The International Diamond Council (IDC) has published an updated version of its IDC Rules for Grading Diamonds, highlighting changes to terminology for “synthetic” diamonds and natural diamonds.

The IDC rule changes said that diamond grading laboratories can choose between three terms for diamonds that are not of natural origin: They could be called “laboratory-created,” “laboratory-grown” or “synthetic.”

The IDC said that the new terminology rules have been updated to incorporate changes that resulted from industry-wide consultations on diamond nomenclature.

IDC chairman Stephane Fischler said that the latest changes and their publication were necessary in order to clarify and correct a number of issues that have been discussed and agreed upon by the IDC board.