GJ Town India

Tenth pre-CIBJO Congress 2024 Special Report released   With fewer than two weeks to go to the opening of the 2024 CIBJO Congress in Shanghai, China, on November 2, 2024, the tenth and final of the pre-congress Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Technology Committee, headed by Stéphane Fischler, the report reviews a momentous period in the introduction of new technologies into the jewellery industry, noting that artificial intelligence (AI) may soon be driving the most efficient ways of using data to optimize the various processes in our industry.   “Yes, many challenges remain, and there is a lot of hype for sure,” Fischler writes. “Those are well known caveats that it’s important we appreciate, especially when incorporating or investing in any new technological strategy or use. But we should focus on the positive, because we undoubtedly work in an industry that has been progressively and constructively impacted by the adoption of new technology-driven pr

  Much to learn within our oceans & waterways: CIBJO   With fewer than six weeks to go to the opening of the 2024 CIBJO Congress in Shanghai, China, on November 2, 2024, the sixth of the pre-congress Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Pearl Commission, headed by Kenneth Scarratt, the report looks at environmental and biochemical research being carried out on pearls and in the waters in which the pearl oysters live, and the likely impact that the knowledge gained will have on pearl farming, marketing and the quality of the product itself.   As it did in 2023, the report considers the effects of micro plastics that pollute the waters both in the wild and the vicinity of pearling farms, and which have been detected in sediments and in the oysters themselves. In culturing areas, Scarratt notes that an important evidence has been collected that indicates that exposure to micro plastics may impact the appearance of bio minerals and the expression of bio mine

Eye on challenges of ethical coloured stone supply chains    With fewer than seven weeks to go to the opening of the 2024 CIBJO Congress in Shanghai, China, on November 2, 2024, the fifth of the pre-congress Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Coloured Stone Commission, headed by Charles Abouchar, the report examines the challenges faced by members of the coloured gemstone sector in ensuring ethical provenance in their supply chains, where materials are most often artisanally mined and handled by multiple traders.   In an industry where a supply chain typically traverses multiple borders, social and environmental laws and regulations are unevenly created and enforced in different countries, with standards tending to be more lax in some of the nations where products are sourced and manufactured, the Coloured Stone Commission President wrote. “We fully support the idea of working in the direction of progress,” Abouchar continued. “But properly verifying the p

Coral Commission Special Report looks at research into sustaining and repopulating precious coral reefs The eighth and the final of the CIBJO commissions' Special Reports have been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Coral Commission, headed by Vincenzo Liverino, the report looks at a variety of topics related to precious coral reef sustainability, including government regulation of harvesting, research into methods for repopulating depleted areas, the use of DNA and Blockchain in achieving traceability, and online education. "The industry encourages the enforcement of the current regulations and, as more scientific data on existing [precious coral] populations becomes available, hopes that harvesting and conservation practices be adapted so that resources are better managed, which is in the best interest of not only the ecosystem, but also the trade," writes Mr. Liverino. The special report highlights a number of research projects currently underway in Ja