Sourcing and Sustainability

David Webb New York is working actively to develop and maintain a responsible, fully sustainable supply chain for each of its many exquisite creations.

Among the vast variety of materials in David Webb jewels, corals feature extensively in the collections. David Webb New York firmly believes in the preservation of precious corals and the maintenance of healthy marine ecosystems. As such, David Webb New York exclusively uses coral that was harvested from the wild, prior to the signing of CITES in 1979, and is defined as “Pre-Convention” under the 1973 / 1979 CITES and its corollaries. David Webb New York does not acquire or work with any new growth coral. 

Throughout his career and prior to his death in 1975, David Webb accumulated an extensive reserve of rock coral, which we continue to set in David Webb jewels to this day. As the stock of antique coral acquired prior to David Webb’s passing is a finite collection, we carefully choose each piece that will be utilized in the jewelry we handcraft at our Madison Avenue headquarters and workshop — enhancing the timelessness of each piece of coral jewelry created. 

Today, additional coral acquired by the House is typically bought through the secondary market and antique dealers. We repurpose 18th and 19th century materials, such as old bead necklaces, carving them into beautiful shapes to be set in David Webb jewelry designs. 

David Webb New York works closely with the US Fish & Wildlife service, alongside notable marine biologists, to confirm that all of the House’s coral meets and exceeds all available standards for sustainability.