HRD Antwerp has made minor alterations to the look and content of its diamond certificates and jewellery reports with a view to achieving uniformity across different international centres as well as ensure full compliance with the rules for grading polished diamonds set by the International Diamond Council (IDC) approved by WFDB and IDMA.

Prior to this there were minor variations across different countries due to certain local differences in legislation. For example, previously a certificate or report issued by the HRD Antwerp Diamond Lab in Antwerp featured the BELAC - ISO accreditation, whereas certificates issued in the HRD Antwerp lab in Mumbai did not have this.

With effect from February 1, 2015, the BELAC-ISO accreditation has been removed.

“This clearly underscores our commitment towards providing full transparency in regards our certification process and a clear signal HRD Antwerp is confident about its consistent grading results throughout all HRD Antwerp labs" explains Dries Holvoet, Chief Commercial Officer HRD Antwerp.

The lab clairifed that the BELAC - ISO accreditation still remains valuable in regards to enhancing consumer confidence within other industries, but might no longer be “the most fitting quality accreditation for use within the diamond industry”.

In addition to minor design changes, further alterations include the removal of the terms and conditions, which were previously printed on HRD Antwerp certificates and reports, but are now available for online consultation on www.hrdantwerp.com

In order to protect customers from counterfeit diamond certificates, the lab continues to incorporate state-of-the-art security features in its certificates which are visible by loupe and/or UV-Light.