The guide is not intended to replace CIBJO’s more comprehensive Blue Books but is instead designed to offer a quick and The guide is not intended to replace CIBJO’s more comprehensive Blue Books but is instead designed to offer a quick and simple set of guidelines for jewellery business owners and professional staff.
Notably, one of the new ethical guidelines states that retailers must disclose all treatments that have been applied to a diamond – such as irradiation, coating, heating and annealing – whether it is natural or synthetic.
Previously, De Beers has maintained that it does not need to disclose colour processes related to its Lightbox synthetic diamonds, because the colouration is simply another step in the manufacturing process.
Roland Naftule, president of CIBJO Sector A, said: “We encourage all members of the industry to become familiar with the various Blue Books, but we appreciate that on the spur of the moment they can be overwhelming in terms of size and complexity. For that reason, we produced this more concise and easily-read guide, with the goal being to promote consumer confidence through ethical trade.”
The 10-page document is available in English, Arabic, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Italian and Portuguese, with more languages to come, and can be downloaded here.