Belgian trip a real gem

A trio of local jewellers are getting ready to jet off to the diamond capital of the world, and they will be the first from Broome to do so.

Peter and Jill Hansen and Laura Hook, of Anastasia’s of Broome, will travel to Antwerp in Belgium this week, where they will have the opportunity to learn more about the city’s diamond trade and have the opportunity to bring them directly to Broome.

Mr Hansen said travelling to Antwerp and having the opportunity to be able to buy diamonds directly was something that could help expand their popular existing range of diamonds.

“We belong to a buying group in Australia called Nationwide and they organise two trips each year to Antwerp for their diamond-retailing clients,” he said.

“Myself, Jill and Laura have been doing some gemmological training and we will be spending a week in Antwerp in one of the largest diamonds houses.

“During that week we will have intensive training and exposure to the diamonds, we’ll be able to cut and grade some of the diamonds, and then we will be planning on bringing some of those stones back to Broome, provided we obtain an Antwerp Broker’s Certificate.

“Having that certificate will mean we’ll be able to deal directly with Antwerp in the future.”

Mr Hansen said it would be exciting to become the first jewellers in Broome to start buying diamonds directly from Antwerp.

“Broome is known for its pearls and the Kimberley is known for its Argyle diamonds so we thought we’d try to expand on that,” he said. “We saw this as a new learning opportunity for us and it seems to be a bit of a coup for us.

“We don’t know how it’s all going to go but we’re just going to put our toes in the water and give it a try.”