Tiffany to Close Antwerp Polishing Facility

RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co.'s manufacturing unit, Laurelton Diamonds,plans to shut its polishing center in Antwerp, shifting the operations to its otherworkshops 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 thepolishing work to its other locations, or to external suppliers, a Tiffany spokespersontold Rapaport News Wednesday. The retailer has entered a consultationperiod with its employees, but declined to say when the closure would takeeffect or why it had made the decision. Laurelton, which Tiffany established in 2002, sources roughstones and manufactures them into polished that it supplies to the jeweler. "The company will fully comply with all local employmentlaws and regulations in relation to the plan, if and when confirmed followingthe end of the consultation period," the spokesperson added.