February 2, 2018

Russian Government Signs MOU with CIBJO and AWDC

Russian Government signs MOU with CIBJO and AWDC, aims to harmonise Russian diamond classification system with international standard

MOSCOW, RUSSIAN FEDERATION: JANUARY 25, 2018 – The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), with the goal of harmonizing the official system used in Russia for the classification of polished diamonds with the standards and nomenclature applied internationally. The agreement was signed on January 24, 2018, in the Russian capital by Alexei Vladmirovich Moiseev, Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation, Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO, and Stephane Fischler, President of AWDC.

Signing the MOU in Moscow on January 25 (from left): Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, CIBJO President; Alexei Vladmirovich Moiseev, Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation; and Stephane Fischler, AWDC President. To their left are seated Ans Anthonis, of HRD Antwerp, and Tatiana Gorelenkova, of Gokhran of Russia.

In the MOU, the parties agreed to define the priority areas where harmonization is critical, and to formulate ways of achieving it in the most accurate way possible. The object of the agreement is to ensure that the system by which polished diamonds are classified and described in the Russian Federation are in accordance with the most widely accepted standards in the international trade.

“The ultimate aim of this agreement is to achieve absolute transparency in a worldwide business, where a dealer working in one country can communicate accurately and correctly with a dealer in another country, and the welfare and the confidence of consumers are properly defended,” said Dr. Cavalieri. “We work in an industry where any one item of jewellery is likely to be comprised of components mined and produced in a multitude of countries. Among ourselves we might speak in a variety of languages and dialects, but when it comes to describing the products, we must have a single reference guide, irrespective from where they were sourced. This is what makes this latest agreement so important, and we hope that it will be followed by others.”

Dr. Cavalieri thanked the Russian government, the head of Gokhran Andrey Yurin and his team, for their ongoing cooperation. Gokhran is the state repository with responsibility for precious metals and gemstones. He paid special thanks to AWDC and its President, Stephane Fischler, for helping initiate the discussion and bring it to a successful result. He was accompanied by Moscow by Udi Sheintal, President of the CIBJO Diamond Commission, and Jean-Pierre Chalain, Vice President of the CIBJO Diamond Commission.

The CIBJO Diamond Blue Book was the reference document used in the discussions between the Russian Government, CIBJO and AWDC, and is widely recognized as the most universally accepted delineation of polished diamond grading standards and nomenclature, along with the International Standards Organisation’s ISO 18323 Standard (“Jewellery – Consumer confidence in the diamond industry”), which closely parallels the CIBJO document. At the CIBJO Congress in Bangkok last November, the final stages of an agreement bringing the rules of International Diamond Council (IDC) in line with the Diamond Blue Book were completed, cementing the CIBJO document’s status as the primary reference book for nomenclature in the diamond and jewellery business.
Members of the Russian government, CIBJO and AWDC negotiating teams after the signing ceremony: Roman Samunekov, Deputy Head of Gokhran; Jean-Pierre Chalain, Vice President of the CIBJO Diamond Commission; Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri, CIBJO President; Yulia Goncharenko, Deputy Department Director, Russian Ministry of Finance; Andrey Yurin; Head of Gokhran; Stephane Fischler, AWDC President; Ans Anthonis, HRD Antwerp; Tatiana Gorelenkova, Gokhran; and Udi Sheintal, President of the CIBJO Diamond Commission.

Apetite for Crystals – Apatite

“ … a sneaky stone often referred to as ‘the deceiver’, apatite brings drama and flair to jewellery designs … ”

Posted in Gemstones Apatite Crystals

What would life be without challenges? The victorious air punch once you’ve identified a stone is a work place hazard, but also a part of the fun of being a gemmologist. Apatite is one of those sneaky stones that likes to play dress up and makes our detective work all the more challenging.
A lesser-known gem in the mainstream jewellery world, the apatite group has a lot to offer the world of gemmology. The Greek word apate translates as ‘deceit’, given that this gemstone not only looks like other gems and crystals it is also regularly confused for other gems because of similar readings in the lab it’s often referred to as the ‘deceiver’.

Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals belonging to the hexagonal crystal system.It has a varying chemical formula of Ca5(PO4)3(F,Cl,OH) where Ca may be replaced by Mn, Mg, Sr or rare earths (Nd, Pr), Ce, or U and substitution in the terminal group yields fluorapatite, hydroxyapatite, chlorapatite or carbonate-apatite. Gem apatites are typically the fluorine-rich type, known as fluorapatites.

Colours are typically yellow-brown, yellow-green to green-blue, with vivid blue apatite being particularly rare and popular. Not only does apatite get confused for many other minerals it also plays host to them as well with typical inclusions of tourmaline, glass, biotite, goethite, hematite, manganese oxide, and pyrrhotite. Crystals are either short hexagonal prisms or hexagonal tabular. Although chatoyancy is a very common phenomenon in green or yellow apatite, deep blue apatite with a cat’s-eye effect is quite rare. A favourite crystal of his collection, Bunny, Made In Earth’s owner and designer, loves the drama these deep blue/green crystals bring to his jewellery designs.

