Under the Loupe

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants - How ISO Standard 18323 was born

04 Nov, 2015 Under the Loupe

Earlier this year, the Geneva-based Organization of International Standards released a new standard: ISO 18323 Jewellery -- Consumer confidence in the diamond industry. This in itself is an unusual event for our trade. Since the mid-1990s, when the diamond industry and trade failed miserably in in efforts to establish an ISO standard for diamond grading, no ISO standards pertaining to diamonds have been established. However, this does not mean that the industry has been sitting on its hands, as in practice, standards were needed and developed. In the below article, the circumstances and conditions under which ISO 18323 was born, are laid out.

IDC Rules to serve as guide for disclosure throughout the polished diamond supply pipeline

09 Nov, 2015 Under the Loupe

The IDC was established in 1975 to provide its founders – the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association (IDMA) – with a set of universally accepted standards of nomenclature for polished diamonds within the international diamond trade. The challenge for a clear and unambiguous description of a polished diamond characteristics and quality was taken up by the IDC. At that time, it was mostly a 'horizontal' interest, meaning that is was of interest predominantly to the diamond and diamond jewellery trade.

Standard European nomenclature for synthetics

04 Nov, 2015 Under the Loupe

In mid-November, the CIBJO Europe Working Group convened a meeting in Antwerp, with its objective being to come to an agreement on nomenclature for synthetic diamonds. CIBJO Europe is a body that was created by the World Jewellery Confederation in 2007 to promote standard diamond terminology in the European Community. It is strongly supported by a consortium of the major diamond producers, including De Beers, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.