CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri delivered his opening address to the CIBJO Congress, underlining the importance of the association to the global trade as it approaches its centenary.

“Ninety-nine years ago, in this very city, a group of jewellery industry leaders from countries across Europe gathered to establish a forum in which they could discuss common issues. It was called BIBOA, and its stated mission was to represent and advance the interests of the jewellery trade on the continent,” Dr. Cavalieri said.

“What these early pioneers sought to do, was to unite jewellers, beadmakers and ornament manufacturers from multiple countries, to promote craftsmanship and industry standards. “

With master diamond cutters in cities like Antwerp and Amsterdam, gemstone polishers in Idar Oberstein, goldsmiths and jewellery makers in Pforzheim, Valenza and Vicenza, and a host of other towns and cities in Germany and Italy, watch makers in Switzerland, and the finest and most influential jewellery maisons right here in Paris, they understood then that our strength as an industry would be decided by our ability to create systems by which we could communicate and work together.

“Thirty five years after the establishment of BIBOA, in 1961, the European organisation became a global one,” Dr. Cavalieri said. “In so doing, it changed to what we today call CIBJO, or the World Jewellery Confederation.

“But the roots of CIBJO remain firmly French, for the original name is an acronym for “Confédération International de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie, Orfèvrerie des Diamants, Perles et Pierres.”

“I wonder whether those founders would ever have imagined that 99 years later the organisation that they mapped out would be meeting here in Paris, this time bringing together hundreds of people from our industry, from around the world,” Dr. Cavalieri added.

“What’s remarkable is that a good number of the goals and objectives that they put on their agenda in 1926 remain on our agenda today.

“We begin this morning the celebration of the start of CIBJO’s 100th year, and there is no more fitting a place to do that than in Paris, the city where it all began.

“This was supposed to have been a shorter congress, three days instead of five, as a precursor to our 100-year event, which is scheduled to take place next  year in Vicenza.

“When I first spoke to Bernadette Pinet, the wonderful Executive President of UFBJOP, our hosts in Paris today, we both understood the significance of beginning the Centenary Year right here.”

Not only has France been part of this confederation from day 1, but it is where the Confederation’s institutional memory is stored, in the archives of UFBJOP.

Some of those records will be made available for people to see later today.

“When registration for this year’s congress was opened in early June, it immediately became apparent that this would not be a conventional event.

“The numbers of people signing up ran higher than they had for previous congresses, and as time moved on the pace of people registering increased significantly,” Mr Cavalieri said.

“Now, I honestly believe that the public response to this year’s congress is testimony to the role that CIBJO has always played in the greater jewellery industry.

“CIBJO is serving as the primary forum for our worldwide community to come together and discuss issues of common concern—the jewellery industry’s parliament, if you will.

“But I am also fully aware that the attraction of attending a CIBJO Congress in Paris was for many people absolutely irresistible. This stunningly beautiful Ville Lumière –was the epicentre of the age of Enlightenment in the 17th/18th centuries.

“This name was also given to Paris in the 19th Century, when it became the first metropolitan area in Europe to use gas street lighting.

“Paris embodies so much of this aesthetic and creative spirit that we strive to inject into the jewellery we produce.

“On behalf of all of us, I would like to thank UFBJOP President Daniel Cambour, Executive President Bernadette Pinet, the very talented, Executive Director Laurence Chevillon, as well as the staff of UFBJOP, for enabling us to be here today.

As I said, the number of people gathered in this auditorium today is testament of the role and status that CIBJO has earned over the past 99 years.”

“What is CIBJO today?” Dr. cavalieri asked.

“We are the only international body that draws together all sectors of the greater jewellery industry, and in each of them from the mine, ocean floor or manufacturing facility to the retail jeweller. We provide the single forum where all players from wherever they are located on the face of this earth can discuss and debate common issues and consider solutions and strategies. In an industry where every finished product involves multiple supply chains that criss-cross the world, CIBJO is an essential asset.

“Because of this structure, CIBJO is formally recognised as the greater jewellery’s representative by the United Nations, and we have held special consultative status in its Economic and Social Council since 2006.

“CIBJO has for many years served as the international industry primary developer of harmonised standards, working principles and nomenclature, which are contained in our Blue Books and guides. These have been adopted as national standards in various countries, and also served as a basis for the only three ISO diamond standards ever to be approved by the International Organisation for Standardization.

“In the industry CIBJO has played a key role promoting socially and environmentally responsible and sustainable standards, by developing guides and tools for all industry players, which are made available at no cost whatsoever.

“CIBJO has become a major player in the area of industry education, with the goal of nurturing the next generations of jewellery industry professionals, who are ethical, properly informed, and forward looking, while at the same learning and preserving the heritage and skills of those generations came before them.”

The CIBJO President paid tribute to the major brands, many of whose representatives were present in the hall.