The Marketing and Education Commission of CIBJO has today launched the “Diamonds, Gemstones, Pearls and Precious Metals: A Consumer Guide” at its annual Congress in Munich, Germany.

The Consumer Guide follows from the success of last year’s Retailers Reference Guide (RRG) and provides: a consumer focused “need-to-know” guide to the fundamental elements of diamonds, gemstones, pearls and precious metals; photography and imagery that will inspire and captivate would-be jewellery buyers; a quick, efficient and free distribution to all consumers via PDF download.

This exceptional piece of work builds on the efforts of all the CIBJO commissions, who contributed valuable content to the RRG. It takes the retailer focused information, diagrams and imagery and communicates them in a consumer-friendly manner.

In describing the history of the stone or metal, the qualities to look for, and the flaws, the Guide covers the basic information required for a consumer to make an informed, but also personal decision about the jewellery product they desire. It is the CIBJO Marketing and Education’s aim that the Guide should receive global distribution to benefit the international jewellery trade through the education of their customers.

Research has shown that customers need to be guided through the jewellery buying process and feel empowered when they are provided with greater levels of knowledge. This leads to an increased propensity to spend and the opportunity for retailers to retain customers and initiate repeat purchases.

As a consequence of this consumer behaviour, a need was identified at the retail trade level of the jewellery industry for an accessible and informative consumer jewellery guide. The Guide fulfils this need and has been designed with a global marketplace in mind. It has strong clear diagrams, simple language and a logical format that mirrors the RRG.

Jonathan Kendall, president, CIBJO Marketing and Education Commission commented:

“Diamonds, Gemstones, Pearls and Precious Metals: A Consumer Guide is the logical evolution of the RRG. When we launched the RRG last year we were exceptionally excited by the strong reception it received. As a consequence, we wanted to maximise the wonderful work done by the CIBJO Commissions in putting RRG together.”

“The Consumer Guide takes the brilliance of the RRG and repackages it in a format that allows consumers to quickly and easily learn about the products we sell. The unique photography coupled with the clear diagrams delivers an inspiring and educational guide that we are confident will drive greater jewellery sales.”

It is CIBJO’s ambition for the Guide to be used by consumers globally. Its downloadable format gives CIBJO Member organisations easy access to the Guide.