IDL to set up facilities in Jeddah and Istanbul

01 April 2008

Dubai: International Diamond Laboratories (IDL), a Dubai government initiative launched last year to develop services for the diamond trade, will set up facilities in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to provide certification services in those two countries.

At present it has laboratories in Dubai, Mumbai and Antwerp, the three key diamond markets.

IDL provides diamond traders and jewellers with quality reports and certificates of authentication of polished diamonds.

Chief executive officer Peter Meeus told Gulf News new facilities will be set up in Istanbul and Jeddah soon to provide services to diamond traders in the two key markets.

"We are talking with them. There is a demand for such services. It has to do with the whole branding concept as certification by a third party like us gives additional confidence to diamond customers," Meeus said.

IDL has tied up with Damas to provide its services for the first time to a jewellery chain.

All Damas diamond jewellery from its in-house brands will now come with an IDL certificate guaranteeing the quality and authenticity of the item.

Initially, IDL certificates were available only with loose diamonds.

By Shakir Husain