With fewer than six weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow , the third of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Diamond Commission, headed by Udi Sheintal, the report focuses on the challenge posed by the influx of synthetic diamonds into the pipeline, and announces that on the first afternoon of the congress, on Monday, May 19, a special conference will be held to examine the issue, featuring several of the leading experts in the field and a cross section of the industry’s leadership.

“To successfully position the industry, so that gem-quality synthetic diamonds can be absorbed into the product mix without threatening the integrity and status of natural diamonds, we need a panoramic strategy, which addresses a variety of elements and disciplines,” writes Mr. Sheintal. These include research and technology into the methods used to create synthetic diamonds and the instruments and systems required to detect them, legal and ethical questions that are raised, including sanctions that could be imposed against those who do not disclose that diamonds are synthetic, and methods of marketing that enable consumers to differentiate between natural and synthetic diamonds.

“As is always the case in CIBJO, the ultimate yardstick as to how our industry should address the challenge of synthetic diamonds, or any other challenge for that matter, is what is the strategy that will best serve the interests of consumer confidence, both in the products we produce and sell, and in our industry itself,” Mr. Sheintal writes.

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 seven weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the second of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Precious Metals Commission, headed by Michael Allchin, the report looks at CIBJO’s lobbying efforts in Europe in respect to pending legislation concerning imports of gold from areas of conflict and a redraft of the EU’s nickel release standard.

In the report, Mr. Allchin details trips taken to Brussels, where CIBJO officials explained to the EU Commission why any legally binding legislation in relation to sourcing gold from conflict areas might actually have devastating unintended consequences in those conflict areas, while adding red tape and economic harm to the industry in the European Union.

Mr. Allchin also recounts discussions in Brussels about changing what he describes as “the damaging redraft of the Nickel Release Standard EN 1811,” where slight changes to the method of for measuring nickel release, along with a fundamental change to the way the results of the tests were interpreted, meant that in real terms the amount of nickel release allowed in jewellery was substantially lowered, while a “no decision” category simply created unnecessary confusion.

Such activities, Mr. Allchin stated, shows CIBJO at its best.

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 eight weeks to go to the opening of the 2014 CIBJO Congress in Moscow on May 19, 2014, the first of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Marketing & Education Commission, headed by Jonathan Kendall, the report announces the start of a project aimed at measuring the jewellery industry’s impact on the environment .

From a market perspective the jewellery sector cannot afford to ignore research showing that consumers under 35 are concerned by the impact industries have on the environment, writes Mr. Kendall in the report. “As an industry it is time to act, as we are already behind the curve, and in five years’ time it will be too late to play catch-up,” he notes.

Looking at the market, Mr. Kendall writes that 2014 has started well. “The market in India has improved quite significantly, and China had a successful ‘New Year’ period. Valentine’s Day reminded us romance is not dead and that jewellery is an ideal gift for expressing one’s feelings to loved ones,” he 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.

CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri has met with Jacques Wagner, the Governor of the Brazilian State of Bahia, to discuss the confederation’s plans to hold its annual congress in Salvador in 2015.

Dr. Cavalieri was accompanied by Hécliton Santini Henriques, President of Instituto Brasileiro de Gemas e Metais Preciosos (IBGM), which will host the congress, and Karina Sena, the President of Associação Bahiana dos Produtores e Comerciantes de Gemas e Metais Preciosos. Joining the meeting was Rafael Valverde, the Superintendent of Industry and Mining in Bahia.

Dr. Cavalieri outlined to Governor Wagner the structure and mission of CIBJO in the gemstone and jewellery sector, emphasising its role in the creation of harmonised international standards of grading and nomenclature. He also described CIBJO’s programme to promote ethical business practices in the jewellery industry, noting the potential of the industry to provide sustainable economic opportunities in regions where gemstones and precious metals are mined, and jewellery is designed and manufactured.

Governor Wagner expressed his delight that CIBJO had accepted the invitation of IBGM to  hold its 2015 congress in Bahia, noting the role of the state as a producer of precious metals and gemstones, as well as jewellery.

Dr. Cavalieri invited Governor Wagner and representatives of his government to attend the 2104 CIBJO Congress in Moscow, where they will be able to formally present Brazil and Salvador, together with IBGM and the jewellery association from Bahia. The congress in Moscow will take place May 19 to 21, 2014.

Photo Caption 1: Governor Jaques Wagner (left), greeting CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri.

