Material Comfort

Having ensured that the gold it uses is fully traceable, Chopard now sets its sights on greening its stainless steel - and its celebrity fans are on board.

- LYNETTE KOH

For superstar Julia Roberts, there is an unexpected upside to working with Swiss jewellery and watch brand Chopard: In the eyes of her three teenage children, it makes her cooler. During a Chopard press conference at Watches & Wonders, a major watch fair that took place in Geneva in March, the celebrated actress shared how Chopard’s sustainable practices had attracted her to the brand. Referring to Gen Z’s well-documented awareness of environmental issues, Roberts added, “My street cred really goes up with my kids.”

Her partnership with Chopard began in 2021, when she first starred in campaigns for the Happy Sport and Happy Diamonds collections. Seated between Chopard co-presidents and siblings Caroline and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Roberts recalled how Chopard was one of the pioneering, sustainably minded luxury brands, having embarked on its ethical gold initiative in 2013. “They’re forerunners… One of the things that attracted me, to begin with, was how they completely revamped their gold practices. That is something I was aware of before our partnership came to pass.”