The CIBJO World Congress focuses on sustainability and buyer confidence

We need to bolster buyers’ confidence in the precious stones market, which has been jeopardised by the confusion caused in the market by the often aggressive marketing of synthetic diamonds (which are increasingly rarely referred to as ‘lab-grown’). And we must stay the course on sustainability, which is essential for curbing the climate change currently underway and mitigating the inequalities that undermine social cohesion. However, sustainability strategies must be more pragmatic and less ideological, procedural and regulatory, as we are burdened by an excess of unenforceable rules. Only in this way will we overcome the current crisis in the diamond sector and the slowdown in the jewellery market, thereby increasing the sector’s resilience to withstand fluctuations in the price of gold, which have caused so many problems.

These are the main topics discussed at the world congress of CIBJO – The World Jewellery Confederation, which opened yesterday as part of the Vicenzaoro trade fair, hosted by the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG). “We are celebrating the centenary of the international confederation right here in Italia to recognise the country’s world-class excellence in manufacturing and design,” said President Gaetano Cavalieri. The 600 delegates from 40 countries across all continents are coming together to consider how to overcome the current slowdown in demand and the squeeze on margins. We will see a number of strategic shifts on the horizon, because this industry is healthy, responsive and committed to building the market so that it can thrive for the next hundred years and continue to support 120 million people worldwide, from mines to jewellers, from manufacturers to precious metals exchanges, right through to trade fairs such as Vicenzaoro’.

It would be all too easy, however, to pin the blame solely on diamonds and ESG (environmental, social, governance) criteria as the sole cause of the current difficulties. Yet all the representatives from the diamond supply chain present at last year’s conference honestly uttered the taboo word: crisis. Gareth Penny, head of the consortium shortlisted by Anglo American and the Government of Botswana as the preferred bidder for De Beers, also spoke openly about it. ‘We will overcome the crisis in the diamond sector by starting with the revival of the giant De Beers,’ he said. ‘A revival that must be based on emotional marketing, on the promise of love that a diamond ring conveys. We must understand that the sector does not sell chemistry, but emotions. After all, it was De Beers that created the demand for diamonds a hundred years ago through highly effective marketing; and now the same company can and must help reignite buyers’ passion and help the entire sector get back on its feet. But we need to work strategically to regain ground, because, for example, a full half of the US market for engagement rings is now dominated by synthetic diamonds, at the expense of natural ones.”

Representatives from all the sectors represented at the congress (primarily precious stones, gold, platinum and jewellery) have, not surprisingly, welcomed the work of the CIBIJO Diamond Commission, which is rewriting the definitions and rules to update the Blue Book, which is also used in a legal context. Further changes are on the way regarding the definition of precious jade – a market second only to that of diamonds, but where confusion is undermining buyers’ confidence.

The Cibjo conference will continue until Monday 7 September. And it’s a safe bet that delegates will continue to discuss ways of restoring consumer confidence, the new definition of synthetic diamonds (no longer referred to as ‘lab-grown’), and new marketing strategies and ‘sustainable sustainability’.