The Pursuit of excellence
Last June, Marco Miserendino received the official title of Certified Registered Jeweler from the prestigious American Gem Society. The trade association was founded in 1934 by a small group of jewellers in order to protect clients against fraud and false advertising. The designation is an acknowledgement of Bijouterie Italienne’s ongoing pursuit of excellence for more than 50 years.
Today, the American Gem Society is comprised of 3,400 members and includes jewelry, retail and supply establishments as well as individual members, all of whom ensure the protection of consumers, the ethical conduct of businesses and the maintenance of high standards in gemology expertise. Indeed, the committee’s selection criteria are quite demanding and only one out of 20 jewellers meet the exacting requirements necessary for membership. For Marco Miserendino, co-owner of Bijouterie Italienne along with his sister Paola, it is a formidable recognition.
Once a member, Marco Miserendino pursued and obtained the Certified Registered Jeweler title: “I am very happy and proud to obtain this certification, because getting it is a lengthy process. It involves years of study, including training on the appraisal of precious stones and the specialized vocabulary associated with it, the latest processes, and the importance of a code of ethics governing consumer relations. I am also satisfied with this accomplishment because there are only four members of the AGS in Québec.”
The AGS president emphasized this aspect when announcing the certification: “I’d like to congratulate Marco on having attained a level of proficiency achieved by only 1,400 jewellers across Canada and the United States. They all share a personal desire to broaden their knowledge of gemology. Together, as AGS members, they contribute to upholding the ethical principles established by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau and the standards of the AGS itself.”
The AGS’s code of ethics includes the following obligations: making sure the client is aware of all the characteristics of the product being sold; never speaking of the competition in a non-professional manner; never selling diamonds sourced from conflict zones; and pursuing professional development and training in an industry that is always evolving. As Marco Miserendino explains, his certification is not eternal: “Each year, I need to go through the certification process again, which means testing to evaluate my knowledge of the latest processes and of developments in the field of diamonds. And this is important because it represents the highest assurance of trustworthiness I can offer our clients.”
And so, as proud as he is of this accomplishment, Marco Miserendino is already planning additional training and laboratories, in New York, Las Vegas, and Carlsbad, California. It’s all part of the constant quest for perfection that his father Pino Miserendino set in motion when he founded his jewelry store in 1959.