Meeting at the 2013 CIBJO Congress, the Gemmological Commission followed up on a decision taken at its previous meeting in Vicenza in 2012, where it was decided to review Annex A of the Gemstones Blue Book to ascertain whether the corrections that were made previously are correct, and maketo amendments where appropriate. The commission’s proposals would then be submitted to the Coloured Gemstone Commission.
Annex A of the Gemstones Blue Book lists all the gemstone materials and their varieties, including their commercial names, and describes the modifications and treatments that have been accepted.
Gemmological Commission President Hanco Zwaan displayed the draft Annex that contains the amendments agreed by the commission’s steering committee for the assembly’s review.
James Riley explained that ‘Blue John’ fluorite is commonly resin impregnated. It was agreed to incorporate this as an option in the Annex. Sector A President Roland Naftule said that natural blue to bluish green common opal should also be added.
On the Gemmological Laboratory Book, it was explained that no proposals were received through the year, but the president welcomed further remarks for improvement.
The issue of how laboratories worldwide can work together and harmonise with the trade, to improve consistency, reliability of information and consumer confidence was raised, and Mr. Naftule asked the commission to put this on the its agenda. The concern is that, due to a lack of close cooperation between the labs, inconsistencies occur in both nomenclature and results, such as in the area of origin determinations, by which neither the needs of the industry nor the public are met.
It was agreed that CIBJO should look into this matter to see what can be done to improve consistency between labs. A first step could be to send a strong signal to the laboratories worldwide that they should take note of the sheets produced by LMHC, and consider what nomenclature they can comply with and can implement in their own organisations.
Photo Caption: Gemmological Commission delegates (from left): Claudio Milisenda, Gemmological Commission Vice President Ken Scarratt, and Gemmological Commission President Hanco Zwaan.