OCTOBER 26, 2016

The CIBJO 2016 Congress has officially opened at the Meridian Expo Center in Yerevan, Armenia, in the presence of the country’s president, Serzh Sargsyan.

Speaking to the gathering, President Sargsyan said he attached great importance to hosting the CIBJO Congress in Armenia, which has a long and illustrious jewellery-making history. “Throughout the centuries, Armenian jewellers around the world have had a great input into the development of the global jewellery industry,” he stated.

“Today, our republic considers jewellery making and diamond polishing to be among its priority industries. It is for that reason that we do our best to assist and promote these industries however we can,” President Sargsyan continued.

“Armenia has celebrated a National Jewellers Day for many years, and, indeed, there is a jewelers’ street in Yerevan which leads to the Meridian Expo Center which is home to the most significant jewellery exhibition center in Armenia. I welcome you all and thank you for coming from across the world to take part and I wish you a successful Congress,” President Sargsyan added.

It is the first time that a CIBJO Congress has taken place in a Central Asian country, and it is being hosted by the Armenian Jewellers Association (AJA).

Gagik Gevorkyan, President of the AJA and Advisor to the President of Armenia, also welcomed Congress participants in Armenia. “We are delighted to host this Congress for the first time. Armenia is an important diamond polishing and jewellery making center and we believe it is right that the CIBJO Congress is happening here,” he said.

At the conclusion of his address the Armenian President awarded CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri with a special medal of gratitude in honour of his and CIBJO’s contribution to the jewellery industry in Armenia and worldwide., Dr. Cavalieri accepted the award, emphasising that he was doing so on behalf of CIBJO, its members and the work done by the confederation.

In his address, Dr. Cavalieri welcomed participants at the congress, saying the warmth of Armenian people for foreigners was legendary. “This year, we gather for the first time in Central Asia, in the centre of a massive region and a growing jewellery industry and market.” He commented that there are 3 million Armenians in their home country, but another eight million throughout the world “and many of them seem to be involved in the jewellery industry”, he joked. He said that Armenia’s contribution to the Russian jewellery industry has been immense and it has also aided Armenia’s economy.

The CIBJO President praised Mr. Gevorkyan, saying: “As President of the Armenian Jewellers Association, he and his colleagues from AJA from around the world are making sure that the jewellery industry and trade in Armenia become a powerful economic engine, driving trade between this country and the world, and serving as a self-sustaining catalyst for national economic growth and prosperity.”

Dr. Cavalieri went on to say that CIBJO prides itself on forging new paths for the international jewellery and gemstone industries, looking over the horizon to areas that may not have previously been part of the public discussion. “There other representative bodies in our business, some of which are present here today, and many of which we cooperate with closely. They, too, play critical roles, but they are not quite the same, nor do they have all the responsibilities and commitments that CIBJO does.”

“CIBJO is the only organisation operating in the industry that considers its area of interest and responsibility to include the entire chain of distribution, from the mine to the consumer outlet, in every country and region where jewellery and gemstones are produced, manufactured and sold. There are no size restrictions in terms of the individuals or organisations we serve, meaning that our commitment to the wellbeing of the smaller player is as solid and absolute, as is our commitment to the larger players in the business,” he continued.

“Our job in CIBJO is to develop the standards, terminology, strategies and systems that will enable all individuals and companies to operate fairly and responsibly. These change over time, are influenced by economics and geopolitics, and particularly by technological developments. That is why the work of our sectors and commission is never done. Like all other representative organisations in our industry, CIBJO is dependent on the support and effort put in by its members. We appreciate that not all of them are able to contribute equally, and we are grateful that those who have more resources are often ready to take a greater share of the collective burden.

“But at the same time we are fiercely independent, and we will never allow financial expediency to prevent us from making what we believe is the correct and fair decision,” he commented.

Ahmed Bin-Sulayem, Chair of the Kimberley Process (KP) and Executive Chairman of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, congratulated CIBJO on holding its Congress in Armenia and spoke of the strong relations between Armenia and the United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Bin-Sulayem gave a review of the structure and work of the KP. He praised CIBJO in its continuous work to protect consumers which was similar to the work of the KP in protecting the integrity of diamonds.

Andrey Yurin, head of Russia’s state precious minerals repository, the Gokhran, said that Russia paid a great deal of attention to international standards that are recommended by CIBJO. These standards are being applied at Russian jewellery manufacturing plants, he commented.

“We thank Gaetano Cavalieri and CIBJO for the hard work they do for the international jewellery industry,” he said.

Andrey Zharkov, the President of Russian diamond mining giant ALROSA, said he was delighted that the CIBJO Congress was taking place in Yerevan. “I remember noticing the jewellery industry in Yerevan when I came here many years ago as a child. CIBJO has done great work in creating standards for the precious stones and metals industries. This allows for the production of high-quality goods. I must also praise CIBJO for its environmental work which is extremely important,” he said.

Mr. Zharkov told the Congress that ALROSA was heavily involved in the promotion of natural mined diamonds and in detecting synthetic diamonds, and expected its business partners to do likewise. He also spoke of the company’s work marketing diamond jewellery to younger buyers.

