CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri attended the Hong Kong International Show, as an officiating VIP guest during the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre on March 5. His participation reiterated CIBJO’s key role in the present gem and jewellery industry and its focus on maintaining consumer confidence.

He was accompanied by Rep. Starry Lee Wai-king, a member of Legislative Council of Hong Kong representing the constituency of Kowloon West; Bi Lijun, Vice Director of the National Gems & Jewellery Technology Administrative Centre of the Ministry of Land and Resources of the Peoples' Republic of China, Fred Lam, Executive Director of the Hong King Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Lawrence Ma, Chairman of the HKTDC Jewellery Advisory Committee.

Dr. Cavalieri also participated as a keynote speaker at a seminar organised at the Hong Kong International Show on the Global J-ID Management Label Scheme, which has been developed by the Hong Kong Jewellery Manufacturers' Association, in partnership with the Hong Kong Productivity Council and with the support of the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Government of Hong Kong SAR. The scheme involves a permanent barcode laser-engraved on a jewellery item, which contains information about the jewellery and its manufacturing company. The barcode can be read using a specially developed J-ID reader, and customers can confirm the barcode information on J-ID's official website.

"We deal in products that reflect people's dreams, desires and feelings of self-image," Dr. Cavalieri said in his address. This brings with it a very high degree of responsibility, for our clients will not tolerate a situation in which their dreams, desires or feelings of self-image are compromised by jewellery and gemstones with tarnished reputations. Our clients' trust is the very foundation of our business. Full disclosure, personal integrity and traceability are essential to maintain our client's trust. We have to disclose exactly what we are selling, from where the jewellery was sourced and how it was manufactured and graded."

Dr. Cavalieri praised the development of the Global J-ID Management Label Scheme, which he said "disclose to clients what they are buying and provide a jewellery item with instant traceability." He identified that the J-ID system used the terminology and nomenclature contained in the CIBJO Blue Books.