World Jewellery Confederation President Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri announced the establishment of the CIBJO Academy, which will be responsible for the preparation and delivery of educational programmes and materials, suitable for jewellery professionals and the consuming public, about standards, operating principles and terminology developed within CIBJO’s various commissions and expert committees. The announcement was made at the Vicenzaoro show in Vicenza, Italy, on 22nd January 2023.
The CIBJO Academy will be headed by industry veteran Ken Scarratt, a respected gemmologist with a career spanning 50 years. The Academy is being designed to deliver the content of the CIBJO Blue Books and guides, tailored for specific audiences. This will be done using multiple platforms including the CIBJO website, social media, webinars and live in-person events. The content will be relevant to the entire spectrum of the gemstone and jewellery industries and cover natural diamonds, laboratory-grown diamonds, coloured gemstones, pearls, coral, precious metals, principles of responsible sourcing, the operation of gem laboratories, marketing, and more.
Scarratt said, “The goal of the CIBJO Academy will be to make available to the greater jewellery community the massive body of work that is being produced on a constant basis by the commissions and special committees of World Jewellery Confederation, in a way that is a easily understood and applicable. With new generations of consumers seeking professional guidance, it is vital that all industry members become aware of, and implement, these excellent CIBJO benchmarks.”
Dr. Cavalieri noted, “Year in and year out, the various working groups within CIBJO have worked to produce and the keep up to date what are undoubtedly the most authoritative sets of harmonised standards and nomenclature in the jewellery industry. But, because they often are voluminous and very technical, we felt that they often do not reach the grass roots of the business. The role of the CIBJO Academy will be to remedy this, providing easy and comprehensible access to what is a treasure-trove of knowledge and research.”