Photo Caption 2: Following the meeting at the Governor of Bahia’s headquarters (from left): Hécliton Santini Henriques, President of Instituto Brasileiro de Gemas e Metais Preciosos (IBGM); Governor Jaques Wagner; CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri;  Karina Sena, President of Associação Bahiana dos Produtores e Comerciantes de Gemas e Metais Preciosos; and Rafael Valverde, Superintendent of Industry and Mining in Bahia.

Registration for the 2014 congress of CIBJO, the World Jewelry Confederation, is now open. Delegates and other participants may register for the congress and its social programme, as well as book hotel rooms, via a dedicated congress website located at:  http://congress2014.cibjo.org/.

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 organizers have announced a change in the main congress hotel. It is now 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 by Count Alexei Orlov-Davydov, it is located in the heart of historic Moscow, within short walking distance from the Kremlin, Red Square and the Bolshoi theatre.

The congress website includes the congress program, important travel information and details about the social programme, which several tours of the Russian capital and the opportunity to attend a performance by the Bolshoi Opera. Online registration forms for the congress and social programme are available, as a link to the Hotel Nikol’skaya Kempinski’s booking service.

As the official venue for the meeting of the CIBJO Assembly of Delegates, the CIBJO Congress will gather in Moscow the members of national jewellery and gemstone associations from more than 40 countries and representatives of many of the industry’s most important commercial bodies. The congress also serves as a forum for CIBJO’s professional commissions, and is the venue at which its Diamond, Coloured Stones, Pearl, Precious Metals and Gemmological Blue Books are discussed and updated.

The Pacific Precious Coral Forum, which is taking place February 17-18 in the Taiwanese capital, has drawn together government officials, scientists and members of the fishing and jewellery industries from Taiwan, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Morocco, Italy and Monaco. It is focused on the biology of precious coral and the sustainable use of resources, through academic research, management methods and fishery techniques. The forum is co-organized by the Taiwanese Fisheries Agency and Council of Agriculture, together with the Taiwan Precious Coral Association, with the support of the Taiwan Jewellery Industry Association.

“We, the jewellery industry, have experience of joining hands with civil society to show that the precious objects we produce are a force for good, and while we may create non-essential products, we are an essential industry,” Dr Cavalieri said. “People need to associate coral jewellery with good environmental management. Environmentally conscious consumers should go out of their way to purchase precious coral jewellery, and certainly not avoid it.”

A Precious Coral Working Group was created within CIBJO in 2012, and Dr Cavalieri proposed that it be elevated to the status of a full CIBJO Commission, which would be charged with creating a set of international accepted standards and nomenclature, within the framework of a new CIBJO Blue Book. The president of the Precious Coral Working Group, Enzo Liverino, also participated in the forum.

“The harmonisation of industry standards is key component of CIBJO’s mission,” Dr Cavalieri stated. “This always has been an important factor, but it has become even more so as the world economy has globalized, and international trade has become the dominant component of our business. Quite simply, what is understood in one country or market needs to be understood perfectly in others.”

 “Clear, reasonable and internationally accepted standards need to be established that will decide what treatments and enhancements must be disclosed each time a gem changes hands. Furthermore, the method of disclosure needs to be decided so that it will means the same thing in Asia, as it means in Europe, the Americas and Africa,” the CIBJO President continued.

“The creation of such system would ideally be done by a committee of industry experts, and from our perspective the right forum would be a Precious Coral Commission working within the CIBJO framework. It would be able to make decisions that receive automatic international acceptance,” Dr Cavalieri said.

The CIBJO’s president’s proposal was received warmly by attendees at the Pacific Precious Coral Forum, and was supported by Ming-Li Hung, President of the Taiwan Jewellery Industry Association, who agreed to seek full membership as a national association in CIBJO, and work toward the establishment of the CIBJO Precious Coral Commission at the upcoming CIBJO Congress in Moscow, which will take place May 19-21, 2014.

Photo caption 1: CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri addressing the Pacific Precious Coral Forum in Taiwan.

Photo caption 2: Photographed during a pause in the proceedings at the Pacific Precious Coral Forum (from left): George Lu ; Janice Lu; Pornasawat Watanakul, Vice President of CIBJO’s Gemmological Commission; Gaetano Cavalieri, CIBJO President; Ming-Li Hung, President of the Taiwan Jewellery Industry Association; and Enzo Liverino, President of CIBJO’s Precious Coral Working Group.