HRD Antwerp, Europe’s leading authority in diamond and jewellery grading and a subsidiary of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), has officially opened its new office and laboratory in Almas Tower, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai. The opening took place in the presence of H.E. Mr Rik Van Droogenbroeck, Ambassador of Belgium to the United Arab Emirates, and HRD Antwerp’s executive management. The new premises increase HRD Antwerp’s grading capacity in the region by 20%.
Dubai has become one of the world’s leading hubs for the trade in diamonds and jewellery, connecting producers, cutting centres and consumer markets. HRD Antwerp has been active in Dubai since 2022 and today serves around 500 clients across the GCC, including jewellery manufacturers, retailers and polished diamond traders. To support the additional capacity, HRD Antwerp expects to add around 10 new colleagues to its Dubai team.
The opening follows DMCC’s recent selection of HRD Antwerp as its education partner in the UAE. Together with Dubai Design Academy, part of DMCC, HRD Antwerp will significantly scale up its diamond and jewellery courses in Dubai, a further step in its long-term growth in the Middle East.
For HRD Antwerp, a grading report is not an administrative document but a guarantee of trust, transparency and authenticity. As an independent party between science, industry and consumer, HRD Antwerp provides objective grading of natural diamonds and diamond jewellery, applying the same standard across all laboratories.
During the ceremony, the ribbon was cut by H.E. Mr Rik Van Droogenbroeck, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and CEO of DMCC, Paul De Wachter, CEO of HRD Antwerp, and Prakash Patel, Board Member of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. Guests then toured the new laboratory, where the Ambassador examined a diamond under the guidance of Stanley De Belie, group COO and Laith Hammouri, MD of HRD Antwerp Middle East.
Also present was Philip Baeten, CFO of HRD Antwerp.
Paul De Wachter, CEO of HRD Antwerp:
“We do not sell diamonds, and we do not trade them. We grade them. That independence is what our clients in the Middle East rely on, and it is the reason we keep investing here. Dubai has become one of the most important centres in the global diamond and jewellery trade. With this expanded laboratory, we bring the Antwerp standard even closer to our clients across the region.”
Laith Hammouri, Managing Director of HRD Antwerp Middle East:
“Demand for independent, reliable grading in the GCC keeps growing, for loose natural diamonds as well as for diamond jewellery. Our expanded laboratory gives us the capacity and the team to meet that demand. Together with our new education partnership with DMCC and Dubai Design Academy, it confirms our long-term commitment to the region and to the clients who rely on our grading reports every day.”
