With little more than six weeks to go to the opening of the 2026 CIBJO Congress in Vicenza, Italy, on September 4, 2026, the fifth of the pre-congress Special Reports has been released. Prepared by the CIBJO Coloured Stone Commission, headed by Charles Abouchar, the report considers the necessity of carefully parsing and considering the words than can be used to describe gemstones, so as to eliminate any element of misunderstanding.
“The ultimate goal remains protecting consumer confidence through the adoption of clear and descriptive language that transparently informs,” write Mr. Abouchar.
In his report, Mr. Abouchar notes that the Coloured Stone Commission has moved to eliminate the terms “laboratory grown” and “laboratory created” from the acceptable language used to describe synthetic gemstones within its Blue Book.
“Only the term ‘synthetic’ will be permitted from September 2026 onwards to describe ‘artificial products having essentially the same chemical composition, physical properties and structure as that of their naturally occurring counterparts.’” He writes. “In making this move it is hoped that the situation in the market will become clearer and the consumer will be properly informed.”
The report also notes the imminent introduction of a new Opal Guide and Jade/Fei Cui Guide, both of which are results of years of work by expert committees, and which will be made available at no cost via the CIBJO website. Mr. Abouchar also reports that another ad-hoc working group has begun preparing a Valuations Guide, which will take into consideration the conditions and customs that exist in different parts of world.
Returning to his theme of carefully selecting the words that unambiguously describe gemstones, Mr. Abouchar discusses “fancy” descriptors frequently used. “If a ruby is given a colour description ‘pigeon blood’ in a laboratory report, it will command a premium price in the market, the client, not aware that it is not an international standard, may pay an unjustified price. In addition, today the market is flooded with new names for colours every year, and I feel that this increase of names is only for the good of the laboratories and some clever dealers,” he writes.“Having spoken with many persons from the trade about this issue, I realise that most of them see the problem and understand the difficulty it represents for consumer protection. Most agree that we should discourage the usage of these terms, or if used they should be clearly presented on the reports as being the opinion of the laboratory,” he continues.
The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) is the international jewellery confederation of national trade organisations. CIBJO’s purpose is to encourage harmonisation, promote international cooperation in the jewellery industry and to consider issues which concern the trade worldwide. CIBJO’s chief mission is to protect consumer confidence in the industry. The World Jewellery Confederation is the sole jewellery industry organisation to have Special Consultative Status with the United Nation’s Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC) and is a member of the UN Global Compact.
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