Speaking during the Opening Ceremony of the 2026 CIBJO Congress, which began today in the Italian city of Vicenza, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri traced the development of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), which was first established as a European association in 1926.

Called the Bureau International de la Bijouterie, Orfèvrerie, Argenterie, and better known as or BIBOA, in its original form the association was made up of representatives of professional organisations from across the European continent, chambers of commerce and other affiliated associations. “It operated in a way not dissimilar to how CIBJO does today, establishing some of the world’s first unified trade rules for gemstone disclosure,” Dr. Cavalieri said. “It also established commissions dealing with precious metals, precious stones and pearls, and held congresses every two to three years.”

CIBJO in current, global structure was conceived of at a congress in Paris in June 1960, the CIBJO President said, and year later, in 1961, BIBOA was formally disbanded and restructured as the Confédération Internationale de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie, Orfèvrerie des Diamants, Perles et Pierres (CIBJO). New by-laws were adopted that opened membership beyond Europe, allowing nations from the Americas, Asia, Africa and Oceania to join the assembly.

Over the ensuing decades, CIBJO developed its renowned Blue Book system to advance the goal of universal standards and terminology in the jewellery industry.

“But CIBJO in 2026 is not just a standards-setting body, even though we take that role very seriously,” the CIBJO President stated. “More significant, most probably, is our status as the single jewellery-industry association encompassing the entire globe, as well as all the various supply chains—from mine to retail marketplace—in each of our industry’s component parts: coloured gemstones, diamonds, pearls, coral and other biogenic materials, and precious metals. We cover, in their entirety, an international business community whose total turnover in 2026 has been conservatively estimated at $250 billion, with more generous estimates putting it as high as $409 billion.”

“There is no organisation other than CIBJO capable of bringing so large and representative a body of industry representatives into one room, as we have done today,” Dr. Cavalieri told the almost 500 attendees at the Opening Ceremony. “Here in this theatre, you are joined by miners, both industrial and artisanal; pearl farmers; precious-coral harvesters; rough dealers; jewellery designers and manufacturers; wholesalers; independent retailers; world-renowned brands; and the full gamut of those who support them, including gemmological laboratories, technology companies, financiers and the media. You are all a snapshot of our great jewellery industry.”

The CIBJO President paid tribute the city of Vicenza, saying that there possible is no more fitting place to celebrate such a milestone occasion. “We are gathered today in a place where there is archaeological evidence that jewellery was being crafted as far back as the Eighth Century BC—meaning that the Veneto region has an unbroken connection with what we do stretching back at least 3,000 years,” he said.

He also thanked the congress host, the Italian Exhibition Group, and its president, Maurizio Ermetti, “for welcoming us into their home.”

“For our industry, this place is the modern embodiment of the ancient Roman Forum—the central meeting place where politicians, thinkers and businesspeople come together. It is a most fitting location for a CIBJO Congress,” he stated.