The CIBJO also known as the World Jewellery Confederation, is an international confederation of jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...

, gemstone

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

, horology

Horology

Horology is the art or science of measuring time. Clocks, watches, clockwork, sundials, clepsydras, timers, time recorders and marine chronometers are all examples of instruments used to measure time.People interested in horology are called horologists...

, and silverware

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 trade organisations. Its primary purpose is as a decision-making body, to create and maintain standards

Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....

 and promote cooperation within these interconnected organisations; it seeks to cement nomenclature and set best practice

Best practice

A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark...

 guidelines to better engender consumer confidence

Consumer confidence

Consumer confidence is an economic indicator which measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about the overall state of the economy and their personal financial situation. How confident people feel about stability of their incomes determines their spending activity and therefore serves as...

. Originally a Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an confederation, the CIBJO was founded in 1926 under the name BIBOA. It later expanded to become the CIBJO in 1961, and now includes representatives of 36 countries; the CIBJO was renamed CIBJO the World Jewellery Confederation in 2000. It is now based in Switzerland and its current president is Gaetano Cavalieri.

The CIBJO's operations include the development of the Blue Book

Blue book

Blue book or Bluebook is a term often referring to an almanac or other compilation of statistics and information. The term dates back to the 15th century, when large blue velvet-covered books were used for record-keeping by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Government :* At the European...

, a three-part publication outlining terminology, classification, and ethical

Ethics

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...

 guidelines (i.e., disclosure of treatments and synthetics) for coloured gemstones, diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

s, and pearl

Pearl

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...

s. Each part is coordinated by a separate commission. Similarly, the CIBJO Laboratory

Laboratory

A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...

 Commission (CLC), founded in the 1990s, seeks to harmonise standards used by gemmological

Gemology

Gemology or gemmology is the science dealing with natural and artificial gems and gemstones. It is considered a geoscience and a branch of mineralogy...

 laboratories—it has met limited success, but had the support of major laboratories such as those of the Gemological Institute of America

Gemological Institute of America

The Gemological Institute of America, or GIA, is a nonprofit institute dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts. Founded in 1931, GIA's mission is to protect all buyers and sellers of gemstones by setting and maintaining the standards used to evaluate...

 and Gemmological Association of Great Britain

Gemmological Association of Great Britain

The Gemmological Association of Great Britain, also known as Gem-A, is an international gemmology education and qualifications body based in the UK.-History:...

. Among other functions, the CLC inspects and registers diamond master sets (sets of differently-tinted diamonds or cubic zirconia

Cubic zirconia

Cubic zirconia is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide . The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirconium silicate...

 used for colour grading) and sets diamond grading policy for its member labs.

, the CLC is working with the Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee (LMHC; a committee of independent gemmologists) to develop a technical manual outlining the description of coloured stones and the disclosure of their treatments. Cooperation with the International Organization for Standardization

International Organization for Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...

 (ISO) is also sought by the CIBJO. The guidelines published by the CIBJO have been used in several court rulings; in a recent (December 2004) example, a Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 district court ordered the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 distributor of Gemesis

Gemesis

The Gemesis Corporation is a privately-held company founded by Carter Clarke in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The corporation grows diamonds using proprietary technology....

 Corporation—a producer of gem-quality synthetic diamond

Synthetic diamond

Synthetic diamond is diamond produced in a technological process; as opposed to natural diamond, which is created in geological processes. Synthetic diamond is also widely known as HPHT diamond or CVD diamond, denoting the production method, High-Pressure High-Temperature synthesis and Chemical...

—to cease describing their product as "cultured", based on the Blue Books guidelines on misleading terminology.

Policy is discussed and decided during the annual CIBJO Congress, a four-day conference of trade leaders held in a different city each year. The 2010 is due to be held in Munich.

Listed Cibjo Laboratories world wide

Australia
Diamond Certification Laboratory of Australia DCLA

Austria
Österreichische Gemmologische Gesellschaft (ÖGEMG)

Brazil
Instituto Brasileiro de Gemas e Metais Preciosos (IBGM)

China
BG Gemological Institute

France
Laboratoire Français de Gemmologie de la C.C .I.P.

Germany
DDI Deutsches Diamant Institut (Diamonds)
Deutsches Edelstein Tesinstitut

Hong Kong
Hong Kong Jade & Stone Laboratory Ltd

India
Gemmological Institute of India

Italy
CISGEM

Japan
Japan Jewellery Association

The Netherlands
Nederlands Edelsteen Laboratorium (Netherlands Gemmological Laboratory)

Spain
Col.legi Oficial de Joiers, d'Orfebres, de Rellotgers i de Gemmòlegs de Catalunya (JORGC)
Instituto Gemológico Español (IGE)

Switzerland
SSEF Swiss Gemmological Institute

Thailand
Gemmological Testing Laboratory of the Gem & Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT)

United Arab Emirates
Dubai Central Laboratory

United States of America
IGI - USA