IDC releases new rules on diamond grading
July 10, 2008
Antwerp, Belgium—The
International Diamond Council (IDC) has released a new version of its diamond-grading rules and plans to make those rules available on the Internet within two weeks.
According to a release from the IDC issued on Wednesday, the new rules were discussed and accepted during an IDC meeting held on July 2 in Antwerp, Belgium, the day after the World Diamond Council's 6th annual meeting on the Kimberley Process.
The IDC's new rules will be made available as an Adobe PDF document and will be downloadable from a designated IDC Web site. An announcement regarding the document's online location is forthcoming.
The release of the new "IDC Rules for Grading Diamonds" comes on the heels of an agreement between the IDC and the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO) made in Shanghai, China, in May. At that meeting, CIBJO recognized the rules as a joint platform for establishing diamond-grading standards and nomenclature for lab-grown diamonds.
IDC Chairman Stephane Fischler calls the rules a "work in progress" and said they will continue to evolve to reflect technological and other advances in the diamond industry.
He said that by making the rules available for the whole industry to examine, he hopes the IDC will play an increasingly prominent role in the discussion about general standards for diamond grading and diamond nomenclature.
"I believe IDC's role, as a vehicle of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, will only grow as the industry needs to offer consumers the best and widest possible range of quality assurances of the diamonds it sells to the public," Fischler said.
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