Also attending the opening session were Suren Karayan, Minister of Economic Development and Investment of the Republic of Armenia, and Adylbek A. Kasymaliev, Minister of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic.

OCTOBER 26, 2016

The 2016 CIBJO Congress provided the perfect opportunity for the World Jewellery Confederation to celebrate the 90th anniversary of its founding, confirming the organisation’s status as the longest established representative body serving the the international industry.

Speaking during the Opening Session of the congress that opened today in Yerevan, Armenia, CIBJO’s President, Gaetano Cavalieri, noted the special occasion. “It is a milestone in a journey that began a long time ago in Paris, but only one in a voyage that will continue for another 90 years and more into the future,” he stated.

CIBJO was originally founded in in the French capital in 1926 as BIBOA, an organisation whose mission was to represent and advance the interests of the jewellery trade in Europe. It was restructured in 1961 as CIBJO (Confédération International de la Bijouterie, Joaillerie, Orfèvrerie des Diamants, Perles et Pierres), with a worldwide focus, rather than one which was exclusively European.

To this very day, CIBJO remains the only international body serving all sectors of the jewellery and gemstone sector, in all regions of the world and in all sectors along the chain of distribution. It also is the only industry organisation to be officially recognised by the United Nations, having achieved Special Consultative Status in the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2006.

OCTOBER 18, 2016

With the 2016 CIBJO Congress set to open in Yerevan, Armenia, in eight days’ time, agendas and related documentation for the various sessions and meetings that will take place during the event are now available online. Contained in a Digital Binder, they can be downloaded from the dedicated congress website. To download the Digital Binder, please CLICK HERE.

The schedule of the CIBJO Congress includes a series of meetings of different working groups, called sectors and commissions, each of which focuses on a different sector or field of interest in the jewellery industry. The Digital Binder includes the agendas and documentation related to each of their sessions, as well as those sessions that encompass the entire CIBJO membership.

The congress will take place at the MERIDIAN Expo Center in Yerevan, from October 26 to October 28, with pre-congress meetings starting on October 24.

Serving as the official venue for the meeting of the CIBJO Assembly of Delegates, the CIBJO Congress gathers 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. During the event, the organisation’s Diamond, Coloured Stones, Pearl, Coral, Precious Metals and Gemmological Blue Books, which are industry’s most widely accepted directories of uniform grading standards and nomenclature, are discussed and updated.

This is the first time that a CIBJO Congress is taking place in a Central Asian country. It is being hosted by the Armenian Jewellers Association (AJA).

OCTOBER 12, 2016

With two weeks to go to the opening of the 2016 CIBJO Congress in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 26, 2016, the eighth and the final instalment of the CIBJO commissions’ pre-congress Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Coral Commission, headed by Vincenzo Liverino, the report describes upgrades to the Coral Blue Book of accepted standards, practices and nomenclature, plans to create a comprehensive Coral Guide; and activities undertaken in 2016 to promote sustainable coral harvesting.

The Coral Book, which is the most recently introduced of the CIBJO Blue Books of accepted industry standards and nomenclature, having been ratified at the CIBJO Congress last year in Brazil, has been extensively upgraded over the past year, with the addition of photographs, illustrations and tables, as well as new sections about coral sustainability and regulations for harvesting in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

The Coral Special Report details a seminar that CIBJO organized at the Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem & Jewellery Show in March 2016, together with the Italian Trade Commission, which concentrated on the implementation of environmentally sound practices in coral harvesting and pearl farming.

“A cornerstone of CIBJO sustainable business approach is responsible environmental practices throughout the gemstone and jewellery industry. This is most certainly the case in the coral sector, where the essential elements include the protection of the biosphere, the sustainable use of natural resources, production transparency and product disclosure, and committed management and compliance with local laws,” wrote Mr. Liverino.

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

OCTOBER 5, 2016

With three weeks to go to the opening of the 2016 CIBJO Congress in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 26, 2016, the seventh of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Pearl Commission, headed by Kenneth Scarratt, the report details improvements to the Pearl Blue Book of accepted standards, practices and nomenclature; the development of the CIBJO Guide for Classifying Natural Pearls and Cultured Pearls; technological advances in pearl identification; responsible environmental practices; and a new law in Japan that is designed to bolster the country’s pearl sector.

In an industry that has long struggled with a range of different and sometimes confusing grading systems, the CIBJO Guide for Classifying Natural Pearls and Cultured Pearls represents an effort to place descriptions of all types of natural and cultured pearls in a single document, providing information on how to assess such things as lustre, colour, surface appearance, shape and size. An advanced draft of the guide will be presented during the congress in Yerevan in October.

The report reviews two recent technological developments that will assist in the identification of pearls, including powerful 3-D software that has been developed by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), which is able to ascertain the exact cause of a natural pearl’s formation, and the neutron imaging of pearls, which is being experimented with by the Swiss Gemmological Institute SSEF.

“With the growing sophistication being employed by some to create ‘pearls’ that challenge the various identification techniques used in gem laboratories, it is always good to read reports about the increasing sophistication of the identification techniques themselves,” wrote Mr. Scarratt.

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

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.