The 2010 Congress of CIBJO, the World Jewellery Confederation has opened at the International Congress Centre (ICM) in Munich Germany, beginning with a Ruby day mini conference. Traditionally, CIBJO begins its Congress with a ceremonial opening ceremony, but it decided otherwise this year. “In the current economic climate, we felt that it was correct to dispense with ceremony and to concentrate exclusively on the business of our industry,” said CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri. “At the end of the day, CIBJO’s function is to provide service to the greater jewellery industry, and the educational role that we played in organising the ruby mini conference demonstrates that better than anything else. Ruby Day brought onto the podium some of the world’s leading experts on gem mineralogy gemmology. It was the initiative of Dr. Margherita Superchi, president of the CIBJO Gemmological Commission. With a cream of industry experts, the conference touched upon various facets of rubies and their use in the gem and jewellery industry. Wolfgang Hofmeister, of the Faculty for Chemistry, Pharmacy and Geosciences at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany spoke on minerology of ruby deposits in North Vietnam and South China. Pornsawat Wathanakul, academic adviser of the Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand (GIT) and head of the Department of Earth Sciences at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand discussed the characteristics of rubies from Asian occurrences, and that in Asian countries two types of geological occurrences have yielded ruby deposits: namely marble hosted deposits and the basaltic-related deposits. %% Kenneth Scarratt, director of the GIA Laboratory in Bangkok, Thailand spoke on rubies of Mozambique, before and after treatment. Adolf Peretti, director of the GRS Laboratories in Geneva, Switzerland made a presentation on his research on the occurrence and identification of Rubies from Winza, Tanzania. Claudio Milisenda, director of the Deutsche Stiftung fur Edelstein Forschung (DSEF) in Idar Oberstein, Germany made a presentation on synthetic rubies, noting that although the world production of synthetic ruby and sapphire for the gemstone and jewellery trade has fallen significantly in recent years, they are still found in all stages of the supply chain. %% Michael S. Krzemnicki, director of the Schweizerische Stiftung für Edelstein-Forschung (SSEF) in Basel, Switzerland spoke on heating and diffusion processes in rubies. Elena Gambini, head of the Gem Materials Laboratory Department at CISGEM of the Milan Chamber of Commerce brought forth the topic of glass in rubies, their detection and disclosure. %% The conference brought in visitors to the Inhorghenta Europe trade show, being organised by the Messe München, the official host of the 2010 CIBJO Congress. %% the 2010 CIBJO Congress will conclude on Monday, February 22.