The 11th Congress of the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA) will be held in Bangkok February 18-21, 2005.

A changing world of new opportunities” is the theme of upcoming conference, which is held two times per year. The conference will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel on the banks of the Chaophraya River (the River of the Kings). It is scheduled to be two weeks after the Tucson Gem Shows, and immediately before the Bangkok Gems and Jewelry Show, which starts the day after the Congress ends. The focus of the Congress will be on emerging markets—both geographic and technological.

Eric Braunwart will deliver the keynote address. Braunwart is president of Columbia Gem House, a Vancouver, Wa.-based firm that is a leading U.S. marketer of colored gemstones to the jewelry manufacturing and retail trades. Braunwart, a veteran ICA member who currently serves as president of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), will speak on “Bringing Color to the Mass Market.”

A full ICA Congress schedule, with a detailed program and hotel reservation and rate information, will soon be available on the ICA Web site, www.gemstone.org, along with a downloadable registration brochure in PDF format.

JCK