With the 2021 Virtual CIBJO Congress already underway, the eighth of this year’s CIBJO Special Reports has been released. Prepared by CIBJO’s Coloured Stone Commission, headed by Charles Abouchar, the report looks at issues related to ethical sourcing, and how the principles of responsible supply chain management can be implemented without disenfranchising artisanal and small-scale miners, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

For the first time in its 95-year history, CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has launched its annual congress online rather than in a physical location, with an Opening Ceremony followed by a session of the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Commission, during which a strong emphasis was placed on the jewellery industry’s obligations to society and the environment.

With fewer than four weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the fifth of this year’s CIBJO Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO’s new Technology Committee, headed by Stephane Fischler, the report focuses on disruptive technological breakthroughs in the jewellery and gemstone industry and trade, for which in the words of the author “it is possible to talk about the way things were before the innovation and how they were afterwards.”

With less than one week to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the seventh of this year’s CIBJO Special Reports has been released. Prepared by CIBJO’s Pearl Commission, headed by Kenneth Scarratt, the report provides a broad overview of an industry that has been dealing with the dual challenges of COVID-19 and climate change for the past two years, with perspectives from Australia, Indonesia, French Polynesia, Mexico, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

With fewer than two weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the sixth of this year’s CIBJO Special Reports has been released. Prepared by CIBJO’s Gemmological Commission, headed by Hanco Zwaan, the report focuses on two issues, namely the establishment of criteria for defining gem variety names, and the creation of an international set of standards, practices and nomenclature for the mainly jade and jadeite gem materials referred to as Fei Cui.

CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri has described to an audience of business and industry leaders meeting in the Italian capital of Rome, as well as online, the current and potential role of the jewellery industry as a catalyst for the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With fewer than five weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the fourth of this year’s CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Diamond Commission, headed by Udi Sheintal, the report focuses on a three-part process to establish comprehensive standards for diamonds through the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). This is a project in which CIBJO has been closely involved.

Entitled “Trading Pearls Online: Why, How, and the Consequences,” the Jewellery Industry Webinar on October 7, 2021, will examine the impact of online trading in the pearl sector.

With fewer than six weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the third of this year’s CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission, headed by Huw Daniel, the report reviews the year in the gold, platinum, palladium and silver markets and looks at how they fared in a world economy in the shadow of a pandemic.