AUGUST 31, 2016

Today ranging in age between 20 and 39, the Millennials represent the largest and potentially most lucrative consumer generation since the fabled Baby Boomers of the late 20th Century. The degree to it will consider fine jewellery as a preferred purchase will largely determine the jewellery industry’s growth and prosperity over the coming years, but this is not guaranteed. Other business sectors, like consumer electronics and the travel industry, are investing billions in marketing to attract the Millennials discretionary income, and the jewellery industry now needs to play catch-up and rethink the way it operates.

“Marketing to the Millennials: Meeting the Expectations of the Next Great Consumer Generation” will be the subject of a seminar, co-organized by Fiera di Vicenza and CIBJO on Sunday, September 4, 2016, at 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, in Hall 7 – Room 7.1.2b (Sala Tiziano 2).

The seminar will take place during VICENZAORO September, the international gold and jewellery show organised by Fiera di Vicenza, which will take place in Vicenza, September 3-7, with 1,300 brands from 35 different countries, including all of Italy’s gold districts Confirmed as one of the world’s leading gold and jewellery shows, VICENZAORO September is also renowned in the industry for providing an observatory to very latest trends and a preview of what is coming in the future.

“The Millennials do not automatically aspire to own fine jewellery in the same way that their parents or grandparents did,” said Steven Benson, an industry journalist and CIBJO’s Director of Communication, who will moderate the seminar. “Generic diamond jewellery advertising was suspended by De Beers about 10 years ago, so they have not been as exposed to marketing messages from our industry as they moved into adulthood, but they were being targeted by other industries. Also, they are the most digitally adept generation ever, and with these abilities get their information, communicate and make purchasing decisions differently to previous generations. To market successfully to them, we must understand how they think, how they interact and how to reach them.”

To examine the subject, Fiera di Vicenza and CIBJO have gathered a blue ribbon panel of presenters, each of whom will provide a different perspective. It includes:

• Jean-Marc Lieberherr, CEO of the Diamond Producers Association, which is the organisation created by the world’s largest diamond producers with the express purpose of reintroducing an all-industry generic diamond jewellery marketing programme, for which the target audience will largely be the Millennials.
• Costantino Papadimitriou, Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy and Innovation at De Beers’ Forevermark, which currently operates the largest marketing budget in the international diamond sector, and is intensely involved in marketing diamond jewellery to new generations of consumers.
• Roberto Coin, the legendary Italian jewellery designer and owner of the jewellery brand of the same name, who over the decades has proven to be remarkably successful in appealing to generation after generation of consumers.
• Ella Goldner, Global Strategy Director at IPG Mediabrands in London, one of the world’s five largest advertising and marketing agencies, where she has been responsible for developing integrated communications globally for Millennial clients of organisations and corporations such as Wimbledon and Unilever.

Studies of Millennial consumers consistently show them to be significantly more aware than earlier generations of the business sector’s social commitment to society, with 50 percent saying that they will be more willing to make a purchase if the product supports a worthy cause, and 37 percent saying they would even be prepared to pay more for such a product. This characteristic will be discussed at length during the seminar, and it corresponds to both CIBJO and Fiera di Vicenza’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability, which they pursue together through their official association with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

AUGUST 24, 2016

With nine weeks to go to the opening of the 2016 CIBJO Congress in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 26, 2016, the first of the CIBJO commissions’ Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Marketing & Education Commission, headed by Jonathan Kendall, the report provides an update about the organisation’s Jewellery Industry Greenhouse Gas Measurement Initiative, which was launched in 2012 to help businesses in the industry understand and reduce their environmental impact.

It has been a successful year in terms of member engagement in the Greenhouse Gas Measurement Initiative, Mr. Kendall noted. There are currently are about 20 organisations fully measuring their carbon footprints and working towards carbon neutrality, and more than 40 are close to joining. They include trade bodies, manufacturers, grading laboratories, watch companies,  equipment manufacturers,  wholesalers,  retailers and brands.

