OCTOBER 27, 2021

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.

“For while the molluscs remain blissfully unaware of the situation and continue their nacre production come what may, travel restrictions, both local and international, along with compliant social distancing, have resulted in many members of staff not being able to get to, or having been stuck on farms for long periods,” writes Mr. Scarratt, relating about the effects on the industry of the global pandemic.

Global warming and its effects on the ocean is also a massive challenge to the pearling sector, and is an issue that is related to by contributor Pierre Fallourd, who provides insight on the subject from the perspective of the Australian industry. “Extreme sea level events, which previously occurred once in 100 years will be happening every year by the end of this century,” he writes.

“Ocean acidification, shifts in marine currents and nutrients flows, as well as extreme weather occurrences, directly challenge nacre growth productivity, resulting in smaller pearls and longer cultivation time,” he continues.

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s global membership, and are 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, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.

To download a full copy of the CIBJO Pearl Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

OCTOBER 20, 2021

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.

As Mr. Zwaan reports, a new Committee on Varietal Names was established after the last CIBJO Congress, which took place in Bahrain in 2019, under the auspices of the Gemmological Commission Steering Committee. It has already produced a preliminary draft of a document listing gem materials and definitions, which will be presented and discussed during the Gemmological Commission’s online session on November 3, as part of the upcoming CIBJO Congress.

Fei Cui, which is a trade name predominantly used in Asian countries, is associated with the minerals jadeite, omphacite and kosmochlor, and represents a jewellery category that has an annual global net worth second only to diamonds. In its respect, CIBJO has set up a working group that is charged with creating universally accepted standards, practices and nomenclature, building upon the body of work already carried out by the Gemmological Association of Hong Kong (GAHK), the National Gem Testing Centre of Beijing and others.

“CIBJO is interested in sending a signal that it is also keen to address issues that are mainly relevant in non-Western countries,” Mr. Zwaan writes.

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s global membership, and are 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, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.

To download a full copy of the CIBJO Gemmological Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

OCTOBER 6, 2021

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.”

As Mr. Fischler notes, for much of its history disruptive technological breakthroughs were concentrated in jewellery’s mining and manufacturing sectors, whereas the wholesale and retail trades continued to operate according to tried and proven business models. That began to shift with the growth of the Internet as a sales tool and the start of social media marketing, but even then many remained apprehensive because of uncertainty whether consumers were ready to purchase high-priced items online. However, 2020 and the start of the global pandemic proved to be a gamechanger. “With trading establishments intermittently prevented from opening their doors because of COVID-19 lockdowns and, even when they were not, restricted in the number of people they could permit on their premises, online marketing and sales capacity became a necessity, rather than an alternative for the more tech-savvy,” he writes.

The changes taking place in the trade, and particularly at the retail level, have turned consumer data into one the industry’s most valued commodities, Mr. Fischler states. For an organisation like CIBJO, which is concerned with global practices, this raises new questions. “Standards need to be created for how [data] is handled. How should it be securely stored, analysed and ultimately used? These are discussions taking place across the tech-world, and issues of controversy confounding the industry, the public and government regulators,” he writes.

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s global membership, and are 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, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.

To download a full copy of the CIBJO Technology Committee’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

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.

As Mr. Sheintal recalls in the report, the first breakthrough in the process occurred in 2015, when ISO published International Standard 18323, which specified a set of permitted descriptors for the diamond industry that are meant to be unequivocally understood by consumers. It clarified that that “the denomination ‘diamond’ without further specification always implies ‘natural diamond.’”

The second milestone was registered in September 2020, when ISO published International Standard 24016, specifying the terminology, classification and the methods to be used for the grading and description of single unmounted polished diamonds over 0.25 carats in weight. The third part of the process is currently underway, and once complete will result in International Standard 6893. It will detail methods and terminology for the quality control of diamonds of 0.25 carats and less.

The convener of the CEN 410 Working Group, which prepared the European standard that ISO adopted unchanged to create EN ISO 18323 in 2015 was Harry Levy, Vice President of the CIBJO Diamond Commission, to whom there is special tribute in the report. The convener of TC174 Working Group 2 both for International Standard 18323 and now for the prospective International Standard 6893 is Jean-Pierre Chalain, the Diamond Commission’s other Vice President.

“When International Standard 6893 is eventually published by ISO, a complete set of standards for the diamond industry will have been achieved, a truly historic accomplishment,” Mr. Sheintal writes in the report. “But since standards are enforced at the country level, the most desirable consequence would be that these international standards would be used to create equivalent national standards.”

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s global membership, and are 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, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.

To download a full copy of the CIBJO Diamond Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

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.

“In many ways the pandemic has simply accentuated the roles these metals have always played in providing a safe haven to investors,” Mr. Daniel wrote. “Yet, we also see new trends emerging in new applications, with new gold and platinum jewellery alloys that are pushing the boundaries of design, ensuring their precious allure will continue to capture the eyes and hearts of a new generation of consumers.”

In general, all four precious metal markets experienced robust sales, with prices rebounding from the lows they had experienced during the disruptive turmoil of 2020. Because all four metals are considered safe haven investment assets, they experienced what appeared to be a temporary dip in value following a meeting in July of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), where the possibility of tapering, or a reduction in the pace of monthly bond purchases, was discussed.

A clear factor in creating robust market conditions was the strong recovery in jewellery demand, and innovation in the development of new products and the savvy use of social media marketing. The result of these innovations in China, writes Mr. Daniel, “has been to revitalize sales of pure gold (23 and 24 karat) at the expense of 18K gold, as new levels of hardness permit greater design innovation at these more attractive purity levels.”

The CIBJO Precious Metals Commission President also noted a growing tendency by both government and NGOs to maintain close scrutiny over supply chain integrity. He points to the upcoming review of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission of its Green Guides, scheduled for next year. “The Green Guides regulate environmental claims made across industries, not just in jewellery – and the FTC’s revision process will be the source of any changes it makes going forward,” he notes.

CIBJO congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s global membership, and are 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, gem labs, precious metals, coral and responsible sourcing, known as the Blue Books.

The CIBJO Congress is also where the programme of World Jewellery Confederation Education Foundation (WJCEF), relating to responsible and sustainable activities in the industry and CIBJO’s ongoing cooperation with the United Nations and its development programme is reported upon.

To download a full copy of the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.