CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has established an industrywide Consumer Confidence Commission (CCC). “We hope to lay the groundwork for what will become a global strategy for consumer confidence in our business community and the products we sell,” says CIBJO president Gaetano Cavalieri.

“If consumers lose their confidence in jewelry, particularly in gem-set jewelry, the future of our industry is in peril,” Cavalieri says. “Under CIBJO’s unifying banner, we will have the best chance to retain not only the market’s trust but also increase our general market share.”

He adds, “During the past months, we have been confronted with a number of topics that, if not tackled properly, will lead to a loss of consumer confidence in jewelry, and as such have the capacity of severely damaging our industry. Recent examples of such topics are synthetic diamonds which, when not properly and fully disclosed, can create havoc in the diamond jewelry business. Another issue of concern is that of money laundering in the diamond and gem trade pipeline,” he says.

Cavalieri stresses that “the jewelry industry and trade worldwide needs to address, tackle, and solve these issues without delay, thus taking them off the industry’s agenda, and, consequently, off the agenda of industry watchdogs, interest groups, and a variety of NGOs.”

For more information about CIBJO, log onto www.CIBJO.org.