Leading European lab HRD Antwerp opens diamond and jewellery grading office in New Delhi

The laboratory was set up to help retail brands and end-consumers in North India to get natural diamond jewellery free from contamination by lab-grown pieces

New Delhi: HRD Antwerp, a leading European lab for diamond and jewellery certification, opened their new laboratory in New Delhi on April 10.

The office was inaugurated by Steven De Wilde, Deputy Head of Mission at the Belgian Embassy, Gaurav Bawa, CEO of Bawa Jewellers, and Rakesh Saraf. The event also hosted notable dignitaries from princely states of India and royal families.

Speaking about the expansion, Ramakant Mitkar, Managing Director, HRD Antwerp India, said, “We want to help the people in New Delhi and North India in making sure they can buy jewellery safely without any worries about the authenticity of the diamonds and jewellery they buy. An international certificate can add up to 30% value when you buy jewellery, so it’s very important that the customers ask for such a certificate.”

Certainly, with the fast-growing business of lab-grown diamonds, it’s important as a customer to know what to buy. The value of an LGD can drop to 10% to 25% of its original value if one sells jewellery without natural diamonds. Mitkar maintained that lab-grown diamonds don’t retain the same value despite having identical chemical composition, and that the lab detects fraud every day where lab-grown diamond jewellery is presented as natural.

“Luckily, retailers want this kind of high standard to make sure their customers are not getting fooled. HRD Antwerp is one of the only three recognized international labs that can certify. HRD Antwerp also presented its new products and services like the HRD for memories and a retailer application,” he maintained.