The World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) honoured the memory and legacy of its Vice President, Roland Naftule, who passed away peacefully at age 85 on 1st April, 2023, in San Diego, California, surrounded by his family.
Naftule served as the President of CIBJO’s Sector A for more than two decades and oversaw the association’s Blue Book series, which is widely followed and provides a common language and frame of reference for the industry. Naftule’s grandfather, Leon Naftule, established a lapidary in 1926, which later became Naftule Fils, a mainstay of the Swiss industry.
Roland joined the family business in 1952 and expanded it to the United States, where he travelled around the city selling gemstones. In 1983, he served as the President of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) and in 1984, he was a founding organiser of the International Coloured Stone Association (ICA).
In 1989, he was the founding organiser and first Chairman of the Gemstone Industry & Laboratory Conference (GILC), which is dedicated to harmonising terminology provided on reports by leading gemmological laboratories. Naftule served on the Board of Governors of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) for 12 years and was the Chairman of the GIA’s coloured gemstone advisory and museum committees.
During his term as CIBJO’s Sector A President, he expanded the sector’s scope of activity from diamonds, coloured gemstones and pearls to include precious corals and gemmological laboratories. His work forms the basis of standards adopted across the globe and are ensconced into various national laws and regulations.
Two ISO standards related to jewellery were adopted by the International Organisation for Standardisation, largely based on work done within the CIBJO Diamond Commission, under Naftule’s supervision and leadership. Naftule is survived by his wife Fabienne, his daughters Myriam and Stephanie, and their families.
CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri said, “The term ‘an industry giant’ is often over-used, but in Roland’s case it is an understatement. His contribution to our community is immense, beginning with coloured gemstones, his first love, but spreading to every facet and corner of what we do. I mourn the loss not only of a mentor, advisor and confidant, but of a close personal friend, who was more of a brother.”