Special Report, January 2010

The Gemmological Commission

CIBJO Gemmology Commission organises “Ruby Day” mini conference; aims to table, discuss and ratify the Gemmological Laboratory Book

Dr Margherita Superchi, President CIBJO Gemmology Commission

The Gemmological Laboratory Book

African ruby, Tanzania

One of the ongoing projects that the officers of the Gemmological Commission have worked on since the 2009 CIBJO Congress in Turkey is the preparation of a second draft of the Gemmological Laboratory Book. The commission is aiming for this document to become a member of the family of CIBJO’s Blue Books.

CIBJO developed its Blue Book system to advance the goal of universal standards and terminology in the jewellery industry. Currently, the CIBJO Blue Books are a definitive set of standards for the methodology, nomenclature and trade practices of diamonds, coloured stones, pearls and precious metals.

In the second half of 2009, the president of the Gemmological Commission, Margherita Superchi, and her two vice presidents Kenneth Scarratt and Hanco Zwaan, prepared a second draft of the Gemmological Laboratory Book (GLB) which was consequently sent for review to 77 gemmological laboratories around the globe.

Once comments were received, another draft was prepared and distributed once again to the same labs as well as to CIBJO’s national and associate members. It is this version that will be tabled for discussion during the Gemmological Commission Meeting in Munich on February 20.

“The Gemmological Laboratory Book aims to offer gemmological laboratories and practicing gemmologists at large a guide that equips them with a set of best practices that will help them guarantee the quality of the services offered by their laboratories. “We hope that the current draft will be adopted at the congress in Munich so that we can give it its rightful place alongside the other Blue Books,” Superchi noted.

The CIBJO “RUBY DAY”

Polished rubies

The 2010 CIBJO Congress will see the beginning of a new tradition, the organization of a gemological mini conference that will be an integral part of this and future CIBJO congresses.

This year’s gemological mini conference is named “Ruby Day,” and exclusively dedicated to presentations and discussions on the research findings of ruby, the red gemstone variety of the mineral corundum. The event will take place on Friday February 19, from 13:00 to 16:00 hours at Hall 5 of the International Congress Centre, at the Messe Muenchen.

The list of speakers and presentation topics are:

Wolfgang Hofmeister, Dean of the Faculty for Chemistry, Pharmacy and Geosciences of the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany.
Topic: Mineralogy of ruby deposits connecting North-Vietnam and South-China

Pornsawat Wathanakul, Academic Adviser of the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT); Head of the Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Topic: Low temperature treatment of Mong Hsu ruby

40 Grams Ruby Specimen

Kenneth Scarratt, Managing Director, South East Asia & Director, GIA Laboratory, Bangkok, Thailand.
Topic: Rubies from Mozambique, before and after treatment

Adolf Peretti, Director of the GRS Laboratories, Geneva, Switzerland
Topic: Occurrence and identification of rubies from Winza, Tanzania

Claudio Milisenda, Director of the Deutsche Stiftung für Edelstein Forschung (DSEF) – the German Gem Lab, Idar Oberstein, Germany.
Topic: Recent observations on synthetic rubies

Michael S. Krzemnicki, Director of the Schweizerische Stiftung für Edelstein-Forschung (SSEF) – Swiss Gemmological Institute, Basel, Switzerland.
Topic: Heating and diffusion processes on rubies: characteristics, detection and declaration

Elena Gambini, Head of Gem Materials Department, Centro Informazione e Servizi Gemmologici (CISGEM) – Centre for Information and Services on Gemmology, Milan, Italy.
Topic: Glass in rubies: various cases, their detection and declaration

Superchi noted that the Ruby Day mini conference will be a useful opportunity for gemmologists to exchange information and share knowledge. “We’ll have plenty of room for interested parties and participants who are not registered for the 2010 CIBJO Congress. They will be charged a symbolic entrance fee,” she said.

To register, send an email to cibjo@cibjo.org.

Incorrect and misleading nomenclature and descriptions employed in gem and jewellery promotions and in advertising

The struggle against the phenomena of incorrect and misleading nomenclature and descriptions employed in gem and jewellery promotions and in advertising is one that concerns the entire CIBJO membership. The officers of the CIBJO Gemmological Commission are most often those who take the lead in identifying and following up on promotional activities, and in particular advertising that violates CIBJO rules – the blue books.

At the upcoming CIBJO congress, the Gemmological Commission will recommend that CIBJO set up a taskforce to collect and identify cases of misleading nomenclature and erroneous descriptions used in gem and jewellery promotions and advertising. This task force is to liaise with CIBJO members to collect samples of cases of misleading and or outright misrepresentation of gem materials around the world and consequently build a continuous and up-to-date database.

Polished Rubies

The task force would then inform CIBJO who, in turn, would notify the violating advertisers and publishers to rectify their harmful practices within a reasonable period. At the same time, the relevant national members would be alerted and asked to follow up and offer these firms their help and support in complying with CIBJO’s standards and regulations.

Roland Naftule, president of Sector III (gem materials and laboratories) suggested that the congress programme be adapted to include a panel discussion on “CIBJO’s commitment to the struggle against the misrepresentation of jewellery industry products in promotions and advertising – print and online.”

Communications between commissions and CIBJO members

The Gemmological Commission also intends to discuss the vital need to improve communications between the national members, i.e. the national jewellery organisations and CIBJO’s associate members, throughout the year, and not just in the period leading up to the annual congress.

“CIBJO has so much to offer, and our members are simply not taking advantage of the tools and services that they can enjoy. In addition, we need the members’ input in projects such as the Gemmological Laboratory Book. I intend to take the attending members’ delegates to ask about this during our meeting,” Superchi stated.