NOVEMBER 4, 2021

CIBJO’s Precious Metals Commission met in formal session at the 2021 Virtual CIBJO Congress on November 3, 2021. The meeting on Zoom was moderated by Commission President Huw Daniel, assisted by Vice Presidents Karina Ratzlaff and Sara Yood, Deputy General Gounsel of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) in the United States.

Mr. Daniel led a thorough exploration of the main issues affecting the worldwide precious metals trade, from developments in the ethical and legal arenas, to sustainable development, an update on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s guides as well as the FTC’s decision to reduce gold purity below 10 karats, the review process in Europe regarding silver toxicity, and gold hallmarking in India.

The meeting began with Ms. Yood speaking on the “Changing Legal and Ethical Landscape” and the implications for how precious metals are labelled and marketed. She said governmental bodies have increasingly been focusing on mineral supply chains during the past several years due to anti-money laundering and terrorist financing risks, but also because of  an identified reluctance by governments in some countries to respect tribal land and prevent mining in those areas.

“The U.S. Treasury Department is very focused on supply chains and how illegal activity can run through them,” she commented.

She then spoke about the increased reliance of firms in the jewellery supply chain on recycled metal. She also mentioned the issue of some countries dominating the supply chain for minerals, such as China with cobalt, has pushed the new Biden Administration to look closely at how the United States can reduce its reliance on these supply chains.

Philip Olden, President of the CIBJO  Responsible Sourcing Commission, then spoke on the evolution of responsible sourcing to sustainable development and CIBJO’s response on the issue. He said use of the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Blue Book (CLICK TO DOWNLOAD), and more recently the Responsible Sourcing Tool Kit (CLICK TO ACCESS DEDICATED WEBSITE)that was introduced earlier this year should be encouraged. CIBJO now provides all the tools needed by firms to ensure that they are not aiding illicit trade in precious metals, he commented. “All national associations should ensure members are using and reviewing the resources. The Responsible Sourcing Blue Book has been the most reviewed of CIBJO’s Blue Books.”

Other developments mentioned by Olden included updates by industry bodies, such as the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), relating to silver and gold refiners which must adhere to the LBMA’s standards and correct management of internal bullion centres. “The LBMA recognises ongoing reports from civil society groups, the media and the Financial Action Task Force on the use of gold in particular, but also other precious metals in the funding of terrorism and illicit trading. We must support the work of these trade associations aiming to eliminate such activity,” he stated.

Mr. Olden also spoke about the pressures on the mining industry, which will find it increasingly difficult to secure financing, particularly for miners of minerals from which discretionary products are made, such as jewellery which accounts for most demand for gold.

“We should expect to see more members of our industry using recycled sources rather than mined. There is plenty of supply of gold, for example, with 200,000 tons of gold in ‘above the ground stocks.’ And there is lots more gold sitting in safes, vaults and drawers around the word so its possible we will see recycled gold as the major source of supply. We need to build our sourcing guidance for the industry to reflect these changes,” he stated.

Mr. Olden added that the industry is looking at tighter definition of recycled materials and there is growing pressure to extend responsible sourcing into the recycled market due to the growing trade in recycled materials, which is widespread in Europe and the United States, where some refiners only use recycled gold.

Ms. Ratzlaff mentioned that in Germany more than 90 percent of gold is recycled and that there is a low environmental impact due to strict German rules regarding recycling.

Mr. Daniels concluded the discussion by saying that the jewellery industry should be cautious about making green claims about recycling, as we would not want to become the target of a “dirty-recycling” attack, and must ensure that it works to retain consumer confidence in both mined and recycled metal.

Ms. Yood updated the commission on the latest developments regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) guides regarding advertising for jewellery, and many other industries in the USA. Following the election of the Biden administration there have been big changes at the commissioner level, which is very vocal about anti-trust issues, she said.

The FTC will be reviewing green guides relating to all industries in 2022, especially on green and environmental claims for products. She mentioned how in 2019 the FTC wrote to lab-grown diamond and diamond simulant makers about their advertising and environmental claims. “So, the guides are very important and firms must be in line with them.

