CIBJO proposes universal best practices for gem labs

 

Seventh pre-CIBJO Congress 2024 Special Report released 

With fewer than five weeks to go to the opening of the 2024 CIBJO Congress in Shanghai, China, on November 2, 2024, the seventh of the pre-congress Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Gemmological Commission, headed by Hanco Zwaan, the report suggests that CIBJO’s more than 300-pages-long Gemmological Laboratories Blue Book come to be used as a best-practices guideline for gem labs worldwide, possibly leading to an international listing of laboratories that comply with those standards. 

In most countries today, there is no regulation of what a gem lab is, what methodologies it uses and what standards it applies. What this means in practical terms that any persons wishing to offer gemmological laboratory services, including gem identification and grading, are free to so, irrespective of their background, education and professional training, equipment and reputation. This clearly puts both the industry and consumers at risk.

What the CIBJO Gemmological Commission proposes in its report is that the existing Gemmological Laboratories Blue Book be used as a manual for establishing recognised gem labs. 

It already aligns with ISO 17025, which is the International Standard Organisation’s approved protocol for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, but it builds upon that, providing methodologies and standards that are specific to the gemstone and jewellery industries.  

“In its entirety, the Gemmological Laboratories Blue Book spells out what is required to establish a reliable and responsible gem lab, and it lists the testing methods and expertise required to enable such a body to operate effectively,” Zwaan writes.  These include management and technical formalities, ensuring that the lab can demonstrably work independently, impartially, and without any conflicts of interest.  

The Gemmological Laboratories Blue Book also details the many elements that determine the correctness and reliability of testing and grading that typically will be undertaken by a gemmological laboratory. And like the other CIBJO Blue Books, it is always a work in progress, continuously being reviewed and updated as knowledge and technology evolve.  

At the upcoming congress in Shanghai, Zwaan writes, the Gemmological Commission will discuss the possibility of creating a mechanism by which laboratories that comply with Blue Book standards will receive a “CIBJO Acknowledgement of Gemmological Laboratories,” and be listed alongside other bodies that have earned such recognition. This could become a means by which both the industry and consumers can judge the professional nature of services being offered.  

But, noted Zwaan, “[i]t should be clear that a listing does not imply any verification or recognition by CIBJO with specific results reported in gemmological reports, and it should be clearly stated that only the laboratory in question, or the organisation of which it is part, is legally responsible for its activities.”