Elle USA - 09.2019

FRONT ROW

CONSERVATION

What does the ocean have to do with diamonds? For

Tiffany & Co., preserving the marine environment is

all part of the process. By Véronique Hyland

Into the Blue

n the middle of the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Madagascar,

lies the tiny island of Mauritius. Encircling it like a necklace

is one of the world’s largest coral reefs, which, like coral reefs

everywhere, is under threat from warming oceans. Over the

last few decades, Mauritius’s beaches have shrunk by 65 feet, in part

because of damage to its reefs.

The country is also home to one of Tiffany & Co.’s diamond polish-

ing operations: The stones are flown in from Antwerp and perfected

there. Technicians examine them under a microscope and polish them

using a machine that looks very much like a record player (if it had a

diamond where the needle is). Given that the island is so important to

the process, one of the aims of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, the jewelry

house’s charitable arm, is to protect its coral reefs and marine biodi-

versity. (In 2004, the company stopped selling coral jewelry for ethical

reasons. “We just don’t think there’s any way to responsibly harvest it,”

says Andy Hart, senior vice president of diamond and jewelry supply.)

The jeweler has long made transparency and social responsibility a

priority. At the beginning of this year, it announced its Diamond Source

Initiative, which will note the country of origin for all “individually

registered diamonds” (those 0.18 carats and larger). These include the

THE ISLAND OF MAURITIUS.

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MARTIN CROOK

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