| Industry | Jewellers |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1989, in Bali, Indonesia |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong |
| Key people | Damien Dernoncourt, CEO Guy Bedarida, Head Designer and Creative Director John Hardy, Founder |
| Products | Jewelry |
| Website | www.johnhardy.com |
John Hardy is a jewelry and home accessories company. Founded by John Hardy in 1989, the company is headquartered in Hong Kong, has its production center in Bali and has a satellite office in New York. The company is known for its environmental conservation activism, particularly through the planting of bamboo to offset its carbon emissions, its use of recycled silver and its support of environmentally focused charities. It markets itself as a “sustainable luxury” brand.[1]
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John Hardy jewelry [2] was founded by Canadian designer and artist, John Hardy, in 1989. He visited Bali in the mid-1970s and the island's jewelry-making traditions raised his interest. [3] He began learning the techniques of the local artisans then developed his first pieces by applying new design concepts to traditional Balinese techniques.
In 1999, Guy Bedarida joined the company as Head Designer and changed Hardy’s design concepts to include the use of classical European jewelry techniques and new motifs inspired by nature and ancient East Asian art styles and themes[4].
In 2007, then CFO of Asia and current company CEO, Damien Dernoncourt, and Head Designer and Creative Director, Bedarida, purchased the company from Hardy.[5]
Today, John Hardy jewelry is sold in the USA (distributed by Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and independent retailers, Asia (distributed by Lane Crawford in China and Hong Kong and distributed by Isetan in Japan), the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi), Europe (distributed by Le Bon Marche in Paris and by Net-A-Porter and Harrods in the UK ), and the Caribbean (distributed by independent retailers).
1975: John Hardy moves to Bali and studies Balinese jewelry making techniques.[6]
1989: Hardy founds the company.[7]
1991: John Hardy launches its collections at Neiman Marcus.
1992: John Hardy launches its collections at Saks Fifth Avenue.
1992: John Hardy introduces its Home and Lifestyle collection.
1999: Bedarida, a senior designer of haute joaillerie of the Place Vendôme, joins the company as Head Designer.[8]
2002: John Hardy launches "Cinta by John Hardy" in the US, a collection of one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces.[9]
2003: Damien Dernoncourt joins the company as CFO of Asia.[10]
2006: Launch of "Sustainable Advertising" project. The company begins to offset the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its print advertising and business travel.[11]: giving back to nature when spending resources for business[12]
2007: John Hardy retires and sells the company to Dernoncourt and Bedarida.[13]
2008: The Company begins to compensate carbon emissions from its electricity usage through its 'Greener Every Day program.'[14]
2010: John Hardy launches in the UK at Harrods.
2010: Model Angela Lindvall collaborates with Bedarida to design the Hijau collection.
2010: Launch of the John Hardy Online Boutique.
2010: The company donates 600,000 bamboo seedlings to the Bali Green and Clean event.
John Hardy jewelry is known for its designs in sterling silver [15] and for using modern methods to create the look of traditional Balinese jewelry-making techniques such as rantai (woven chain), tenun (woven mesh), jawan (granulation) and ukiran (cut work).[16] The rantai technique is employed for bracelets and necklaces woven in a process that may take several days. After being woven, the pieces are shaped and annealed by heating and hammering then finished with clasps in signature motifs or gemstones [17]. The ukiran technique is used to cut out abstract and figurative designs in the metal to add a back grill – a cut work on the inner surface of the jewelry. The tenun technique is used to weave the metal into a fine mesh or complex chains and the and the jawan technique is used to flatten and smooth it.
Bedeg Cuff being drawn in the initial creative stages.
Classic Chain being woven using the rantai technique.
Firing of a Naga ring in the final stages of crafting.
“Greener Every Day” is a company slogan used to summarize and describe its efforts to be a “green” company (eventually become carbon neutral) and its encouragement of others companies and individuals to set similar goals.
In 2006, it began to offset the carbon emissions from its print advertising, business travel and electricity consumption. [18] It does so by planting bamboo [19] on Bali and Nusa Penida, a small island off the coast of Bali. Through its ‘Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo’ program,[20] a portion of the proceeds from the sale of its Bamboo collection items are used to fund the company’s continuous bamboo plantings.[21]
In 2010 John Hardy pledge 600,000 bamboo seedlings, paid for with the funds raised by the Wear Bamboo, Plant Bamboo program, to Bali Green and Clean, a program dedicated to repairing environmental damage on the island. In April 2011 the planting of the seedlings was completed.
In 2009 model Angela Lindvall visited the John Hardy compound in Bali and met Bedarida. They found they shared a similar design aesthetic and held similar values regarding environmental conservation and subsequently collaborated to design a collection of silver and gold bamboo inspired pieces called the Hijau Collection.[6] All proceeds from the sale of a particular bracelet in the collection were donated to ForestEthics, an NGO dedicated to protecting endangered forest and wildlife. At the same time, Lindvall was hired to become the “face” of John Hardy, appearing in all advertising campaigns since, the latest being the company’s Fall 2011 campaign. In early 2011 Lindvall and Bedarida created the Hijau Dua Collection together as a continuation of the Hijau collection. A portion of the proceeds from the collection’s sale are used to plant bamboo in Bali.
In 2009 the Jobs for Life program was established by the company to aid underserved Balinese children in the completion of their education. The program provides children from the local community with the means to complete their secondary education, which is not universally provided by the Indonesian government, and vocational training in design, Internal Technology, Human Resources and Culinary Arts at the John Hardy compound. As of mid-2011, the Jobs for Life program is a publicly registered charity.