The Hoge Raad voor Diamant (HRD) or Diamond High Council represents the Belgian diamond industry.

HRD Antwerp's host of in-house experts apply the most stringent grading conditions. They believe that all customers need to be informed correctly about the diamonds they buy. The diamond lab also examines whether a diamond has been subject to any unreported treatments in order to alter its appearance or whether it is synthetic.

The quality of a diamond is defined by the 4 C's which are Carat, Colour, Clarity and Cut. These four characteristics determine your stone's value. And, as every diamond is unique, they are also very useful for identification.

 

 

The weight of a diamond is expressed in carats. 1carat equals 100 points. At HRD each diamond is weighed immediately upon receipt with extremely accurate scales.

 

 

 

 

 

Most diamonds range in colour from white to slightly yellow. However, diamonds can occur in all sorts of colours ranging from brownish to striking yellow, pink, purple,red and blue. These are called fancy colours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All diamonds have traces of their growth history. The clarity scale reflects the size, number, location and visibility of the internal characteristics when examined with a 10 x loupe.

 

 

 

A diamond's cut is very important as this is what makes the diamond sparkle. If the diamond is not well- cut. The diamond will not interact with light as it should. Even a diamond with outstanding colour and clarity will not display the fire and brilliance that diamonds are famous for.

HRD grades each diamond's proportions, polish and symmetry. The polish describes the finish of the facets, while the proportions determine the brilliancy and the fire of the diamond. The symmetry describes the variations of the different parameters that define the proportions. Each grade is divided into 4 categories: Excellent, Very Good, Good and Fair.