History
Leader in
the diamond industry
In October 1973, the AWDC was established as the Hoge Raad voor Diamant (HRD), or Diamond High Council, at the initiative of the Belgian government and diamond industry representatives. Its stated mission was to protect and promote the diamond sector in Belgium. It also had a commercial branch to issue certificates, for example. In 2007, the initial Diamond High Council was restructured and split into two different enterprises.
The first, Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC), is responsible for representing the collective interests of the Belgian diamond industry nationally and internationally, as well as promoting Antwerp as the global capital of the diamond industry. The second, HRD Antwerp, a completely independent subsidiary of AWDC, is a commercial organization with six different branches: Diamond Lab, Precious Stones Lab, Research, Education, Graduates Club and Equipment.