Do my eyes deceive me or are jewellery houses entering their athletics era? No, your eyes do not as they indeed are. As a matter of fact, they have been for a while. It is no secret that the global sports sector rakes in billions of dollars in revenue each year as fans invest money to watch their favourite teams duking it out on the field. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in 2022, for instance, recorded around five billion people across the media universe engaging with its tournament content.
With all the eyeballs these sporting events have on them, it only makes sense for megacorps to want a piece of the pie. But is the jewellery-sports relationship strictly business? Not quite. Chopard’s enduring partnership with 1000 Miglia, an open-road motorsport race in Italy, was born out of co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele’s own passion for classic cars. He has even completed the race, together with former motorsports racing driver and long-time friend Jacky Ickx about a dozen times since 1989.
The same case can be made for Cartier. Its 40-year alliance with England’s Guards Polo Club and 12 with the Queen’s Cup, which predates the social media influence and is indifferent to mass viewerships, attest to its fondness of polo. But that is not to say there’s no return on investment inbound. It is, after all, the sport of kings, so affluent spectators who have the means to live the Cartier lifestyle are all but guaranteed to be in attendance. Its exclusivity not only resonates with the brand but communicates it to others.
While Cartier subtly taps into its potential clientele, another Parisian house takes an approach that is more… head-on. Established just last year, the collaboration between Fred and the Roland-Garros tournament, better known as the French Open, has resulted in new additions to its sporty Force 10 range. The latest cable bracelets express the tournament’s aesthetic, especially with the engraved tennis ball motif on the side of the buckle and the terracotta-coloured garnet symbolic of the tennis courts on the back.
Another jewellery brand that is entering the field is Chaumet. Taking up the challenge by its parent company LVMH, who is the creative partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2024, the Parisian house has designed the medals to reward the winning athletes. Taking inspiration from the city as well as its own history, Chaumet brings into play familiar elements including genuine pieces of iron from the Eiffel Tower, saved during the renovation of the landmark, that are incorporated at the centre of the medals.
It is somewhat the same modus operandi that has been applied at Tiffany & Co. for aeons. With over 65 varieties of trophies that it crafts for various events each year, the American jeweller has been an unlikely omnipresent force in the sports segment. One of its most significant creations to date is none other than the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the Super Bowl. Its long-standing connection to the American football championship, which began in 1967, has accorded it the kind of visibility that goes beyond the limit of a window display.
A sign of things to come, these jewellery-sport crossovers prove that opposites do attract. It is a formidable effort to diversify one’s audience—who wouldn’t want to tap into the massive platform that pulled in 123 million viewers, the biggest television event since the moon landing, just this year?—and a great way to celebrate the values of excellence and precision shared by both industries. Bridging the realm of jewellery with that of sport is no longer a tall order; the key is to find the perfect match.