The campaign includes imagery accompanied by the words 'love responsible jewellery' and 'love responsible watches.' The marketing materials are provided to certified retailers free of charge and are accompanied by a ‘communications kit’ offering guidance for jewellers for discussing topics such as sustainability with customers.
The RJC was founded in 2005 by 14 organisations from across the industry. Today, the RJC represents approximately 2,000 members from more than 70 different countries. With the Responsible Jewellery Council reaching its 20th anniversary, chairman Dave Meleski told Forbes that consumers are the ‘final piece in the puzzle.’
“In today’s marketplace, transparency and ethical practices are no longer optional; they are expected,” Meleski explained.
“Consumers want to understand the story behind their purchases: where materials come from, how they are sourced, and whether people and the planet are treated with respect throughout the process.”
Earlier this year, executive director Melanie Grant announced her resignation after a brief two-year stint at the organisation. Interim executive director John Hall told JCK Online that extending support to retailers was a logical next step for the RJC.
“We all understand that retailers are the front line of the industry. It makes sense that we give them some tools to explain to consumers what the RJC is about and why they’re members,” Hall said.
“We would like to have the RJC understood in the wider community, not just in the industry but in the consumer community. We see our retail members as the obvious pathway to do that. It’s more powerful for a retailer to talk to a consumer about the RJC than for us to do it because the retailers know how to talk to their customers.
“We produced this material to be useful to smaller retailers, who have less resources than the big companies. We’d like to have greater representation from the retail community, in the US particularly.”
As the report noted, very few of the RJC’s members are retailers, and Hall said the organisation hoped this campaign would encourage more to join.
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