SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

With fewer than seven weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the second of this year’s CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Commission, headed by Philip Olden, the report recounts how efforts to enhance supply chain integrity during the COVID pandemic continued uninterrupted, and even were accelerated.

“During this time, the attention of consumers, media, governments and civil society in the jewellery industry, its responsible practices and the integrity of its supply chains has continued unabated,” Mr. Olden wrote. “Our stakeholders justifiably continue to hold us to the highest possible levels of integrity and expect that, not only are we doing no harm, but that we are a force for good in the world.”

The report looks specifically at tools and programmes introduced by CIBJO during the past 18 months, all designed to assist members of the jewellery, gemstone and precious metals supply chains implement the principles of responsible sourcing.

Key among them was the launch in April 2021 of the Responsible Sourcing Online Toolkit, which is intended to enable all participants in the sector to do due diligence on their supply chains in accordance with the CIBJO Responsible Sourcing Blue Book. Available at no cost, the Toolkit comprises nine modules, each one of which relates to a specific section of the Blue Book. Each module provides a detailed explanation of that section, and also a number of downloadable files in MS Word or PDF format, which can be used to do the due diligence described. They include templates, forms, sample declarations and additional information.

“CIBJO remains committed to providing guidance, support and education relating to Responsible Sourcing and Sustainable Development in the global jewellery and gemstones industry, and recognises that this is a process of continuous improvement,” Mr. Olden 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 Responsible Sourcing Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2021

The third season of Jewellery Industry Voices, the widely followed webinar series presented monthly by CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, will kick off the same way that it did in 2020, with an in-person seminar in Vicenza, Italy, which will be live-streamed simultaneously as a webinar around the globe.

The two-hour, two-part seminar/webinar is a featured event during the second day of the VICENZAORO September jewellery show. It is entitled “Sustainable Development Goals: Meeting Their Challenge,” and is part of a joint programme of CIBJO and the Italian Exhibition Group, endorsed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), to promote the principles of sustainability, responsible sourcing and social engagement in the jewellery and gemstone sectors. It is being co-presented by the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC).

The event will focus on industry strategies to support actualization of two of the 17 interlinked Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are the set of global objectives designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” They were approved in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by the year 2030.

The first part of the seminar/webinar will focus on SDG 5: Gender Equality. It will look at the growing role of women in the mining and extraction of precious materials for the jewellery industry, and consider the significance of their increased involvement. Moderated by Edward Johnson, its panel members include Iris Van der Veken, Executive Director of the Responsible Jewellery Council, which under her leadership launched the Generation Equality Campaign for the global jewellery and watch industry and has just released an in-depth gender equality report; Feriel Zerouki; Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs at the De Beers Group, who also is the General Manager of the GemFair artisanal miner empowerment programme in Sierra Leone; Cristina Maria Villegas, Director of Mining at Pact, a NGO operating in 40 countries, who is an expert in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM); and Diana Culillas, Secretary General of the Swiss Better Gold Association, which supports sustainable development of artisanal small-scale miners and establishes responsible gold value chains from these operations to the end market.

The second part of the seminar/webinar will concentrate on SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. It will address a growing movement within the jewellery sector to adopt the principles of a circular economy, addressing global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste and pollution. Moderated jointly by Edward Johnson and CIBJO’s Executive Vice President, Jonathan Kendall, who initiated the confederation’s Jewellery Industry Greenhouse Gas Measure Initiative, its panel members include Danielle Keller Aviram, a sustainable jewellery and fashion consultant specializing in the development of circular economies; Philipp Reisert, Managing Partner, C. Hafner GmbH & Co., a German precious metal refining company and producer of semi-finished products and components for the luxury goods, technical and dental industries; Gabriel Andre Sauer, Managing Director of Sauer, one of Brazil’s best known jewellery companies; and Oren Schneider, CEO of CIRCA, the leading global buyer of pre-owned high-end jewellery and watches.

The two-hour seminar will take place on Sunday, September 12, 2021, 2:30-4:30 PM Central European Time (5:30-7:30 AM Los Angeles; 8:30-10:30 AM New York, 1:30-3:30 PM London, 3:30-5:30 PM Moscow/Tel Aviv; 4:30-6:30 PM Dubai; 6:00-8:00 PM Mumbai; 7:30-9:30 PM Bangkok; 8:30-10:30 PM Hong Kong; 9:30-11:30 Tokyo; 10:30 PM-0:30 AM Sydney).

The in-person seminar will be conducted on the Main Stage of Hall 7 of the Vicenza Expo Centre, and the webinar will be live streamed at https://www.vicenzaoro.com/en/

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

With fewer than eight weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on November 1, 2021, the first of this year’s CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Marketing & Education Commission, headed by Jonathan Kendall, the report looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the jewellery and gemstone industry, and how the way in which it has adapted will chart its course for the future.

“[W]e have all lived through what have certainly been some of the toughest times for humanity since World War II,” Mr. Kendall writes in his introduction to the report. “COVID has significantly impacted all of us and our ways of living. But as a society in general, and as a business community more specifically, we have learnt to adapt to the new normal. Video conferencing and non-face-to-face selling are now standardly used, leading to a massive rise in Internet sales and an ever more intense focus on social media marketing.

The report focuses extensively on environmental responsibility. “Already today we are witnessing the devastating impacts of increasingly unstable climates. The consequences of even more extreme temperature increases are difficult to contemplate,” Mr. Kendall writes.

“The world’s rapid response to what ultimately is a lesser long-term threat – COVID 19 – is indicative what we as members of humanity can achieve when we come together,” he continues. “It is clear that if we can keep the temperature-warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, we can avoid some of the most serious outcomes. It is not too late to decarbonize and invest in a green future, but it is so important that we collectively make real changes now.”

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 Market & Education Commission’s special report, PLEASE CLICK HERE.