Official International Definition
History and Role of the CIBJO
The CIBJO was created in 1961 by 10 nations that ratified new statutes and transformed a confederation (BIBOAH) that was originally formed in the early 1920s by several European countries to represent the interests of the jewellery trade.
More than 20 countries belong to the CIBJO, which has four independent sectors: manufacturing of jewellery and silverware; wholesaling of jewellery and silverware; dealing and cutting of diamonds, gemstones and pearls; and retailing of jewellery and silverware.
The CIBJO has three intersectorial commissions. One is for diamonds, one for gemstones and one for pearls. They meet periodically to revise and update three books defining the nomenclature and rules of application for good trade practices.
CIBJO Definition of a Cultured Pearl
What is the official definition of a cultured pearl such as what is produced in Tahiti and Her Islands?
The International Confederation of Jewellery, Silverware, Diamonds, Pearls and Stones (CIBJO) has defined the cultured pearl in its "Pearl Book" as follows: "Cultured pearls are nacreous formations secreted in the interior of the productive molluscs. The outer layers of cultured pearls are composed of concentric layers of an organic substance (a scleroprotein named conchiolin) and of calcium carbonate (usually in the form of aragonite). "The secretion of nacreous layers is caused by the metabolism of living molluscs themselves; human intervention only started the secretion. This applies to all cultured pearls whether with a solid nucleus and/or an organic implant. "
Other Types of Cultured Pearls The CIBJO's "Pearl Book" also defines other types of cultured pearls. There are "cultured three-quarter pearls or cultured half pearls", which have been "deliberately cultivated to a 3/4 or 1/2 round shape with nacreous layers by molluscs."
There are composite cultured pearls, which are "products resulting from man's assemblage of an upper portion of cultured pearl and one or more lower portions of the same or other substances.
Natural Pearls
The CIBJO defines natural pearls as those "natural formations secreted accidentally and without the aid of any human agency, in the interior of molluscs. They are composed of an organic substance (a scleroprotein named conchiolin) and of calcium carbonate (usually in the form of aragonite) arranged in concentric layers, the outer most of which are nacreous. The exception being the conch pearls where the layers are radial."
