The jewelry market needs to do more to reach out to the young market, Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO, noted at the opening of the recent CIBJO Congress in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“Young people today are seduced by a great number of different industries to spend their nonessential dollars,” he said. “Travel, electronics, and entertainment appear to attract them more than a well-designed and valuable item of jewelry.”

“The jewelry-buying experience is habit forming,” he continued. “But if consumers don’t get their first taste early on, they are less likely to become big jewelry spenders in later years, when they are more established and more affluent.”

Also at the Congress, CIBJO announced it will receive official consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. This will let CIBJO serve as a technical expert, adviser, and consultant to governments and the U.N. Secretariat.

At the final meeting, Cavalieri—who has played a large role in raising the organization’s profile—was re-elected for another term as CIBJO president. He was first elected in 2001. In addition, World Diamond Council chairman Eli Izhakoff was named honorary president of CIBJO.

The next Congress will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2007.