CIBJO Congress Opens, Calls for Fine Jewelry Appreciation, to Consult UN
July 26, 06
In his opening speech at CIBJO’s annual congress in Vancouver, CIBJO President Dr. Gaetano Cavalieri called on the jewelry community to invest in instilling a fine jewelry culture in younger consumers, to ensure the long-term health of the market.
“Ultimately, the future growth of our market depends upon the instilling of a fine jewelry culture in the consuming public,” Cavalieri stated. “We cannot assume it will always be there, and especially not in markets where consumerism is a relatively new phenomenon. Young people today are seduced by a great number of different industries to spend their non-essential dollars. Travel, electronics and entertainment appear to attract them more than a well designed and valuable item of jewelry.”
“We know that the jewelry buying experience is habit forming. But if consumers don’t get their first taste early on, they are less likely to become big jewelry spenders in later years."
Many of the speakers at the opening session spoke about corporate responsibility, including Dr. Hanifa Mezoui, a senior official in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (ECOSOC) at the United Nations. She quoted UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, who said, “Let us choose to unite the power of markets with the authority of universal ideals. Let us choose to reconcile the creative forces of private entrepreneurship with the needs of the disadvantaged and the requirements of future generations. Let us ensure that prosperity reaches the poor. Let us choose an enlightened way forward towards our ultimate, shared goal: a global market place that is open to all and benefits all.”
She also announced that CIBJO received a special consultative status with ECOSOC. It will enable CIBJO to contribute to the programs and goals of the UN by serving as a technical expert, adviser and consultant to governments and the UN Secretariat.
“It represents an acceptance on the part of the United Nations that CIBJO in particular, and the jewelry trade in general, act as a positive force in promoting social ideals,” said Cavalieri.
Many of the speakers referred to the expected release in December of the movie “The Blood Diamond.” World Diamond Council Chairman Eli Izhakoff and Louise Prior, communications manager at the Diamond Trading Company (DTC), outlined the campaign that has been devised to provide information to the industry and jewelry buying public about that diamond industry’s efforts to eradicate the conflict diamond trade.
During the gala dinner, Izhakoff was elected Honorary President of CIBJO. The title was bestowed by Cavalieri and Matthew Runci, president of CIBJO’s Ethics Commission, following a unanimous decision by the CIBJO President’s Council, in appreciation of his life’s work on behalf of the industry. 
(Left to right) Cavalieri, Izhakoff, and Runci
“It is our great pleasure to be able to recognize Eli in this way, and to underscore the massive contribution he has made to our industry, and also to hundreds of thousands of innocent Africans who used to live in the shadow of the conflict diamond trade,” said Dr. Cavalieri. “I have been privileged to work alongside him as the chief financial officer of the World Diamond Council, and I have witnessed how he used his immense skill and personal charisma to create a coalition of industry, government and NGOs that helped reduce the volume of conflict diamonds, from about 4 percent of total output in 1999 to significantly less than 1 percent today. It is doubtful whether the Kimberley Process would have been possible were it not for his contribution.”
CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, is marking the 80th anniversary of the organization, which serves as an umbrella body for national and international jewelry associations from around the world, and from all sectors of the industry. The congress in