MILAN, ITALY: May 12, 2014 -With one week to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the eighth of the CIBJO Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO EU Committee, headed by CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri and coordinated by Thilo Brückner, the report looks at liaison activities conducted by CIBJO with the European Commission, with the goal of advancing the interests of the jewellery industry in the countries of the European Union.

The EU Committee was established at the 2013 CIBJO Congress, which took place last May in Tel Aviv Israel. Just one month later, a delegation of CIBJO members led by CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, including representatives from France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, met with representatives of the EU Commission in Brussels. The EU team was led by Tung-Lai Margue, the head of the body’s service for foreign policy instruments.

One of the goals of the EU Committee was to convince the European Commission from avoiding the unintended consequences of the conflict minerals legislation contained in the Dodd-Frank act in the United States, which many feel has led to a de facto embargo of gold producers from the Great Lakes region of Africa.

As Mr. Brückner writes, the lobbying efforts appear to have been successful.“The first regulation proposal presented by the EU Commission in March 2014 avoids compulsory legislation,” he states in the report.

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

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The 2014 CIBJO Congress will take place in Moscow, Russia, May 19-21, 2014, with pre-congress meetings on May 17 and May 18. The congress will be hosted by the Russian Jewellers’ Guild, whose headquarters will also serve as the main congress venue. 

The official hotel is the five-star Hotel Nikol’skaya Kempinski, one of Moscow’s most prestigious establishments, which is offering especially low rates for attendees of the CIBJO congress. Located in an historic building that was constructed in 1870, it is located in the heart of historic Moscow, within short walking distance from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi theatre.

With fewer than two weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the seventh of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Pearl Commission, headed by Kenneth Scarratt, the report considers the subject of a unified pearl grading system, which currently is being worked upon within CIBJO and which will be on the agenda of the Pearl Commission, when it meets at the congress on May 20.

“A few pearl grading systems have been developed over the years, both as educational tools and for laboratory reporting,” writes Mr. Scarratt. “Experience has shown that a universal grading system that covers nacreous pearls from all molluscs is a challenging task, as are the interpretation of the results.”

Among the other subject covered in the Pearl Commission Special Report are the separation of natural seed pearls from small non-bead cultured pearls in the Arabian Gulf market, efforts that have been undertaken to obtain natural pearls for scientific and gemmological research, the state of the Australian South Sea cultured pearl industry, recent developments affecting the pearl sector of French Polynesia, and the CIBJO Pearl Blue Book.

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

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The 2014 CIBJO Congress will take place in Moscow, Russia, May 19-21, 2014, with pre-congress meetings on May 17 and May 18. The congress will be hosted by the Russian Jewellers’ Guild, whose headquarters will also serve as the main congress venue. 

The official hotel is the five-star Hotel Nikol’skaya Kempinski, one of Moscow’s most prestigious establishments, which is offering especially low rates for attendees of the CIBJO congress. Located in an historic building that was constructed in 1870, it is located in the heart of historic Moscow, within short walking distance from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi theatre.

With fewer than three weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the sixth of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Gemmological Commission, headed by Hanco Zwaan, the report considers how gem labs may act to promote the harmonisation of standards and nomenclature.

“In view of concerns that have been raised about inconsistencies in results presented by laboratories, we have explored how laboratories worldwide could work together and harmonise with the trade, to improve consistency, reliability of information and consumer confidence,” writes Mr. Zwaan. “Closer cooperation between the labs is needed to fight disharmony, because inconsistencies occur in both nomenclature and the reporting of results, for instance in the areas of origin and determination of treatments.”

Among the specific items on the agenda of the CIBJO Gemmological Commission’s meeting in Moscow are the use of colour descriptive terms, such as “pigeon blood red,” “royal blue,” and the nomenclature that should be employed to distinguish hydrophane from stable precious opal.

