WORLDS APART WITH COMMONALITIES,
FROM AEROSPACE TO DIAMOND JEWELRY
‘Both the aerospace and defense and the jewelry sectors build things—and expensive ones, at that—which are built to last. Design and innovation drive the creation of new markets. Customers make purchases to convey devotion – be it to patriotism or a special person.’
Matthew Swibel is Vice President, Sustainability and Social Impact at Signet Jewelers, the only jewelry retailer named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies for 2025.
Aside from a grandfather that collected fine jewelry over a three-decade span, he had no connections to the jewelry or diamond sectors prior to joining Signet in 2023 from Lockheed Martin, the global defense technology company. There he had led enterprise risk management, sustainability and communications functions.
He began his career as a journalist, becoming Associate Editor of Forbes magazine, where he was recognized by the Overseas Press Club for his reporting from the Middle East, co-edited the World’s Billionaires issue and traveled with the U.S. Secretary of State.
MARCH 27, 2025
To the surprise of some, nearly two years ago I transitioned out of aerospace and defense industries and joined the jewelry business. I exited the senior leadership ranks of a global market leader for military systems and entered the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry. Quite a different career vector, or so it seemed.
Yet my decade of prior experience as a Forbes journalist compelled me to evaluate every facet of this new opportunity. Thus, I considered some of the recognizable commonalities: Both the aerospace and defense and the jewelry sectors build things—and expensive ones, at that—which are built to last. Design and innovation drive the creation of new markets. Customers make purchases to convey devotion – be it to patriotism or a special person.
The layers of similarities I’ve found since making this transition have surprised me. Both industry sectors serve a wide spectrum of stakeholder needs, risk broad suffering from ethical lapses by rogue actors and face changing rules of the game. Another shared dynamic at play is that to overcome slowing growth and profitability pressures, those companies in both industries that recognize how to move purpose to the core of their strategy—and backed by ethical leaders and investment—stand a better chance to stay relevant and sustain competitive advantage.
But the comparisons don’t end there. I’ve uncovered these other noteworthy likenesses:
The author began his professional career as a journalist at Forbes magazine, where as a possible precursor to the world of glitz and glamor in which he eventually would work, he wrote the cover story above in 2006.
Public-private partnerships
Flourishing 20th century democracies thought it smarter to invest in and effectively control the market for national defense arsenals, rather than risk a Tony Stark (of Marvel fame) scenario. For the United States and most of its allies, the What, Where, When and How of buying tools to defend their citizens involves plenty of rules and regulations—enough to keep thousands employed at multiple government agencies.
And in the diamond sector, a highly durable framework, the United Nation’s Kimberley Process (KP), effectively regulates the trading of rough diamonds. Rooted in clear purpose, the KP system prevents the shipment and sale of diamonds from areas controlled by forces or factions opposed to legitimate or internationally recognized governments. The KP’s age, efficacy and global membership stands out as perhaps the shiniest of any United Nations mandate from the same 2000 vintage—and its worthiness still underpins Signet’s four-layered approach to responsible sourcing.
But predictably, it has become routine for high-minded bureaucrats inside the glass houses of world capitals to criticize the KP for failing to eradicate malevolence from the entire diamond value chain. Based on my personal experience, I can hear how this echoes a similar refrain from those who blame defense contracting systems for perpetuating armed conflict.
Coffee diplomacy. The author, a member of WDC’s Kimberley Process Task Force, meeting the KP Chair Ahmed Bin Sulayem in Dubai in 2024.
Supply chain geo-clustering
Just like defense suppliers tend to form hubs based on capabilities (rockets in Alabama; satellites in Colorado), diamond and colored gemstone producers and manufacturers have established clusters based on their geography. Remarkably, this activity has led to transformative economic impact in producing countries like Botswana, brought a unifying identity to cities like Surat and Jaipur in India, and reshaped the value propositions of trading centers such as Dubai.
This also has meant that Signet needs to regularly analyze how to determine the priorities of stakeholders in these regions—and how these locales factor into the company’s holistic environmental and social impact. Valuing the environmental, human and social capital of a supply chain represents a hallmark of a purpose-driven strategy. It’s a big reason why the Signet cutting and polishing facility in Botswana now runs virtually entirely on solar energy generated onsite.
And since world events unfold every hour—creating new unmet needs, signaling shifts in resource availability—seeking to understand holistic impacts is a core tenet of Signet’s strategy, rather than an add-on that “creates shared value” or “gives back to the community.”
The author (left), together with a colleague from Signet Jewelers, during a visit to the Jwaneng diamond mine in Botswana.
Readiness to reinvent
The exquisite systems that allow man to maneuver an aircraft’s vertical landing on a carrier ship or a remote-controlled wheeled vehicle on the surface of Mars didn’t get made for innovation’s sake; they were invented because of redefined missions.
In my role at Signet, I’ve met some of the technologists and test-driven some of the innovative tools that are responding to trends in the jewelry sector. The manufacturing process has traditionally generated little waste because of the value of the materials involved. But new machine learning technology is becoming cost-effective to take waste-minimization to the next level—at a moment when harvesting all possible value comes at a premium.
At the same time, a new level of maturity for standards to create digital assets has prompted Signet and other retailers to develop completely new ways to build trust with customers through product transparency. Upgrading a product’s transparency features tends to motivate customers’ willingness to interact with it and, over time, increase the resonance of purpose throughout the value chain.
The author (left), together with Rep. Beth Van Duyne, a congresswoman representing the Texas congressional district that is home to Signet’s Zales Jewelers retail brand. As part of his role at the jewelry retailer, Matt has fostered bipartisan support on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., for key issues like retail crime prevention and enforceable diamond import restrictions.
The words of French writer Alphonse Karr, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same),” ring true for me. Whether you’re pushing a radar system or a radiant cut, as a leader one needs to regularly assess how well purpose influences business strategies—and strategies advanced by key public and private sector stakeholders.
And leaders need to possess the courage to recalculate impact formulas for the systems in which they operate, maintaining a keen focus on preparedness for change. I try hard to bring this mindset into every aspect of my new life in the jewelry sector, because I’m confident it will determine mission success.