SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

With four weeks to go to the opening of the 2016 CIBJO Congress in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 26, 2016, the sixth of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Gemmological Commission, headed by Hanco Zwaan, the report considers the need for clearer coloured gemstone laboratory standards, both in the way results are obtained and how they are noted on gem identification reports.

Specifically, the report discusses lead glass-filled rubies, which the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States has ruled cannot be marketed as unqualified rubies without being deceptive. It also looks at the measures laboratories should take to deal with a trend by which dealers temporarily remove filler from fissures and fractures in emeralds before submitting them for examination, so as to to have “no indications of clarity enhancement” listed on gem identification reports.

Measures to reduce inconsistencies in gemmological coloured gemstone reports issued by different gem labs will be discussed during meetings of the Gemmological Commission at the CIBJO Congress in Armenia on October 27, and also during a special session on October 26, which will focus on harmonising and standardising specific colour terms, such as Royal Blue and Pigeon Blood Red.

“Recognizing that if certain colour terms are assigned and used, it is essential to find for them common ground and consistent criteria,” writes Mr. Zwaan in the Gemmological Commission Report.

To download a full copy of the report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2016

With five weeks to go to the opening of the 2016 CIBJO Congress in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 26, 2016, the fifth of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission, headed by Stella Layton, the report examines the subjects of nickel release testing and conflict minerals legislation in the European Union.

In the report, Ms. Layton reports on an amendment, after intensive lobbying by CIBJO, to the EU’s REACH regulations, which are intend to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects by chemicals. Specifically, it concerns testing for the release of nickel in jewellery, after prolonged contact with the skin, and the final decision, published early this year by the EU authorities, to abolish a “no clear decision category,” which was considered unacceptable by the Word Jewellery Confederation.

The new harmonised standards “replace any inconsistent national standards that were in place within the EU, and finally deliver a satisfactory suite of tests to ensure compliance with the nickel release levels imposed throughout the EU,” wrote Ms. Layton.

Progress on a long-waited law in the European Union, to prevent minerals associated with conflict from entering the legitimate trade, is also reported upon. In June of this year, the EU announced that a “political understanding” had been reached on many of the proposed statute’s substantive components, and this opens the way for it finally to be drafted and submitted to the European Parliament and Council for adoption.

The European law will cover the trade in tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold, but unlike the Dodd Frank Act in the United States, it will monitor key junctures in the pipeline, specifically regulating smelters, refiners and direct importers. Also, in contrast to Dodd Frank, the new law is not expected to limit its focus to the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding areas, but will require due diligence to be applied when importing from any conflict-affected or high-risk areas.

To download a full copy of the report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

SEPTEMBER 15, 2016

Vancouver-based Crossworks Manufacturing Limited, the largest manufacturer of branded Canadian diamonds in the world, is set to become a carbon neutral company, within the framework of CIBJO’s Jewellery Industry Greenhouse Gas Measurement Initiative.

CIBJO’s Marketing & Education Commission set up the GHG Measurement Initiative in 2014, to help companies within the jewellery and gemstone industries understand their environmental impact, reduce it, and protect themselves and the industry as a whole. Companies that become part of the programme are invited to work with Carbon Expert, an environmental consulting organisation, which assists them in complying with ISO Standard 14064, specifying how to quantify and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals, and apply ISO Standard 20121, which offers guidance and best practice for controlling the environmental impact of events.

Crossworks, which was a founder member of the CIBJO GHG Measurement initiative, recognised the benefits of developing and maintaining sustainability programs. “As a business we realise the importance of understanding future consumer trends,” said Dylan Dix, Group Executive, Marketing & External Relations. “Our own consumer research has confirmed the millennia consumers are particularly concerned about climate change, and, as a progressive forward-looking company, we felt it was absolutely right for us to make every effort to do what we can to negate our environmental impact. Since starting the project, having a sustainability policy, and dealing with business, greenhouse gas emissions has become an intrinsic part of business management.”

In recent years CIBJO’s Marketing & Education Commission has taken the lead in educating the jewellery industry on climate change, and its impact on the environment, society and business. Encouraging companies to proactively reduce their carbon footprint and neutralise their environmental impact, it has urged them to join a worldwide trend by which global businesses and brands recognise that this is a critical way to enhance one´s reputation.

“Today there are a significant number of organisations working with CIBJO on achieving carbon neutrality,” said Jonathan Kendall, President of CIBJO´s Marketing and Education Commission. “Over the coming months and years, it is clear there will be an increased focus on the environment, as both the USA and China ratified the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions in the past week. This is the right time for retailers, brands and their suppliers to adopt a proactive approach.”

As an organisation, CIBJO first measured and offset its carbon emissions for 2013, serving as a role model for the industry. The 2015 CIBJO Congress in Salvador, Brazil, was the first major jewellery industry event ever to be fully carbon neutral, and the upcoming 2016 CIBJO Congress in Yerevan, Armenia, scheduled to take place October 26-28, will be carbon neutral as well.