The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) will hold its 2026 annual congress in Vicenza, Italy, from September 4 to September 7. The milestone event has been declared the Centenary Congress, and it will mark 100 years since CIBJO’s establishment.

The 2026 Congress will take place at the Fiera di Vicenza, during the VICENZAORO jewellery show. It will be hosted by the Italian Exhibition Group, the organizer of the VICENZAORO shows every January and September, as well as the T Gold and Oroarezzo shows in Italy and JGTD | Jewellery Gem & Technology in Dubai.

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s Assembly of Delegates, and they are also the venue for the annual meetings of CIBJO’s sectoral commissions, where amendments can be introduced to the organization’s definitive directories of international industry standards for diamonds, coloured stones, pearls, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also the programmes of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF) are reported on, as well as activities related to CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations.

CIBJO was founded in Paris in 1926 as BIBOA, an organization whose mission was to represent and advance the interests of the jewellery trade in Europe. It was restructured in its current form in 1961 as the Confédération International de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie, Orfèvrerie des Diamants, Perles et Pierres, with a global rather than a continental focus. It remains the international jewellery industry’s primary forum and decision-making body, uniting under one umbrella all its various participants – vertically, from mine to retail, and horizontally within each of the component sectors in the various production, manufacturing and trading centres. 

“The 2026 congress will celebrate not only CIBJO, but also the jewellery community in its entirety,” said CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri. “And it’s most appropriate that this will happening it Vicenza, the beating heart of the Italian jewellery industry, which in turn is the trend maker, intellectual trust and keeper of the flame of our glorious industry.”

Registration for the 2026 Centenary CIBJO Congress will the managed via a dedicated website, which will be launched shortly.