Rapaport to Introduce New Certified Diamond Standards

The Rapaport Group has announced that it will use three formal certified diamond standards to define contracts for various diamond classifications. These standards will be applied when classifying diamonds offered at Rapaport Certified Auctions as well as on the RapNet and INDEX diamond trading platforms. Rapaport Diamond Specification 2 is to be the standard for the Rapaport Price List.

All of the new specifications incorporate GIA color, clarity and cut standards while the minimal overall GIA cut grades remains "Very Good."

The new standards will be used at the upcoming Rapaport Certified Diamond Auction scheduled for November 29, 2007 at www.diamonds.net/auction.