Taking forward the project for the development of a harmonised grading system for pearls will be high on the agenda of the CIBJO Pearl Commission when it meets at the organisation’s Congress which is to take place at Brazil in early May. This was indicated by Kenneth Scarratt, head of the Pearl Commission in his Special Report released yesterday.

The Pearl Commission report is the sixth document released by CIBJO outlining the key points on the agenda of the Congress in different spheres.

Scarratt writes that the organisation has already done some significant work towards applying proper rules and standards in the pearl trade, and says that the Pearl Blue Book it has published is extremely important because “stability of the market place depends upon the use of the proper nomenclature and the declaration of all known facts that ensure a fully informed purchase or sale."

The Book will be updated post the Congress.

On the issue of harmonised grading, the Commission’s Vice President, Jeanne Lecourt, who is also the President of the French Polynesia Pearl Federation (FPPF), said, "Rapid globalization of the pearl culturing industry during 1970s saw various pearls beginning to be cultured in many countries using various species of the pearl-oyster.”

She points out that as a result “consumers… now enjoy a wide selection of various types of cultured pearls. However, if they are not supplied with adequate information on the kind of the pearls, and their quality and treatments, they will inevitably be confused which may result in a distrust of cultured pearls."

CIBJO’s Moscow Congress had decided to set up a working group to develop a Pearl Grading System and submit a final proposition.

“We look forward to making progress on the harmonised pearl grading system at the upcoming CIBJO Congress in Brazil, where it is hoped that an initial concept being devised by Nick Paspaley will be ready for discussion,” she adds.