About 80% of the world's rough diamonds still pass through Antwerp's Diamond District — a single square kilometre that has been the centre of the trade for five centuries. The cutters, the polishers, the certificate labs (HRD is here), and the brokers all live within walking distance of each other.

For a buyer, that means three things in practice: more stones to choose from, fairer prices (because the chain from rough to retail has fewer middlemen), and more accountability (because everyone knows everyone, and a bad stone is a reputation problem nobody can hide from).

We're a working atelier on Hoveniersstraat 19, two doors from the bourse. Many of our centre stones come from Ajediam, our neighbour and long-standing diamond house — when you commission a piece with a centre stone, we walk over together and pick it.

What we offer

  • Loose stones — round brilliant, oval, emerald, cushion, pear, princess, marquise, asscher, radiant, heart. From 0.30 ct to 5 ct and beyond.
  • Melée parcels — for trade buyers and bespoke clients with multi-stone designs.
  • Pre-set pieces — anything in the catalogue can be re-stoned to your specification.
  • Lab-grown diamonds — see /diamonds/lab-grown/ for the honest comparison.

If you have something specific in mind — say, a 1.5 ct round, F–G colour, VS clarity, ideal-make — we can usually pull three to five candidate stones within the same working week. If we don't have it, we know who does.

Certifications we work with

  • GIA (Gemological Institute of America) — the international standard, used for most stones above 1 ct.
  • HRD Antwerp — the European standard, headquartered here. Strong reputation in EU markets.
  • IGI (International Gemological Institute) — common for entry-level stones and most lab-grown.

We'll tell you which lab makes sense for which stone. For an engagement ring centre stone above 1 ct, we'd typically recommend GIA or HRD; for a melée parcel or a sub-half-carat accent, the cost of a GIA certificate often outweighs the value.

The 4Cs, briefly

  • Carat — weight, not size. A well-cut 1 ct can look bigger than a poorly-cut 1.2 ct.
  • Cut — the most important factor for visible brilliance. We won't sell you a stone with poor symmetry or polish, no matter what its other grades say.
  • Colour — D is colourless, Z is heavily tinted. Most engagement clients sit in the F–H range, where the difference is invisible to the eye but the price gap is real.
  • Clarity — VS1, VS2 and SI1 are usually "eye-clean." Paying for IF or VVS rarely shows up in the finished piece.

A longer explanation, from the bench, is in our story The 4Cs of diamonds, explained by a jeweller, not a marketer.

How buying a diamond from us works

  1. Tell us the brief. Cut, carat range, colour and clarity preference, budget. WhatsApp or email is fine.
  2. We pull options. Within the working week. Photos, certificates, our notes on each stone.
  3. Reserve. When you find the one, we hold it (no charge) for up to two weeks while you decide.
  4. Buy. Either as a loose stone (we ship insured, with the certificate) or as part of a bespoke commission (we set it for you).
  5. After-care. Free re-certification at year five if you ever want it.

Lab-grown diamonds

We sell both natural and lab-grown. They are chemically the same and visually identical to most eyes; the difference is provenance, market value, and resale. We won't push you toward one or the other — we'll tell you what each means for the specific piece you want and let you decide. The dedicated page is at /diamonds/lab-grown/.

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