“The CIBJO initiative has been designed to be as simple as possible, from planning to implementation. We are here to help, and we believe it is critical that we take the initiative on this issue, before we give consumers a reason to reduce their purchasing of the wonderful products we develop and sell,” Mr Kendall stated.

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

AUGUST 9, 2016

CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri has proposed that Thailand position itself as the primary access point to the gemstone and jewellery industries and markets of the ASEAN bloc in Southeast Asia, serving as a centre that connects and services the entire region, and also acting as a bridge-way that links it to the world. He was the keynote speaker at a dinner summit held in Bangkok on August 8, organised by the country’s Department of Trade Promotion (DITP), which brought together senior government and industry representatives to consider strategies for consolidating Thailand’s leadership role in the business.

DITP, which is the department within Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce responsible for promoting the country’s export industries, has recently expanded its involvement in the critically important gemstone and jewellery industry, taking over the management of the Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair. Its summit in this week was presided over by Apiradi Tantraporn, the Minister of Commerce, who was joined by the DITP Director General, Malee Choklumlerd.

Reviewing the position of Thailand in the gemstone and jewellery business, Dr Cavalieri noted that, while it undoubtedly has achieved the status of a world leader, seeing its exports grow over the past 10 years by almost 300 percent to about $11 billion, and peaking in 2012 at $13.1 billion, it is not always considered way internationally.

“Thailand’s second-tier status as a centre has less to with production and sales capacity than it has to do with way that it is perceived in the business,” he said.  “But perception is critical, for the way you are perceived by others affects your ability to market your products, and consequently is a principal factor in deciding whether you will be able to optimise sales and exports. As it is said, success breeds success, meaning that, it if you are better able to project your image as a world leader, then it more likely that you will optimize your export capability.”

“Your credentials as a major gem and jewellery centre are indisputable,” Dr Cavalieri continued. “But what then are the elements that set you apart? What is your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition?”

Dr Cavalieri proposed that Thailand be positioned as the ASEAN jewellery trade centre, providing an easily accessible and navigable gateway to a massive region, which also includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Brunei

“Besides being a rich source of gemstones and pearls, and home to a group of fast-growing gemstone and jewellery industries, it is a region with a population of than 600 million people, which is larger than those in the European Union or North America, and it has the third-largest labour force in the world, behind China and India,” he explained.  “According to a McKinsey study from two years ago, if the ASEAN bloc were a single country, it would already have already constituted the seventh-largest economy in the world in 2013, with a combined GDP of $2.4 trillion. It is projected to rank as the fourth-largest economy by 2050.”

For Thailand, the status of the primary ASEAN gem and jewellery centre could be an irresistible USP, Dr Cavalieri stressed.

Dr Cavalieri expressed his admiration for the commitment being shown by the Thai government and DITP to strengthen the position of the country’s gemstone and jewellery industry, which today accounts for 5.13 percent of the country’s exports. In particular, he expressed his support for the Bangkok Gems and Jewellery Fair, which will be held for the 58^th time this September, and suggested that it too become recognized as the ASEAN trade show.

JULY 21, 2016

CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri has reported on the World Jewellery Confederation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability programme to the High-Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which currently is taking place in New York. CIBJO was one of only a handful of NGOs invited to make an oral statement at the session.

The High-Level Segment brings together representatives from UN member states, the private sector, civil society and academia, and addresses ECOSOC’s annual theme, which this year is “Implementing the post-2015 development agenda: moving from commitments to results.”

In his report, Dr Cavalieri described a series of programmes that have been introduced, which help optimise the involvement of the international jewellery sector in achieving the UN’s sustainable development goals. At the same time, he said, they are meant to mitigate any negative societal effects that are directly or indirectly related to the sector’s activities.

Among the programmes that Dr Cavalieri reported on the ECOSOC session were:

• A comprehensive set of courses in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability for professionals in the greater jewellery industry.
• The development and roll out of an online system that will support all players in the industry in maintaining an ethical chain of custody, while at the same time reporting on proactive socially responsible policies.
• Collaboration with government and civil society in the areas of biodiversity and the combating of the illicit trade in precious metals and gemstones.
• The development and promotion of a framework that enables members of the jewellery industry worldwide to measure and offset their carbon footprints.

