Antwerp Dealer Trying to Stop HRD Mumbai Move

A decision by the HRD in September to open offices in Mumbai and Shanghai is meeting resistance on its own turf. Last Friday, Daniel van Dievoet, managing director of Beladamas, an Antwerp diamond company, circulated a questionnaire accompanied by a letter asking his colleagues what they thought about the decision.

The HRD, in what it views as a marketing move, decided to open HRD diamond grading schools, service centers and gem labs in Mumbai, India and Shanghai, China.

According to van Dievoet, the decision might be good for furthering the HRD’s certification, but not for the Belgium diamond trade. “This decision will have far-reaching consequences not only for the trade of polished but also for the entire diamond sector in Antwerp,” van Dievoet says in his letter.

While van Dievoet believes that opening schools is a wise move that will advance the HRD certificate and help develop business, he is strongly against opening a lab in Mumbai, calling it “suicidal”.

If the certificate is valuable and highly regarded by the industry, then buyers will come to Antwerp to buy HRD certified diamonds, from local diamond traders. However, if Indian traders could certify their diamonds in Mumbai, buyers of HRD goods will buy them there, robbing Antwerp dealers of some of its business, is his reasoning.

The HRD disagrees, “If you don’t grow with the market, you lose your market share and your brand,” reasons the HRD’s Marketing Director Youri Steverlynck.

“If we don’t do this, in 5-15 years we’ll lose the value of the HRD certificate altogether,” he adds. “We are losing market share in certain Asian markets, and our core clients are telling us more marketing is needed.”

Van Dievoet also criticized the HRD board for the limited time it devoted to the issue. “They cannot make such a decision in a single meeting, people need to reflect on it,” adding that many board members are industrial diamond dealers and rough diamond traders “who are not in touch with the polished market”.

Steverlynck says the decision was made after a “tough but open discussion” in September that ended with the conclusion to focus marketing efforts first on the Indian market. “The decision was not made easily.”

In the short term, the move might hurt some Antwerp businesses, but in the medium and long term, the benefits are there, “as the HRD certificate is an ideal ambassador for the Antwerp diamond community,” says Steverlynck.

Van Dievoet has already received 40 responses to his questionnaire, mailed to about 650 companies and trade organizations. In two weeks he plans to tally the results and hand them to HRD President Jacky Rot, hoping not only that the response from the industry will back his concerns, but also lead the HRD Board to reverse its decision.