“In addition, the definition of ‘recycled’ might be at play in the guides. In the U.S. there are no recognized definitions in the guides about sustainability. From what we have heard the FTC is interested in that. The FTC’s jewellery guides were last revised in 2018 and must be done every 10 years,” Ms. Yood said.

Ms. Ratzlaff spoke on the current review process in Europe for the classification of silver toxicity and the implications due to the large use of silver in jewelry, watches and silverware. She said the classification could have an impact on alloys containing silver.

She added that if silver does get so classified then the implications are quite severe for silver products in Europe. “We need to wait for the results of the review and then press our governments to support us,” she stated.

Mr. Daniels provided the commission a review of the Indian government’s requirements for gold hallmarking. The Bureau of Indian Standards has issued new rules with a timeline for when they should be adopted. Previously, there was no mandated requirement for the hallmarking of gold in India, but the changes are due to the vast informal gold sector in India, having varying degrees of compliance. Mandatory hallmarking is being carried out in three phases, he said, adding that the government has pushed back the mandatory hallmarking start from August 2021 to November 30.

“The Indian jewellery industry has been active in voicing concerns on the one hand as well as in cooperating. Companies in the organised trade, such as large corporations are already in compliance. It is more of an issue for the informal trade which the government would like to bring in to closer compliance and avoid issues such as under-karating. The industry is expecting a huge amount of paperwork and backlogs are likely,” he said.

Ms. Yood spoke about the FTC’s reduction of gold purity to below 10 karats in its revised jewelry guides in 2018 and how CIBJO should respond. “This move has not had a sea-change effect and I would not recommend challenging it. It would take a lot of money and resources to find consumer data to present to the FTC on the issue. I would wait till the 2028 guides revision.

“Some firms have raised concerns, but there has been no big push. JTV pushed for the FTC move,  to be able to sell its lower-cost products and Indian close-out jewellery of 9-karat goods. The FTC’s justification for the move was to balance the commercial concerns against the 1st amendment in the U.S .,which says the government cannot prevent free speech,” she stated.

Wrapping up the meeting, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri said that it would be best to respond to the FTC by working with the JVC for a harmonised response, adding that CIBJO is at the disposal of the JVC on the matter. He also pointed out that the world is going in a clear direction regarding ethical behaviour and sustainable development.

“Our industry and especially CIBJO is far ahead of many other industries in the world in these respects. Our presence is recognised by the bodies of the UN and its senior officers. We are recognised as one of top five organisations in the world working to bring about the 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goals,” the CIBJO President said.

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

Following a forced delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic, CIBJO’s Diamond Commission met for the first time formally in almost two years on November 2, the second day of the 2021 Virtual CIBJO Congress. Almost 50 delegates logged into the Zoom session from across the globe.

The meeting was moderated by the commission president, Udi Sheintal, assisted by commission vice president Jean-Pierre Chalain.

2020 had been originally scheduled as a review year for CIBJO’s Diamond Blue Book, and, although 12 months late, amendments and other changes were at the heart of the body’s session during the 2021 congress.

In September 2020, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) had published International Standard 24016, which specifies the terminology, classification and methods to be used for the grading and description of single unmounted polished diamonds over 0.25 carats in weight. CIBJO had earlier granted ISO permission to use PAS (Publicly Available Specification) 1048, as a primary foundation for drafting the new ISO standard. It is based on the CIBJO Diamond Blue Book and relates to terminology and classification of grading polished diamonds that were developed by CIBJO with the support of the German Standards Institute (DIN). Mr. Chalain serves as the convener of TC174 Working Group 2, overseeing the ISO project.

Commission President Sheintal said the ISO 24016 standard relating to grading polished diamonds would now be included as a normative reference in the Diamond Blue Book, and noted that the ISO 18323, originally published in 2015 and specifying a set of permitted descriptors for the diamond industry that are meant to be unequivocally understood by consumers, had been reconfirmed till the next review period in 2025.

Both Mr. Sheintal and CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri paid special tribute to Rudi Biehler, the veteran diamond industry leader from Germany and a long-time commission member, who played an invaluable role in the development and acceptance of the original PAS standard, which formed the basis of the newer ISO standards.

