RAPAPORT...  The presidents of CIBJO (The World Jewellery Confederation,) the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA,) and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB,) have issued the following statement:

CIBJO recognizes and respects the revised IDC Rules for Grading Diamonds, which was prepared by the International Diamond Council (IDC,) which is a joint committee of IDMA and the WFDB, concerned with diamond grading standards and nomenclature. The revised rules were approved in Shanghai by the executive committees of both IDMA and WFDB.

The revised IDC rules includes terminology that broadens the range of descriptors that can be used for gem-quality diamonds that have been created in laboratory or factory, and to date have been referred to as “synthetic.”

According to the new IDC rules, gem quality diamonds created in a laboratory or factory can be described as: “synthetic,” “laboratory-grown,”  “laboratory-created,” or “man-made,” and the descriptor must always be followed by the word “diamond” or “diamonds.” Under no circumstances can the term "cultured" be used to describe gem-quality synthetic diamonds.

At present, CIBJO’s Diamond Blue Book only allows the descriptor “synthetic” to describe gem-quality synthetic diamonds.