In 2006 CIBJO became the industry’s jewellery first and only representative in the UN body, which is charged engaging government, business and civil society in advancing the international community’s development agenda. Since 2013 it has done this with the support of Fiera di Vicenza, which itself became the first trade show organizer to be recognised by the United Nations.

JUNE 13, 2016

While jewellery is a luxury product and non-essential to those who purchase it, the jewellery and gemstone sectors are industries that are essential to the economic and social development of economies and communities around the world, said CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, speaking today at the 15th Rendez-Vous Gemmologiques de Paris in the French capital.

The gathering, which was hosted by the Association Française de Gemmologie, and moderated by its President, Didier Giard, selected this year to review gemstone mines and mining districts around the world, considering the ethics of sustainable development of mining territories and their populations.

“The jewellery business and the revenue it generates are critical to the economic fortunes of many countries around the world, and especially those where diamonds, gemstones and precious metals are mined,” Dr Cavalieri stated, in his address to the opening session. “In those places it is able to create sustainable economic opportunities, which in turn promote and support positive social development.”

“Jewellery, which is typically classed as a luxury product, is to many people symbolic of conspicuous consumption. However, if we would be able to instil in the public consciousness the understanding that, when you purchase an item of jewellery, you also are contributing to the economic wellbeing and social advancement of people living in underdeveloped areas, then the significance of buying and receiving jewellery is elevated – from one of purely personal value to one with societal value as well,” the CIBJO President said.

In his speech, Dr Cavalieri referred to a synthetic diamond producer from the United States, which features a message on its website from the actor Leonardo DiCaprio stating that, by buying a man-made diamond, one will be “reducing the human and environmental toll of the diamond industry by sustainably culturing diamonds without the destructive use of mining.”

“Now, in and of itself, that statement by Mr DiCaprio about the human toll of diamond mining is problematic,” Dr Cavalieri said. “After all, if the only way we can protect people in Africa and elsewhere from the consequences of mining is by cutting them out of the diamond production business entirely, it is indeed a sad state of affairs.”

During the afternoon session Dr Cavalieri participated in a panel discussion about traceability,

ethics, and the sustainable development of mines and mining districts. The other panellists were

Charles Chaussepied, a Piaget director and the former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council; Bertrand Pancher, a Member of the French National Assembly; Jack Cunningham, Group Sustainability Manager at Gemfields; and Hélène Poulit-Duquesne, CEO of Boucheron.

Mr Pancher presented a medal to Dr. Cavalieri on behalf of the French National Assembly, in honour of his contribution to the international jewellery industry, and in particular for the key role that he has played in advancing the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility in the jewellery business.

MAY 3, 2016

CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, will hold its 2016 annual congress in Yerevan, Armenia, October 26-28, 2016, with pre-congress meetings on October 24 and 25.

The congress will be hosted by Armenian Jewellers Association (AJA), a non-governmental organization that since its inception in 1998 has worked to connect Armenian jewellers to their counterparts and markets around the world, and help develop the country’s jewellery industry.

The main venue for the CIBJO Congress is the Meridian Expo Centre and the congress hotel is the Armenia Marriott, located on Yerevan’s Republic Square.

CIBJO Congresses serve as the official gathering place for the World Jewellery Confederation’s Assembly of Delegates, and also are 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 and coral, 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.

With a history dating back to the 8th century BC, Yerevan is the one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Located on the banks of the Hrazdan River, it has served as the capital of Armenia since 1918, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of the country, with just over 35 percent of its population.

“We are most excited to be holding the congress this year in Armenia, which is a country that is a springboard into a host of developing markets in the Near East and Central Asia, and the homeland of a people that for many years has contributed greatly to the international jewellery industry,” said Gaetano Cavalieri, CIBJO President.  “We invite members of the gem and jewellery sectors from around the world to join us in Yerevan, and to participate in our discussions, for the benefit our colleagues, our clients and our stakeholders along the entire chain of distribution.”

A dedicated CIBJO Congress 2016 website will be launched shortly.