The CEO talks
Why Turkey is the future of the diamond industry!
It’s good to be back in Istanbul. With HRD Antwerp, for the first time in history, we are present at ISJ, the Istanbul Jewellery Show. I promised a huge comeback and I think the message got through. After launching the 1st Turkish Jerwellery Night, bringing the HRD Design Awards finale to Istanbul in 2025, taking a central and prominent booth is a very natural next step.
Coming back to Istanbul is not just a comeback, it’s a strategic decision to invest in places that are, in my opinion, part of the future of the diamond industry. Our industry did not change, it got pulled upside down. Forget G7 sanctions, we are confronted with bigger challenges like LGD and the biggest one of all: the declining popularity of diamonds and jewellery with the next generations. We are competing with consumers that see their buying power shrinking and at the same time who desire to maximize their spending on experiencers, rather than material things.
The travel schedule of a diamond also changed drastically. The Middle-East is a surging market, not only in consumption, but also in production. Istanbul is in the top 5 of manufacturers worldwide. With a certification business of 60 million dollars, 8,12 billion dollars in exported jewellery and a local jewellery market that exceeds 1 billion dollars, it’s hard to ignore that Turkey is becoming a jewellery powerhouse with double digit growth year on year. Turkey clearly plays a big part in the future of our industry.
HRD Antwerp always had a strong presence in Turkey. We stepped into a complete non-certified country, where local labs were too small too keep up with the technological innovation. The market got swamped with fake stones, lab-grown diamonds pretending to be natural… it was total chaos. And although we left for a while, the consumer remembers our name and reputation. Lots of consumers are still thankful that through the certification of HRD Antwerp, they were saved of being possibly scammed or being afraid of ending up with jewellery worth less than what they paid for.
After we returned we saw many people returning with similar stories. It gives me great satisfaction that we prove once again our value. This time we come back with even more to give to the jewellery community. HRD Antwerp and Turkey are entangled entities. We feel at home in Turkey and we are looking forward to a long and prosperous future together.
Ellen Joncheere
CEO HRD Antwerp