FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND DERIVATIVES Additional Information (Detail)	3 Months Ended																3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 USD ($) group	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Net Investment Hedging USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Net Investment Hedging USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2011 Net Investment Hedging USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2010 Net Investment Hedging USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Fair Value Hedging USD ($)	Apr. 04, 2011 Fair Value Hedging USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 International Subsidiaries USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 International Subsidiaries USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Interest Rate Swap Currency, Japanese Yen	Mar. 31, 2012 Interest Rate Swap Currency, Swiss Franc	Mar. 31, 2012 Interest Rate Swap Cash Flow Hedging CHF	Mar. 31, 2012 Interest Rate Swap Cash Flow Hedging JPY (¥)	Mar. 31, 2012 Interest Rate Swap Cash Flow Hedging Currency, Japanese Yen	Mar. 31, 2012 Interest Rate Swap Cash Flow Hedging Currency, Swiss Franc	Mar. 31, 2012 Commodity Forward Purchase Contracts Cash Flow Hedging Platinum Bullion	Mar. 31, 2012 Commodity Forward Purchase Contracts Cash Flow Hedging Silver Bullion	Mar. 31, 2012 Cross Currency Interest Rate Swaps USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Cross Currency Interest Rate Swaps USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Private Placement Notes Fair Value Hedging	Feb. 28, 2010 Private Placement Notes Fair Value Hedging USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2012 Unsecured Senior Notes Tranche C USD ($)
Derivative [Line Items]
Maximum Length of Time Hedged in Interest Rate Cash Flow Hedge	18 months
Interest Rate Derivatives, at Fair Value, Net							$ 4,800,000
Maximum term over which the Company is hedging exposures to variablilty of cash flows related to all forecasted transactions	2,500,000
Notional amounts								150,000,000					65,000,000	12,600,000,000
Average fixed interest rate															0.20%	0.70%
Description of derivative activity																	swaps in place to purchase 834 troy ounces	swaps in place to purchase 97,250 troy ounces
Average fixed rate price																	1,497	28
Fixed interest rate								4.10%
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																						250,000,000	450,000,000
Number of groups of significant interest rate swaps (in groups)	2
Average fixed interest rate, term (in years)											3 years	5 years
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Cumulative Changes in Net Gain (Loss) from Cash Flow Hedges, Effect Net of Tax	(149,522,000)	(117,390,000)	(42,524,000)	(143,730,000)	106,664,000	45,417,000													162,000,000	111,900,000
Accumulated translation gains on investments	$ (94,915,000)	$ 37,216,000							$ 49,200,000	$ 134,200,000
Debt, maturity term (in years)																					5 years