Vicenza, January 17th, 2010 - Precious stones are in the spotlight at VICENZAORO First 2010 thanks to the Laboratory Manual Harmonization Committee (LMHC) conference held on January 17th and organized by CISGEM, the gemmology laboratory of Milan’s Chamber of Commerce. The
title of the conference is: “Precious stone certification in the world”.

Representatives of the six most prominent gemmology laboratories in the world have taken part in the works: Kenneth Scarratt (GIA Laboratory, USA), Ahmadjan Abduriyim (GAAJ Laboratory, Japan), Pornsawat Wathanakul (GIT - Gem Testing Laboratory, Thailand), Lore Kiefert (Gübelin Gem Lab, Switzerland), Jean-Pierre Chalain (SSEF - Swiss Gemmological Institute, Switzerland) and Elena Gambini (CISGEM S.p.A., Italy). The conference closed with the address by Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO, The World Jewellery Confederation, while both the speeches and the open discussion with the audience were chaired by Dario Bossi, president of CISGEM.

CISGEM S.p.A., GAAJ, GIA, GIT, Gübelin Gem Lab and SSEF, the most authoritative laboratories in the world in terms of expertise, representation and state-of-the-art technology, chose VICENZAORO First to strengthen their dialogue with the industry. The event was organised
in bundle with Fiera di Vicenza and provided a remarkable opportunity to discuss and share scientific and regulatory issues having to do with precious stone trade in the world.

The most debated issues among the speakers and the players were an insight on the regulations, laws and standards in force in different Countries, the definition both of commercial terminology and the technical-scientific specifications of new natural materials and finally the applied
techniques for synthetic production and treatment.

The organizing committee was extremely satisfied with the outcome. "The conference gave two main contributions: all players addressed issues which in the past were exclusively dealt with by
technicians – said Dario Bossi, president of CISGEM – and light was shed on harmonizing the language used in gemmology certificates. I am very confident that this conference, too, will contribute to accelerate and raise awareness in the market on the need to certify stones, to foster
fair competition among companies and be transparent before consumers.

Once again I would like to thank Fiera Vicenza for making it possible for this event to happen”. "Besides certification as an authoritative instrument for all players in the market - stated Gaetano Cavalieri, president of CIBJO – the social responsibility of producers is the other necessary
leverage to give new vitality to the jewellery market both in Italy and abroad.

Today’s challenges are fought on quality but also, and most importantly, on transparency and traceability, which have to comply with an internationally acknowledged self-discipline code of conduct. Only thus can we
control and monitor the entire mining, production and distributive processes involving precious stones and protect both the companies and the consumers”.

CISGEM S.p.A. - gemmology laboratory of Milan’s Chamber of Commerce, about two years ago CISGEM went public and for over 40 years it has been the most authoritative Italian centre for the analysis of diamonds, precious stones, pearls and precious metals. It is the only laboratory recognized by CIBJO and it is a member of the LMHC, a group comprising of the 6 most important and qualified gemmology laboratories in the world, located in Europe, Asia and the USA. CISGEM provides the industry and the public with
analysis services to identify and certify the nature and technical specifications of diamonds, precious stones, pearls, studs and precious metals.

LMHC - (Laboratory Manual Harmonization Committee) is an independent group that meets periodically to devise a general and correct nomenclature to be used to describe gemstone quality.

Thanks to Fiera Vicenza for their collaboration.