The HRD Antwerp Diamond Laboratory
The HRD Antwerp Diamond Certificate is recognised internationally as a guarantee of quality and authenticity.

The Diamond Lab of HRD Antwerp was founded in 1976 to meet the growing demand for reliable diamond certificates or grading reports. It’s the largest diamond lab in the world to conform to the rules for grading polished diamonds set by the International Diamond Council. The World Federation of Diamond Bourses and the International Diamond Manufacturers Association, the industry’s two leading representative bodies have approved these rules.

Furthermore, in 1996, the Diamond Lab became the first diamond grading facility world-wide to be officially accredited according to the stringent international standards of NBN EN ISO/IEC 17025, specifically designed for laboratories by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

The HRD Diamond Certificates

HRD Diamond Certificates have become an essential part of the diamond trade. Originally, diamond certificates were mainly required by professionals, but in recent years consumer demand is growing steadily too.

After all, buying a diamond is something special. Each diamond has its own personality; it is a unique work of art, made partially by nature and by human hand.

 

To fully appreciate a stone, information is needed and this can be found in a diamond certificate.

A certificate is of course only useful if it is reliable. The HRD certificate enjoys an excellent reputation for objectivity / quality.

The objectivity of the grading results is guaranteed by preserving the strictest anonymity. When a diamond is brought in for examination at the reception of the Certificates Department, all details of the stone are introduced into the computer.

The stone then receives two numbers: an external number for use of the client, which is printed on the receipt note, and an internal number to follow the stone in the lab.

 

The graders who perform the examination never know to whom a stone belongs, which is a guarantee of absolute objectivity.

Where the quality is a concerned, all possible efforts are made. The main factor in grading a diamond remains the diamond expert, in other words the grader.

The HRD Certificates Department pays much attention in training new graders: only after six months of intensive theoretical and practical training a new employee is actually integrated in the certification process.

Several graders examine each diamond, so that the opinion of the less practised persons can be compared to that of experts with years of experience. In this way, the grading results mentioned in the certificate always reflect the judgement of several graders, thus ensuring a high level of reliability.

The laboratory where the examinations take place is equipped with very sophisticated machinery, such as spectrophotometers, Dimension systems and cathode luminescence apparatus,

The graders all work with a special diamond microscope. Originally, the HRD Certificates Department mainly designed and manufactured microscopes for its own use, starting from its extensive practical know-how in diamond grading.

The HRD microscopes, standard equipped with a built-in illumination and ingenious gem manipulator with a vacuum system, are very valuable tools in diamond grading

　

HRD – Diamond High Council is a non-profit organisation State controlled ISO 17025 HRD Antwerp.

The abbreviation HRD stands for “Hoge Raad voor Diamant” Translated in English it is “Diamond High Council” DHC