CIBJO Releases Gemmological Special Report On Criteria For Gem Variety Names

CIBJO released the sixth of this year’s Special Reports with fewer than two weeks to go to the opening of the 2021 CIBJO Congress on 1st November 2021. Prepared by CIBJO’s Gemmological Commission, headed by Hanco Zwaan, the report focuses on two issues, namely, the establishment of criteria for defining gem variety names, and the creation of an international set of standards, practices and nomenclature mainly for the jade and jadeite gem materials referred to as Fei Cui.

A new Committee on Varietal Names was established after the last CIBJO Congress, which took place in Bahrain in 2019, under the auspices of the Gemmological Commission Steering Committee. It has already produced a preliminary draft of a document listing gem materials and definitions, which will be presented and discussed during the Gemmological Commission’s online session on November 3, as part of the upcoming CIBJO Congress.

Fei Cui, which is a trade name predominantly used in Asian countries, is associated with the minerals jadeite, omphacite and kosmochlor, and represents a jewellery category that has an annual global net worth second only to diamonds. In its respect, CIBJO has set up a working group that is charged with creating universally accepted standards, practices and nomenclature, building upon the body of work already carried out by the Gemmological Association of Hong Kong (GAHK), the National Gem Testing Centre of Beijing and others. “CIBJO is interested in sending a signal that it is also keen to address issues that are mainly relevant in non-Western countries,” Mr. Zwaan writes.

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