CIBJO members then reviewed amendments to the Diamond Book that were discussed previously in the Diamond Commission Steering Committee. This included specifying that “Diamonds, as all minerals, are created by nature without human intervention,” in the notes of the diamond definition.

Udi Sheintal noted that all of the CIBJO Books will now include reference to CIBJO’s status in the UN Economic and Social Council, and the role played by the gem and jewellery industry in promoting sustainable development, and also the harmonising role of the Blue Book series in strengthening consumer confidence in jewellery and the jewellery industry.

Barring an urgent need to make any immediate amendment, CIBJO’s Diamond Blue Book will next be subject for review in 2025.

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

With the 2021 Virtual CIBJO Congress already underway, the eighth of this year’s CIBJO Special Reports has been released. Prepared by CIBJO’s Coloured Stone Commission, headed by Charles Abouchar, the report looks at issues related to ethical sourcing, and how the principles of responsible supply chain management can be implemented without disenfranchising artisanal and small-scale miners, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

“With the overwhelming majority of rough coloured stones produced by ASM, which in turn channels its supply through a complex trading network that has developed organically over literally hundreds of years, the coloured stone industry is the most fragile structurally in all of the jewellery sectors,” Mr. Abouchar writes. “But literally millions of people rely on the income it generates, many of them living in some of the least developed and most poverty-stricken areas of the world.”

“If we try to impose our ethical value system without integrating the opinion and perspective of the local populations, we are likely to be regarded as imposing a new form of colonialism. This would be counterproductive,” the CIBJO Coloured Stone Commission notes. “Nobody should discount making the utmost effort to have the sourcing of our rough supply be as ethical as possible, but the complex realities of the artisanal mining sector means that we must be nuanced in implementing ethical rules.”

“In my opinion, we need to take a holistic view when developing ethical supply chains,” Mr. Abouchar continues. “In order to meet consumer expectations, we also need to cater to the expectations of those at the supply end, and the communities in the cutting centres as well. Initiatives that fully integrate local populations in the solution are the only way to develop sustainable and ethical sourcing programmes.”

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 Coloured Stone Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

For the first time in its 95-year history, CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has launched its annual congress online rather than in a physical location, with an Opening Ceremony followed by a session of the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Commission, during which a strong emphasis was placed on the jewellery industry’s obligations to society and the environment. The Opening Session took place on November 1, 2021.

“In congresses gone by, I have looked out over a crowded conference hall or auditorium when I said these words of welcome,” said CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, greeting the congress delegates. “Today, like all of you, I am seated at my desk looking at my computer, just as I have done almost each day for the past 20 months.”

The period of the coronavirus has proven to be an inflection point for the industry, the CIBJO President stated. “There are moments in the human experience where we all realise that it will be possible to define life before the event differently to life as it is after the event. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of those,” he said.

CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri greeting congress delegates.

“Do not misunderstand me,” he continued. “I do not believe that all-virtual congresses, where we gather while remaining isolated in our homes or offices, are our destiny from now on. I am confident that in the not-too-distant future we will be able to set aside most, if not all of the restrictions we now live with. Indeed, there is a very good chance that the next CIBJO Congress will be in-person rather than exclusively online.”

“But the tools, modus operandi and methods that we have adopted, initially as coping mechanisms, have changed the way we live and do business. In many respects they are more efficient, more effective and more able to deliver immediate results than those we used before the crisis. Now that we know how to use them, there is no going back,” Dr. Cavalieri said.

For an organisation like CIBJO, he stated, which brings together jewellery, gemstone and watch associations and companies from around the world, the adoption of online and digital technologies led to a period of increased activity, and a level of productivity and achievement that most probably is greater than at any time in the organisation’s history.

Keynote speaker Patrick Lötscher, Head of the Watch Industry Standards Department at the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.

SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHTED IN KEYNOTE SPEECH

Delivering the keynote address during the Opening Ceremony was Patrick Lötscher, Head of the Watch Industry Standards Department at the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, which brings under its umbrella many of the world’s most famous watch brands.

