(IDEX Online News) – The City of Antwerp and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) have come together to launch the ‘Antwerp’s most brilliant’ quality label for jewelers.
Jewelers in the city will only be awarded the label if they meet 32 strict quality requirements, indicating they live up to Antwerp’s reputation as a diamond center of excellence.
The requirements relate to the jewelers’ compliance with standards of sustainability, safety, ethics, transparency, service and company stability.
They must also comply with Belgian economic, social and tax legislation.
An Antwerp jeweler can only obtain certification after an independent audit by Kiwa, an accredited audit and inspection organization, which will visit every jeweler annually to check for compliance with all criteria.
Once the audit is completed, Kiwa issues a binding report. The City of Antwerp and the Antwerp World Diamond Centre will only grant the certificate if the jeweler obtains an excellent score for each of the criteria.
The label is controlled by the Belgian professional jewelers’ federation, Ars Nobilis, and the Federal Public Service Economy.
Six Antwerp jewelers have been awarded the quality label so far, Juwelen L&A, Juwelenhuis Ruys, Slaets NV, Juwelen Orogem, Van der Veken, and Diamani Jewels bvba.
(February 2, ’14, 2:05 Albert Robinson)
For IDEX
The AWDC will be holding an information session on February 5 at its offices, where it will provide more details about the initiative.