Ahead of meeting, CIBJO issues reminder on rubies

New York--CIBJO’s Coloured Stone Commission has released a report reiterating the terminology that needs to be used for lead glass-filled rubies.

At the 2013 CIBJO Congress held in Tel Aviv, it was decided that in regards to rubies, any material that is heavily glass filled should be classified as “Ruby and Glass” and described as a “manufactured/composite material or product,” according to Nilam Alawdeen, president of the Coloured Stone Commission.

To accommodate the new classification names, the term “composite” needed to be altered in CIBJO’s Gemstone Book to describe the stones as “artificial products composed of two or more parts or layers assembled by bonding or other artificial methods. Their components may be natural and/or artificial.”

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Lead glass-filled rubies began entering the jewelry market in vast numbers in 2003. The stones are created by taking very low quality, industrial-grade ruby and infusing it with glass that has a high lead content. Some stones are more ruby than glass while other are more glass than ruby.

According to Alawdeen’s latest report, the “composite” nomenclature also will be applied to sapphires.

Additionally, CIBJO notes that the global method of disclosing colored gemstone treatments, involving the use of codes on jewelry tags and commercial documents, “(have) been in existence for four years already, but unfortunately it’s still seldom used. Consequently, this is an opportune time to remind the industry of the need for disclosure and traceability, and that a practical system is still available to do this.”

The organization also reminds the trade that the disclosure codes are meant for the use of the industry only--a more detailed explanation of the treatment or modification needs to be provided to the consumer.

At the Tel Aviv CIBJO Congress last year, the Coloured Stone Commission discussed a proposal that jadeite, omphacite and kosmochlor be incorporated into one group called “jade.”

The organization said they expect to receive an update on this at the upcoming Congress, in addition to other agenda items including emerald treatments and a report on the current state of the coral market.

The 2014 CIBJO Congress will take place in Moscow from May 19 to 21 with pre-Congress meetings scheduled for May 17 and 18.