The CIBJO Pearl Commission has accepted a suggestion from its Steering Committee to ask the Tahitian government to establish a group of cultured pearl professionals to devise a universal pearl grading system. The meeting heard that the World Jewellery Confederation may adopt the system if the CIBJO rules are incorporated into it.
The decision stemmed from a proposal at the 2012 congress in Vicenza that CIBJO look into developing a single pearl grading system that organisation could use and endorse.
Pearl Commission President Ken Scarratt spoke on the issue of CIBJO’s books becoming larger, and that questions had been raised about the possibility of having them translated. There was increasing interest in the issue of having the books translated, members said, because some people in non-English speaking countries were not sure if they were following the rules or not.
He reported that he had also been asked to look into the possibility of creating an abbreviated Pearl Book.
It was suggested that such a book not be in CIBJO’s Blue Book format, however the exact format that would be used has not yet been determined, Scarratt said. It should be short but would still include diagrammatic examples.
The commission would have to decide on the most important parts of the Pearl Book and they would be permanently highlighted in the Blue Book by bolding them. It was agreed to move forward with the reference guides.
Meanwhile, Cecilia Gardner of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, reported that along with a group of other organisations in the United States, her organisation was discussing the issue of a pearl that has been treated or dyed being declared as such with officials from the Federal Trade Commission.
Photo Caption: Jeanne Lecourt, Vice President of the Pearl Commission and the representative of Tahiti.