CIBJO offers its blue books free of charge to industry during COVID-19 crisis

CIBJO announced today that as a special gesture to the global gems and jewellery industry, which is grappling with the challenge of a worldwide economic shutdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the organisation will no longer be charging for downloads of its Blue Book series of industry standards and nomenclature.

“The CIBJO Blue Books are definitive sets of grading standards and nomenclature for diamonds, coloured gemstones, pearls, coral, precious metals and gemmological laboratories, and also responsible sourcing practices,” CIBJO said highlighting the importance of its Blue Books. “With an almost complete absence of jewellery industry standards endorsed by the International Standards Organisation (ISO), they are the most widely accepted set of rules and terminology, and have been recognised as such by the courts in the European Union, and by various governments and regulatory bodies around the world.”

“Given the scale of the current crisis, this clearly is a modest gesture, but one that we are keen to make,” said Gaetano Cavalieri, the CIBJO President. “Like so many other economic sectors, the jewellery business is largely at a standstill. But that is temporary, and when the markets begin moving again we believe that progress will be supported by all members of our industry working in unison, with a common set of rules and practices. That is what the Blue Books promote.”

CIBJO’s Blue Books, which have been compiled by various CIBJO Commissions, are consistently updated. “Their standards represent a consensus derived from the broad expertise on the subject within the commissions, and also from individuals outside the commissions who have expressed an interest in participating in the development of the guidelines,” CIBJO said explaining the process of formulating the Blue Books.

While the application of the Blue Books' standards is voluntary, CIBJO recommends that these standards should apply to all persons, partnerships and corporations at all stages of the jewellery chain of distribution, from the initial sourcing of all industry products up to and including the creation of jewellery.

All seven Blue Books can be downloaded at no cost from a dedicated page on the CIBJO website, located at: http://www.cibjo.org/introduction-to-the-blue-books-2/.

Courtesy - GJEPC