonds with anyone.”
