CIBJO Coral Commission First Coral Blue Book to be submitted for consideration at CIBJO Congress in Salvador, Brazil By Vincenzo Liverino, President CIBJO Precious Coral Commission By Vincenzo Liverino, President CIBJO Coral Commission A milestone will be registered when the CIBJO Congress gathers in Salvador, Brazil, in May 2015, because for the first time in the history of the organisation it will be asked to authorize a document listing terminology, rules and standards of business for coral. In so doing, the CIBJO General Assembly will accept a new Coral Book, which will take CIBJO SPECIAL REPORT 2015 CORAL PAGE 1 its place alongside CIBJO’s other Blue Books of industry standards and nomenclature, including Diamonds, Coloured Gemstones, Pearls, Gemmology and Precious Metals. Precious coral has been a fixture in jewellery for much of recorded history, but it was only in 2012, at the CIBJO Congress in Vicenza, Italy, that a Coral Working Group was created. The initiative to establish such a forum came through ABOVE: A coral necklace by Bulgari. Part of the Faerber Collection. contributions from the CIBJO members with the intention of putting the final touches to the Coral Blue Book, which will then be submitted for approval to Sector A, and consequently to the CIBJO Board of Directors. The steering committee also provided support to an informative website about precious coral called Sustainable Coral (www.sustainablecoral. org). Its purpose is to inform consumers, media and trade about different types of corals, where they come from and possible treatments. Furthermore, this platform aims to raise awareness about sustainability issues in the coral industry. Vincenzo Liverino, Commission. President, CIBJO Coral the efforts of a number of coral jewellery dealers and manufacturers, who not only felt that coral was under-represented and not properly understood in the jewellery industry, but also believed that the processes and methodologies that had been developed in CIBJO for other industry sectors could greatly enhance the position of their product. During its first year of operation, the Coral Working Group produced a 38-page educational document, which described for the industry what precious coral is, where it is found, how it is harvested, manufactured and applied. In many respects that document was a precursor for what would be done later, and that was to compile a fully-fledged Coral Blue Book. To put that process in motion, the Coral Working Group was transformed into a Coral Commission last year at the CIBJO Congress in Moscow. The leadership of the commission included: the President, Vincenzo Liverino, from Enzo Liverino 1894 in Italy, and the Vice President, Pornsawat Wathanakul from GIT in Thailand, along with steering committee members, Laurent Cartier, Elfriede Schwarzer, Janice Lu and Nilam Alawdeen. Other experts from around the world were consulted as well. During the congress in Brazil, the steering committee intends to collect suggestions and CIBJO SPECIAL REPORT 2015 CORAL PAGE 2 Objectives of the commission and Blue Book The purpose of the CIBJO Coral Commission is to both preserve and develop trading in coral, and jewellery comprising coral, through the development and codifying of regulations and standards that promote consumer confidence and fair trade. The Coral Blue Book will be an integral part of this process. It has been designed to provide knowledge about the product, as well as to assist all those involved in the trade, by recording the accepted and common trade practices, and creating a set of standard nomenclature for the industry throughout the world. Pornsawat Wathanakul, Vice President of CIBJO’s Gemmological Commission. Corals can be treated to enhance their appearance, and such processes typically include bleaching, dyeing, waxing and impregnation, to enhance colour or the stability of the material. The Blue Book describes treatments and the methods by which they should be disclosed. The Precious Coral Blue Book is organized according to normative references. The terms and definitions are expansive and are extensively cross-referenced throughout, associating the classifications of materials, with normative clauses, annexes and tables. The standard and rules are non-judgmental. The definitions and processes contained in the document have been formatted and worded to ensure that the handling and trade of coral is transparent and honest. The stability of the marketplace depends on the declaration of all known facts about the product, using proper and standard nomenclature, thus CIBJO SPECIAL REPORT 2015 CORAL PAGE 3 ensuring a fully informed purchase or sale. This needs to be the case throughout the distribution pipeline, all the way to the final consumer. A jewellery product for more than 2000 years Corals are marine invertebrates that have formed in nature without human intervention. Living in colonies comprised of genetically identical polyps, they secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton that is characteristic of their particular species. Billions of superimposed skeletons thus create impressive underwater constructions of different structures, forming cliffs, reefs and atolls. The vast majority of coral is referred to as common, and these are mostly calcareous types that are usually found in reefs from zero to 15 meters deep. Precious corals are those varieties that are used in jewellery and decoration. Typically they are red, pink and white varieties, and usually found in deep-sea coral banks. They frequently are cut and polished, and develop a porcelain-like lustre after processing. According to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), which is an international agreement between governments, most coral species are protected. Only a few (the corallium species) are allowed to be used for jewellery. Precious coral has been used in jewellery for more than 2,000 years, as amulets, ornamental objects, currency, medicine, aphrodisiac, art material, talisman and even tiles. It was bartered in many Asian markets, years before the birth of Christ, taking on the function of currency. But its primordial use has always been as an amulet and personal ornament. A partnership with environmentalists Corals are a precious and threatened resource. Speaking at the Pacific Precious Coral Forum in Taiwan last year, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri noted that our industry and the environmentalists are on the same side. “The precious coral industry cannot be branded as an environmentally insensitive business sector,” Dr. Cavalieri told the forum. “On the contrary, it needs to be seen that it is acutely aware of the environment, because it depends on a healthy environment and healthy coral for its livelihood.” “People need to associate coral jewellery with good environmental management,” he said. “Environmentally conscious consumers should go out of their way to purchase precious coral jewellery, and certainly not avoid it.” ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation 2015 www.cibjo.org CIBJO SPECIAL REPORT 2015 CORAL PAGE 4
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