CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, will hold its 2015 annual congress in Salvador, Brazil, May 4-6, 2015, with pre-congress meetings on May 2 and May 3. Salvador is the capital of the north-eastern Brazilian state of Bahia.

The congress will be hosted by Instituto Brasileiro de Gemas e Metais Preciosos (IBGM), working in close cooperation with the local jewellery association in Bahia, Associação Bahiana dos Produtores e Comerciantes de Gemas e Metais Preciosos, and with the strong support of the State Governor Jaques Wagner and his administration.

The main congress venue will be the Sheraton da Bahia Hotel, Salvador, located in a prime downtown location nearby the historic city centre of Pelourinho, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is renowned for its Portuguese colonial architecture, with historical monuments dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

“We are delighted to be issuing this invitation,” said Hécliton Santini Henriques, President of IBGM. “Our country is well-known as producer of gemstones, but we also are home to a vibrant jewellery industry and one of the most exciting developing markets in the world. We call on members of our industry from around the word to join us in the beautiful and exciting city of Salvador next May.”

“With the eyes of the world on Brazil today, it is most appropriate that CIBJO hold its first-ever Latin American congress in this vibrant nation,” said Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO. “As the largest country in a regional market worth more than $8 billion, I am sure that our industry will welcome the opportunity to learn more about what Brazil and Latin America offer. It promises to be an unforgettable event.”

CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri has presented an outline for sustainability in the cultured pearl sector, emphasizing that a comprehensive approach must be taken that addresses economic, environmental and social responsibility. He was speaking at the Sustainable Pearls Forum, which took place in Hong Kong on June 21.

The cultured pearl industry provides an opportunity to introduce concepts that often cannot be considered in other sectors of the jewellery industry, Dr. Cavalieri said, because while gemstone mining and mineral mining are inherently unsustainable, in that once gems and minerals have been removed from the earth they cannot be returned, pearls are sustainable, “because we possess the means and knowledge to initiate the natural growth of new products within an economically viable period of time.”

“From a business perspective it offers the cultured pearl industry a tremendous opportunity,” he said, “but along with that comes responsibility.”

The three basic elements that need to be addressed – economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability, which Dr. Cavalieri described as “stakeholder or community sustainability” – are not mutually exclusive, he said. “The inability to address any one of those elements will make it difficult, if not impossible to address the other two, certainly over the long term.”

Economic sustainability requires us to use our resources in an efficient and responsible way, so that our business will function profitably over the long-term, he stated. “The essential importance of economic sustainability must be appreciated by the business community, which needs be prepared to take a long-term approach, sometimes at the expense of short-term profit. It also needs to be appreciated by government regulators, who must do their utmost to protect their country’s natural environment and social fabric, while at the same ensuring that the economy is allowed to function,” he added.

Environmental sustainability should be a catchphrase of the cultured pearl industry, Dr. Cavalieri stressed. “When a consumer buys an item of pearl jewellery, they should feel that they have invested in our planet’s long-term survival, rather than having taken advantage of it,” he stated.

Referring to stakeholder, community or social sustainability, Dr. Cavalieri noted that because cultured pearls represent a sustainable or renewable activity, members of the grass-roots communities associated with the industry can be expected to remain actively involved for generations to come.  “It, therefore, is important that these communities be provided with fair and equitable opportunities to benefit from the pearl farming enterprise, so that they will be incentivized to invest and reinvest in their future and that of the entire pearl industry,” he said.

As a case study, Dr. Cavalieri mentioned Tahitian Cultured Pearl industry in French Polynesia, which between 1995 and 2012 saw the average value of its product fall almost 80 percent. Larger, more corporate Tahitian pearl farmers were able to operate successfully, he pointed out, but the family-owned farms operating at the grass roots of the industry, which receive only a very small share of the added value of the pearls that they themselves produce, are chronically under-financed, meaning that they lack the ability to invest the time and money necessary to achieve the full potential of their marine concessions.

“Successful pearl farming is the result of careful and responsible maintenance of both oysters and the aquatic environment in which they are kept, as well as time provided to allow the nacre to develop,” Dr. Cavalieri said. “But many of French Polynesia’s family-owned farms felt they could do neither. With profit margins so low, they tried to compensate with increased production, and the result was lower-quality products and still lower prices. Pearl farms closed, and thousands of workers lost their jobs.  A lack of economic sustainability threated both environmental sustainability and stakeholder or community sustainability.”

Dr. Cavalieri also addressed the possibility of a Universal Pearl Grading System, which currently is being considered by the CIBJO Pearl Commission. “We realize that it is not an easy task, and that a variety of opinion exists. It will take time. But we are patient, and believe that such system will enhance transparency, and, as a consequence, consumer confidence. And let me remind you, to operate a sustainable industry, or any business enterprise, consumer confidence is an absolute prerequisite,” he said.

Photo caption: Speakers at the Sustainable Pearl Forum in Hong Kong (from left): Douglas McLaurin (Cortez Pearls), Shigeru Akamatsu (Mikimoto), Jacques-Christophe Branellec (Jewelmer), Josh Humbert (Kamoka Pearls), James Paspaley (Paspaley), Julie Nash (Sustainable Pearls & University of Vermont), Andy Hart (Tiffany & Co.), Fiona Solomon (RJC), Gaetano Cavalieri (CIBJO), Michael Krzemnicki (Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF), Saleem Ali (Sustainable Pearls & University of Queensland), Kent Carpenter (Old Dominion University), Laurent Cartier (Sustainable Pearls & University of Basel), Louisa Ho (The Nature Conservancy) and David Wong (Fukui).

Meeting this morning in Antwerp, the heads of the jewellery and diamond industry’s four leading international representative bodies have agreed to establish “The Presidents Forum,” which is a joint consultative committee with its members being the presidents of each organisation. Together they will discuss and formulate coordinated strategies and policies for the industry on important issues of common interest.

Hosted by Dr Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation; this morning’s meeting included Ernest Blom, President of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB); Maxim Shkadov, President of the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA); and Edward Asscher, President of the World Diamond Council (WDC). The meeting was chaired by Eli Izhakoff, Hon. Life President of CIBJO, WFDB and WDC.

Following the meeting, The Presidents Forum issued the following statement: 

“As the elected presidents of international organisations, each of which counts among its members the key national organisations and leading commercial bodies in their respective fields, we collectively represent the rank and file of the diamond, gemstone and jewellery industry worldwide.”

“The objective of The Presidents Forum is to reflect the interests of all participants and stakeholders in the industry through discussion and coordination.”

“Among our first order of business the presidents of CIBJO, WFDB and IDMA will engage with the Precious Stones Multi-Stakeholder Working Group to discuss the creation of acceptable due diligence guidelines to defend the integrity of the supply chain. The President of the WDC will be consulted.”

The Presidents Forum’s inaugural meeting was held against the backdrop of the 36th World Diamond Congress, which is currently taking place in Antwerp.

Photo Caption: Meeting in Antwerp during the World Diamond Congress (from left): Ronnie VanderLinden, IDMA Secretary General; Maxim Shkadov, IDMA President; Eli Izhakoff, Hon. Life President of CIBJO, WFDB and WDC; Jeffrey Fischer, IDMA Hon. Past President; Gaetano Cavalieri, CIBJO President; Edward Asscher, WDC President; Julien Drybooms, WFDB Vice President; and Ernest Blom, WFDB President.