The world of gemstones : Antwerp

The diamond cutters

Antwerp is also home to the world's most highly-reputed diamond cutters.

Despite competition from countries with low-cost labor, Antwerp preserves an image of quality. The majority of large stones are cut here: from 1 carat and upwards.

Many Antwerp-bsaed companies have invested in cutting factories in Vietnam, India, Thailand ... They have faced problems of language, mentality, infrastructure (electricity is often lacking), supplies of all kinds, staff ...

They must also deal with the ignorance of local authorities, especially the customs and other government ministries. To this we must add the costs of shipping, insurance ... These countries have the disadvantage of only being producers of cut diamonds and not consumers.

The introduction of robot cutting systems in sophisticated "laboratories" will certainly affect and maybe even lead to the complete disappearance of the family-based stone cutting of the twentieth century.

This will, however, benefit the consumers: cutting is cheaper and finish will continue to improve; the rough stones will be examined by a scanner, the cut will be planned on a computer and the cutting done by lasers.

The yield of of the rough diamond may be optimised to its maximum, on a scientific basis that takes into account all the parameters of diamond value: color, weight, shape and clarity.

The diamond exchange