Tiffany & Co.’s manufacturing unit, Laurelton Diamonds, plans to shut its polishing center in Antwerp, shifting the operations to its other workshops in Botswana, Cambodia, Mauritius and Vietnam.
Laurelton will continue to carry out rough sourcing, sorting, marking and sawing at its Antwerp headquarters, but will move the polishing work to its other locations, or to external suppliers, a Tiffany spokesperson told Rapaport News Wednesday. The retailer has entered a consultation period with its employees, but declined to say when the closure would take effect or why it had made the decision.
Laurelton, which Tiffany established in 2002, sources rough stones and manufactures them into polished that it supplies to the jeweler.
“The company will fully comply with all local employment laws and regulations in relation to the plan, if and when confirmed following the end of the consultation period,” the spokesperson added.
