CIBJO Congresses serves as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s Assembly of Delegates, and also the venue for the annual meetings of CIBJO’s sectoral commissions, where amendments can be introduced to the organisation’s definitive directories of international industry standards for diamonds, coloured stones, pearls, coral, gem labs and precious metals, known as the Blue Books. They are the events at which office holders and board members are elected.

CIBJO CONGRESSES 2004-2015 – Top row, from left: Bangkok, Thailand, 2004; Hong Kong, 2005; Vancouver, Canada, 2006; Cape Town, South Africa, 2007. Centre row, from left: Dubai, UAE, 2008; Istanbul, Turkey, 2009; Munich, Germany, 2010; Porto, Portugal, 2011. Bottom row, from left: Vicenza, Italy, 2012; Tel Aviv, Israel, 2013; Moscow, Russia, 2014; Salvador, Brazil, 2015.

CIBJO Congresses take place on average once a year, and are hosted by a member organisation, which most often is a national gemstone and jewellery association in the country where the member organisation is headquartered. The congress itself is held over three days, and is preceded by two days of steering committee meetings.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF) and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations is reported upon.

GUESTS OF HONOR AT CIBJO CONGRESSES (from left) – 2007: South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; 2009: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; 2014: Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.