Antwerp Unveils Automated Polishing Technology

RAPAPORT… Researchers in Antwerp have developed fully automated
polishing technology that, they claim, will make the production process 10 to
20 times faster.



The new equipment, Fenix, will take an hour and a half to
carry out work that currently takes manufacturers a full day, the Antwerp World
Diamond Centre (AWDC) said Monday. The Scientific and Technological Research
Center for Diamonds (WTOCD), a unit of the Belgian trade organization,
developed the machine over 10 years.



Diamond polishing has barely progressed since the 15th
century, when Lodewijk van Bercken, a jeweler in Antwerp, discovered that one
diamond was capable of polishing another one, the AWDC said. Even today, most
of the work is done by hand, making it difficult for the diamond hub to sustain
a manufacturing sector due to high labor costs, the group explained.



“This discovery fundamentally changes the diamond-polishing
process,” said Ari Epstein, CEO of the AWDC. “Today’s wages simply make it too
expensive to conduct this labor-intensive job in our country. Fenix puts an end
to this, and can therefore be a real game changer for the Antwerp diamond
industry.”



Fenix is also more accurate than manual polishing, as it
takes into account each diamond’s specific grain and crystal orientation, said
Yves Kerremans, CEO of WTOCD.



Various Antwerp-based diamond companies are testing the
technology, which will be available to the public in September.