“Apatite crystals are a nice break from the transparent quartz and tourmaline. The deep blues bring a burst of colour and their well-defined crystal forms add bold shapes to my designs. Although I love our apatite crystals, I’ve recently added cat’s eye apatite cabochons to our collection. The sheen contrasts against the blue/green body colour of the stones to really show off this phenomenon. Like most gemstones, the price of apatite has risen so obtaining these unusual varieties is becoming more difficult.”

With a hardness of 5 on MOHs scale, Apatite is a relatively soft stone and should be worn with caution. Its softness can make it difficult to cut and polish, something Bunny has had experience with.

“We tend to have rough with beautiful deep blue colour but lacking the translucency to really see its potential. I’ve managed to polish some cabochons into slices so that the light can transmit through the stone. The end result is amazing but the softness of apatite means we’ve lost a few stones in the process.”

While gemmologists are accustomed to gem-trickery and the challenge of the unknown, there will always be gems that fly under the radar and pop up when we least expect it (we should be used to it by now). Apatite masquerades as other gems although it has its own unique beauty to be adored.

Pearls and coral placed in the spotlight at CIBJO/IEG seminar

Vicenza, 23rd January 2018. Environmental, as well as social and economic responsibility in the jewellery sector were the focus of a seminar scheduled for Monday,…

Posted in Events, News, World News CIBJO Environmental IEG Pearls Sustainability Vicenzaoro

Vicenza, 23rd January 2018. Environmental, as well as social and economic responsibility in the jewellery sector were the focus of a seminar scheduled for Monday, January 22, 2018, during the VICENZAORO January 2018 jewellery trade show in Vicenza, Italy. Titled “Green and Blue Jewellery, Environmentally Sustainable Luxury,” the seminar was organised by CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, and the Italian Exhibition Group, and took place from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM in Hall 7.1.b – TIZIANO Room at Fiera di Vicenza.

Environmental sustainability, which refers to the ability of biological systems to remain diverse and productive over the course of time, is not generally associated with the world of jewellery, where many of the raw materials are mined. Once removed from the earth, they do not grow back again. Nonetheless, sustainability is of critical importance in today’s jewellery sector, and has been approached in recent years predominantly from a social and economic perspective. This is because the valuable natural resources that are used in jewellery can provide sustainable economic and social opportunities to people and communities in the often-impoverished areas of the world where they are located.

But there are sectors of the jewellery industry, where both the product and the business can be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable. These most often involve organic materials living in a marine environment, where sustainability is made possible through aquafarming, such as with cultured pearls, and to a lesser degree precious coral.

Unlike a mine, which has a finite life span, a pearl farm can continue producing indefinitely, on condition that it is responsibly operated. In other words, it is an asset that can be regenerated and sustained, and in turn act as a resource for sustainable economic and social opportunity. Precious coral, in contrast, is harvested from deep water natural reefs. Here, sustainability is maintained mainly by ensuring that production levels remain below the ability of the coral reefs to grow and regenerate on their own. However, research currently is being undertaken to investigate the means of actively restoring precious coral reefs in protected zones.

The blue-ribbon panel that discussed “Green and Blue Jewellery, Environmentally Sustainable Luxury” at the seminar at VICENZAORO was made up of leading experts from across the globe. This included Laurent Cartier, SSEF, Basel, Switzerland, the co-founder of the Sustainable Pearls Project; Justin Hunter, J. Hunter Pearls, Fiji, President of the Fiji Pearl Association and a key initiator of Fiji’s new pearl industry development project; Shigeru Akamatsu, Mikimoto Pearls, Japan, and Vice President of the CIBJO Pearl Commission; Jacques Christophe Branellec, Jewelmer Joaillerie, Phillippines, and Vice President of the CIBJO Pearl Commission; and Rui Galopim de Carvalho, the founder of the Portugal Gemas Academy, Portugal, and Vice President of the CIBJO Coral Commission.

The seminar was the latest in a series of educational events organized by CIBJO and the Italian Exhibition Group and was part of their joint programme, endorsed by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), to support Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability in the international jewellery sector.

“As the experience of the pearl and precious coral industries shows, we should not only strive to be environmentally and socially responsible corporate citizens from the moral and ethical perspective, but such an approach is also critical if we want to optimise our economic viability over the long term,” said Gaetano Cavalieri, President of CIBJO. “Our potential for producing top-quality products is largely dependent on the health of the marine ecosystem, as it is on the commitment by local communities to our industry and our joint business goals.”

“What the seminar underlined is there should be no comprises made when it comes to jewellery and environmental and social responsibility,” said Corrado Facco, Managing Director of the Italian Exhibition Group and Vice President of CIBJO. “Our goal should be that when consumers purchase an item of jewellery, they are inspired to do so not only because it is valuable, beautiful and emotionally significant, but also because it contributes to improving the wellbeing of ordinary people in developing countries, as well as to the protection of the natural environment.”

Day: February 2, 2018

Russian Government Signs MOU with CIBJO and AWDC

Further reading:

Apetite for Crystals – Apatite

Further reading:

Pearls and coral placed in the spotlight at CIBJO/IEG seminar

Further reading: