International Diamond Council releases IDC rules in German

Antwerp, Belgium – April 4, 2011: The International Diamond Council (IDC) announced today that it has completed the German translation of the "IDC Rules for Grading Diamonds" and has uploaded a PDF file of the German-language version on the organization's website. The file can be downloaded at:internationaldiamondcouncil.org.

IDC chairman Stephane Fischler said that the translation of the rules was a major effort and its importance should not be understated. "German is spoken as a native language by around 90 million people in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries, making it the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union. This translation will serve countless diamond professionals, gemologists, jewellery manufacturers and retailers, who until now were relegated to the English version," he said.

Fischler praised Dieter Hahn, a founding member of the IDC, and treasurer of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) who has been the driving force behind the translation in German.

"Without Dieter's drive, commitment and troubleshooting abilities, this project would have taken much longer. I am very pleased that this difficult task has been completed, to the satisfaction of all parties," Fischler concluded.

Currently, the IDC Rules available for downloading from the IDC website are the authoritative English version and the translations in Russian, Chinese and German.