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

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The 2014 CIBJO Congress will take place in Moscow, Russia, May 19-21, 2014, with pre-congress meetings on May 17 and May 18. The congress will be hosted by the Russian Jewellers’ Guild, whose headquarters will also serve as the main congress venue. 

The official hotel is the five-star Hotel Nikol’skaya Kempinski, one of Moscow’s most prestigious establishments, which is offering especially low rates for attendees of the CIBJO congress. Located in an historic building that was constructed in 1870, it is located in the heart of historic Moscow, within short walking distance from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi theatre.

With fewer than four weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the fifth of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Ethics Commission, headed by Cecilia Gardner, the report looks specifically at ethical advertising principles and standards for the gemstone and jewelry sectors.

“We cannot hope to succeed in business unless consumers have trust in our products and the public claims we make about them,” Ms. Gardner writes in her report. “As we typically have done, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard, and by so doing avoid government enforcement or competitor law suits that can arise from deceptive advertising practices.”

Earlier this year, the CIBJO Ethics Commission published a guide called the “Basic Principles of Jewellery Advertising,” explaining the generally applicable standards for fair and honest advertising in all forms of media, including the Internet and social networks. The principles outlined are the same as those which are often enforced by consumer protection laws, or by court cases that set precedent on the subject. The goal of the guide is to instruct how clear, honest and substantiated claims should be made about jewellery products.  It can be downloaded from the CIBJO website.

To elaborate upon the guides, the Ethics Commission will host a workshop during the upcoming CIBJO Congress in Moscow. It will be moderated by Suzan Flamm, Senior Counsel at the Jewelers Vigilance Committee in the United States.

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

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The 2014 CIBJO Congress will take place in Moscow, Russia, May 19-21, 2014, with pre-congress meetings on May 17 and May 18. The congress will be hosted by the Russian Jewellers’ Guild, whose headquarters will also serve as the main congress venue. 

The official hotel is the five-star Hotel Nikol’skaya Kempinski, one of Moscow’s most prestigious establishments, which is offering especially low rates for attendees of the CIBJO congress. Located in an historic building that was constructed in 1870, it is located in the heart of historic Moscow, within short walking distance from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi theatre.

With fewer than five weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the fourth of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Coloured Stone Commission, headed by Nilam Alawdeen, the report focusses on the proper disclosure of gemstone treatments and modifications, and in particular about how lead glass-filled rubies should be properly qualified

In his report, Mr. Alawdeen explains that, in the case of heavily glass-filled rubies, CIBJO requires that they be classified as “Ruby and Glass, and described as a “manufactured/composite material or product.” In addition, in order to properly protect consumers, the inherent instability of heavily glass filled rubies and other varieties of corundum should also be conveyed as part of the disclosure requirement.

Relating to the global method of coloured gemstone disclosure that CIBJO, the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and the International Colored Stone Association (ICA) agreed upon in 2010, Mr. Alawdeen writes: “The international disclosure coding system has been in existence for four years already, but unfortunately it’s still seldom used. Consequently, this is an opportune time to remind the industry of the need for disclosure and traceability, and that a practical system is available to do this.”

However, adds Mr. Alawdeen, the disclosure codes are meant for the use of the trade and industry only. A more detailed explanation of the treatment or modification must be provided to the consumer.

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

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The 2014 CIBJO Congress will take place in Moscow, Russia, May 19-21, 2014, with pre-congress meetings on May 17 and May 18. The congress will be hosted by the Russian Jewellers’ Guild, whose headquarters will also serve as the main congress venue. 

The official hotel is the five-star Hotel Nikol’skaya Kempinski, one of Moscow’s most prestigious establishments, which is offering especially low rates for attendees of the CIBJO congress. Located in an historic building that was constructed in 1870, it is located in the heart of historic Moscow, within short walking distance from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi theatre.

