Get your walking shoes ready, the dates of the Tucson Gem Show have been announced. Most of the wholesale trade shows are listing 2011 show dates as: Tuesday, February 1, through Sunday, February 6. More to come as announcements are made.
At a meeting in Tucson on Feb. 3, 2010 it was decided that uniform gemstone treatment disclosure codes would be initiated. The ICA and CIBJO will adopt and implement the current AGTA codes, setting a single standard among the three organizations.
In a recent article, "CIBJO vice president Roland Naftule noted that the set of modification codes are not intended for describing treatments to the final consumer, but are to be used within the trade, as gemstones make their way through the industry pipeline." He was also quoted as saying, "Consumers should be provided a full explanation of modifications, such as they are described in the CIBJO Coloured Gemstone Blue Book or the AGTA Gemstone Information Manual."
In a recent email to CIBJO asking when the updated "Gemstone Blue Book" would be available, JEA received the following reply; "We are finalizing the file and in the next weeks we will publish online on the CIBJO Website the Gemstone Blue Book in pdf format. Please be so kind to wait [a] few weeks until the Blue Book will be online."
Jewelers Ethics Association will implement these codes in order to support a global industry standard. JEA has begun creation of a disclosure page for the JEA website and will inform members in a future email when it is complete.