Antwerp firms its stance against undisclosed synthetic diamonds

The Antwerp diamond industry has firmed up its stance against undisclosed synthetics and expressed an affirmative action involving four Antwerp Diamond Bourses to be among the first to actively enforce the guidelines defined by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses for combating undisclosed synthetics.

During a two-hour information session organized by the Federation of Belgian Diamond Bourses in collaboration with the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, Bourses’ members were informed that starting January 1, 2017, the four Antwerp Diamond Bourses will enforce the WFDB guidelines to combat undisclosed synthetics.

AWDC CEO Ari Epstein announced that – in collaboration with the Federation – HRD Antwerp’s M-Screen, a melee-screening device, would be made available at the Antwerp bourses for members to screen their goods free of charge. HRD Antwerp and the WTOCD scientific research center also announced the M-Screen + an updated version of the melee screening device which will be able to screen polished diamonds as small as 0.5 points up to 10 points and with a higher top speed of 15,000 diamonds an hour.

The mandatory guidelines include the obligation to add a clear and predefined description of goods on invoices and memo documents, as well as written declarations and disciplinary action against traders who do not implement them. These were instated in a charter set up by the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

Ari Epstein further mentioned, “By making the M-screen available to the Antwerp diamond community, we are taking another big step forward in our commitment to a sustainable diamond industry.”

Willy Rotti, President of the Federation of Belgian Diamond Bourses said, “We have always made consumer protection our highest priority. We believe it is our responsibility as the world’s largest diamond trading hub, representing well over 1,700 diamond companies, to lead by example and send a clear signal.”

The info session also featured presentations on the technical aspects of synthetics as well as the latest developments in detection methods and equipment by HRD Antwerp experts Dr. Katrien De Corte and Ans Anthonis, GIA’s Director of Research and Development Wuyi Wang, and Jamie Clark, Commercial Director at De Beers. All relevant documents, including ready-to-use description and declaration texts, the WFDB charter as well as one-page summaries of the presentations on the technical aspects and detection are made available on the AWDC website.