CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation, has begun the process of upgrading its online presence with a total revamp of its main website at www.cibjo.org. The new site is not just a technological upgrade from the earlier site, but offers better content and functionality as well, the organisation said in a statement.

The website launch is the first stage of a three-part upgrade of CIBJO's online presence, which will be rolled out over the coming few weeks. It will be followed by the inauguration of a members-only module, called "MY CIBJO," which will provide online services for members of the organisation and its various professional committees, called commissions, and then by the release of a CIBJO app for mobile phones and tablet computers.

The newly launched website is designed so that it can be grown organically, adding an ever-increasing amount of information about CIBJO and the issues facing the international jewellery and gemstone sector. It also will serve as a platform upon which CIBJO is able to deliver its tools and services for the industry, including its Blue Books of industry standards and nomenclature for the diamond, coloured gemstone, pearl, coral and precious metals sectors, and also gemmological laboratories. For non-CIBJO members, certain of these are available at a nominal fee, payable via the website.

Gaetano Cavalieri, the CIBJO President said that the website, which is now over a decade old, has been the primary medium for presenting the organisation and the work it does on behalf of the jewellery and gemstone sectors, as well as for achieving connectivity between member organisations, office holders and constituents

"We have had an online presence for more than a decade and have expanded and evolved it as the technology has improved. But we now felt it was time for a fundamental overhaul, involving more than just an oil change, but rather a replacement of the both the engine and the operating system," he explained.