President of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, Nishit Parikh, whom Nationwide has a strong 10-year working relationship with, invited 24 Nationwide members to take a tour of the highly secure laboratory.
Nationwide organises biannual trips to Antwerp in March and October for its members to buy diamonds. This year’s trip will take place on March 30 and the private tour of the HRD laboratory will be an “added bonus” for attendees, according to Nationwide managing director Colin Pocklington.
“Our members will have an opportunity to see how the laboratory works, its state-of-the-art equipment and the scientific division it has dedicated to developing new technology,” he added.
“The trip will be an overall educational experience – it has not happened before because this laboratory in particular is highly secure.”
The HRD laboratory provides diamond certification and is one of the most respected institutions in the global diamond industry.
Pocklington highlighted how every diamond has to go through the HRD laboratory before it leaves Antwerp, making it more secure than other diamond buildings.
Tours of the HRD laboratory are limited to small groups of five people at a time where an HRD employee will act as a guide.
Pocklington said there was a strong possibility that the upcoming October buying trip to Antwerp would also involve a private tour of the HRD lab, but this is yet to be confirmed.
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