A new member of CIBJO, the Swiss organisation is at the vanguard of a process to unite the watch and jewellery sectors within the confederation. The two industries use many of the same raw materials and share supply lines and retail distribution outlets.

Mr. Lötscher spoke of the Switzerland’s watch industry’s struggle against counterfeiters, who in 2019 sold considerably more fake Swiss-brand watches that the 20.7 million genuine Swiss-brand watches that were sold that same year, costing the sector billions of dollars and more than 3,000 jobs.

RESPONSIBLE SOURCING AND SUSTAINABILITY

The Responsible Sourcing Commission’s session was moderated by the body’s President, Philip Olden, who asked his panel of guests if enough was being done by the industry on the subject of responsible sourcing, and if not what else should be done.

Opening the session, Mr. Olden mentioned that CIBJO’s Responsible Sourcing Commission’s Blue Book (CLICK TO DOWNLOAD) was the most downloaded of all such documents since the start of the pandemic, and reported that in April 2021 CIBJO launched an online Responsible Sourcing Toolkit, “which will enable members of the industry to do due diligence on their supply chains.”

The Responsible Sourcing Toolkit can be downloaded from the CIBJO website free of charge, by CLICKING HERE.

Among the panellists was Lila Karbassi, Chief of Programmes at the UN Global Compact, which unites some 14,000 firms and organisations from a wide range of industries, working to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Speaking to the CIBJO delegates, she called on the jewellery industry to do its part in the campaign against climate change.

“See if your targets align with science,” she stated. “By 2030 you need to reduce emissions by almost half, and by 2050 significantly more. We look forward to validating company results, and we hope many firms from the jewellery industry will join us and create a momentum for the industry overall to be on track regarding climate change.”

Panellist Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director of the Responsible Jewellery Council, described the jewellery industry as being at a “tipping point.”

“We have to get everyone on this journey,” she stated. “How do we bring all members of the supply chain along? This is the challenge. We need to step up a gear and show collectively the good impact of the business.”

Panellist Chie Murakami, the founder of Diamonds for Peace, an NGO based in Japan, said that the commitment to responsible sourcing is largely “a Western thing, which needs to be spread to other parts of the world”. She mentioned visits to jewellery stores in Tokyo where no members of sales staff could provide firm answers on the issue of the sourcing of the jewellery.

She also spoke about diamond smuggling in Liberia, where her organisation is active. “The government does not have the resources to monitor this sufficiently,” she said. “It patrols mines looking for illegal activities, with inspectors that often are unpaid volunteers. The government needs more resources.”

Lila Karbassi, Chief of Programmes at the UN Global Compact, in discussion with Philip Olden, President of CIBJO’s Responsible Sourcing Commission.

THE 3 Cs: CLIMATE, CARBON AND CIRCULARITY

Panellist Mark Hanna, Chief Marketing Officer at the Richline Group, which is part of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway corporation, said that today, more than ever before, “we need to pay attention to the 3Cs: climate, carbon and circularity.”

“All firms should have a social purpose,” he said. “We need a strong and planned way of dealing with this. Harmonisation is critical and I believe there is a will across the industry to work together, so that both large and small firms can share information.”

Mr. Hannah said that the use of recycled materials is important to the issue of sustainability. “There’s nothing more recyclable than gold but any product that reduces waste and uses ecologically friendly materials is good for the world and the industry,” he stated.

Brian Cook, the owner of Nature’s Geometry, who also was a panellist, said the jewellery industry is now more attuned to consumers, “because they have the buying power to make us listen.”

“Consumers want to see real action and transparency,” he said. “They want to know what is really going on.”

The jewellery sector has capacity to be an effective leader,” Mr. Cook added. “We transcend religion, race and culture and that makes us a model for other trades. It gives us the opportunity to show we are doing good for the planet. We need to find a way to harmonise our efforts.”

“Multilateralism, which in our community means coordinating the activities of the various sectors and the different national associations and companies, is essential to progress being made in the jewellery and watch industries, particularly where it comes to fulfilling our obligations to support and protect society and the environment,” said CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, concluding the session. “What we have demonstrated today is that everyone is provided an opportunity to speak their mind, but we then have to find common ground and move to action.”

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.