Industry leaders have joined senior United Nations officials and representatives of UN-affiliated organisations for a special conference organised by CIBJO, to discuss the commitment of the jewellery and gemstone business to facilitate sustainable development in the countries and regions in which it is active. The conference was held in the Delegates Dining Room at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The event was held in honour of a special joint session of the UN General Assembly and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in which CIBJO has been the gemstone and jewellery sector’s only representative with special consultative status since 2006. The session had been called to discuss the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals programme, which is scheduled to culminate in 2015, and the Sustainable Development Goals that will succeed it.

The conference was coordinated by Dr. Hanifa Mezoui, a senior UN Senior Advisor on Civil Society, and was moderated by Dr. Francois Loriot, an MDG specialist and Vice President of the Bar Association for Inter-Governmental Organisations.

“Today’s gathering is meant to emphasise that, as a responsible business community, we must focus not only on protecting the chain of distribution and consumer confidence, but also on fulfilling our social and economic commitment to our stakeholders and the communities in which they live,” said CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, opening the event. “When, as individual companies and organisations, we assess how successful we are in implementing responsible practices, we also need to consider how we have contributed to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals post 2015.”

Speaking to the gathering, Dr. Andrei Abramov, chief of ECOSOC’s NGO section, spoke of the dramatic shift that had taken place in the United Nation’s attitude toward the business sector, shifting from one of suspicion to an appreciation that it has the operational and financial capacity to initiate and implement sustainable development programs, in a way that he public sector sometimes does not.

His words were echoed by Melissa Powell, Head of Strategy & Partnerships and Business for Peace at the UN Global Compact Office. “While we cannot ignore the fact that the private sector may at times have a negative impact upon the society, it also has a capacity to bring about significant positive change,” she said.  “And we are not only talking about opportunities created through investments of financial capital, but also of skills and experience.”

Ms. Powell highlighted Global Compact’s Business for Peace programme, which was identified in Forbes as one of the five areas defining the future of CSR. It is a platform that assists companies in implementing responsible business practices in conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

Providing grass roots testimony of industry investment in sustainable development, Hayley Henning, Executive Director of the Tanzanite Foundation, described the various programmes initiated by the organisation in Tanzania, including the establishment of schools, an orphanage and economic empowerment programmes for Masai women living in the gemstone mining areas.

An online system developed in cooperation with CIBJO, which will enable jewellery businesses to incorporate social responsibility management methods without having to employ expensive outside advisors, was  introduced by professors Donald Fever and Benedict Sheehy of the Branded Trust Foundation. The system, which includes supply chain monitoring and evaluates a company’s investment in social and sustainable development according to the Millennium Development Goals, will be made available for the jewellery and gemstone industry over the course of the coming year.

A new ECOSOC member with special consultative status is the International Food and Beverages Alliance (IFBA), which was represented at the seminar by Dr. Delon Human, Special Envoy to the World Health Organisation.  IFBA was created in 2008 by the world’s largest food and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers, and employs more than 3.5 million people worldwide. Dr.  Human described his industry’s commitment to the United Nations’ development program, emphasising its unparalleled distribution ability, reaching more than 2.5 billion people worldwide on a daily basis.

A highlight of the event was the signing of a cooperation agreement, entitled “Global Partnership for Development” by CIBJO’s President, Dr. Cavalieri, and Jean-Pierre Diserens, Secretary General of the Council of Independent Financial Advisors (CIFA), which calls for the creation of a joint programme to educating their respective members about the United Nation’s Post-2015 Development Agenda. Mr. Diserens also addressed the conference.

“This focus on society, where we aim not only to eliminate negative elements, but also to ensure that the jewellery and gemstone industry delivers a peace dividend, is an essential part of our mission. It is what I would like to call the CIBJO Project,” said Dr. Cavalieri.

“Most importantly,” he added in conclusion, “we are committed to the wellbeing of all our stakeholders. Nobody should be left behind.”

Photo Caption: Dr. Hanifa Mezoui, a senior UN advisor on civil society, addressing the CIBJO conference at UN headquarters in New York.