Prada makes history with first-ever fine jewellery collection
"Jewellery is emotional," Timothy Iwata Durie, Prada's new jewellery director, tells me. We're speaking in Milan at the launch of Eternal Gold, the Italian fashion house's first fine jewellery collection – a line of luxurious, artisanal pieces made from recycled gold. "Our aim is to create an emotional journey – particularly through the made-to-order pieces – one that can continue throughout the lives [of our clients] and be passed on to their children."
The collection is not only notable for being Prada's fine jewellery debut, but also for marking the first time a global brand has been able to guarantee that 100 per cent of the gold used in each piece is recycled and responsibly sourced. As such, the line has been more than three years in the making; sustainability is a notoriously slow business.
"It's not because it's fashionable," Iwata Durie says. "The idea of sustainability is embedded into Prada's DNA." Indeed, the brand has been publishing sustainability reports for the past 10 years. The concept behind the Eternal Gold collection was inspired by Prada's innovative Re-Nylon fabric (a regenerated nylon textile created from the purification of plastic waste, which can be endlessly recycled without loss of quality), ensuring the best possible sustainability practices across every stage of the production and supply chain. "It's 100 per cent certified recycled gold," he emphasises, explaining that this involves working with suppliers that are registered and certified by the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC). "It means that they meet the highest standards in the jewellery industry in environmental protection, labour safety, human rights and business ethics." Prada also did due diligence on their part too, visiting the supplier facilities to ensure that they had the processes in place to separate the recycled gold from the mined gold, because "people mix them a lot more often than you might think".
The gold used in the jewellery comes from a variety of sources, including electronic parts like smart-phone circuit boards, which are melted down. "Our lifestyles generate a lot of electronic waste," he says. "And [those electronic products include] 24-karat gold, the purest kind."
A few of the pieces also feature 'snow setting' pavé diamonds (so-called because they have the appearance of glistening like snow), which also have to meet similarly high standards – something which is notoriously hard when dealing with such tiny stones. "There's a lot of source-mixing in the supply chain; it's been a known issue in the industry for a long time," says Iwata Durie. "We are the first global brand to provide full transparency on every single diamond. It's difficult, but we knew it had to be done so we took our time. This part of the process takes much longer than the design and development."
The aim here was to help drive change across the industry as a whole, not just for the Prada consumer. Pavé diamonds (under 0.5 carats), are estimated to account for around 80 per cent of luxury jewellery consumption in terms of quantity, "so imagine the impact if we can really tackle this issue," he adds. "Transparency is the foundation of sustainability. By being transparent, by giving out information, we can all do better." As such, each piece of jewellery comes with an electronic card that, when tapped with your phone, allows you to verify the authenticity and sustainability credentials – from supplier details to the RJC certification. "The intention is really to engage in a conversation that invites our clients to be educated about the impact of jewellery."
The concept of transformation extends from the recycling of gold through to the design of the jewellery; many of the pieces can be worn in more than one way – a choker-style chain can be extended to become a longer sautoir necklace, logos can be hidden or displayed with a swivel, a pendant can change shape with a click – giving classic styles an unexpected twist.
"This idea of revisiting classic shapes and giving them contemporary meaning is exactly the approach we took and applied in jewellery," says Iwata Durie. "So at my first meeting sitting down with Raf [Simons] and Mrs Prada, [we asked] what is jewellery? Why do people buy jewellery? What is timelessness? What are the classics? What are the archetypes? And what is our voice, our contemporary lens, that makes them relevant in today's world?"
The resulting pieces were created with the future in mind; designed to be kept and worn forever, and passed down through generations – an extension of Prada's fashion design ethos – and three modern-day icons were enlisted to feature in the accompanying campaign: the poet Amanda Gorman, the actress Maya Hawke and the model Somi Jeon.
At the core of the collection is the instantly recognisable Prada triangle – originally used as a mark of luxury by the brand's founder, Mario Prada – alongside heart motifs, snake-inspired designs, chains and velvet ribbons, all signifiers of life, affection and love. But ultimately, gold is the focus – a timeless and ancient material that can be recycled and cherished forever; something truly eternal.
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