January 22, 19 by Albert Robinson
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(IDEX Online) – CIBJO's new Responsible Sourcing Blue Book highlighted a well-attended seminar at the Vicenzaoro January jewelry trade show in Vicenza, Italy, on January 19, which also featured the precious coral sector as a case study for sustainability.<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

 

The seminar comprised the opening session of the 21st Symposium of the Federation for European Education in Gemmology (FEEG), which was hosted by the Italian Gemmological Institute. FEEG President Guy Lalous welcomed the delegates, as did Marco Carniello, Director of the Jewellery & Fashion Division of the Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), the organizer of the Vicenzaoro shows.

 

In his introduction, CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri, who moderated the opening seminar, said that that consumer confidence, without which "the entire premise on which our business is built would be meaningless," requires more than just the integrity of the product to be maintained.

 

"Today, and for about 20 years already, it has become increasingly apparent that the ways in which we, the members of the jewelry industry, behave and impact society and the environment are also fundamental components of consumer confidence. We do not operate in a moral vacuum, where the value of the products we handle are no way connected to the businesses we run. That may have been the case in the distant past, but it is no longer true - certainly not in the age of the Internet and the social media, where a photograph, video or tweet can go viral in a matter of hours," he stated.

 

Philip Olden, the President of CIBJO's Responsible Sourcing Commission, provided an overview of the new Responsible Sourcing Blue Book, which...

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