Diamonds have survived an incredible journey to become the glittering stones we recognise today, a journey that started millions of years ago, deep within the earth, when carbonbearing materials were subjected to immense pressure and high temperature. These forces formed their transparent, crystalline structure which is renowned for its extreme hardness - a diamond is the hardest natural material known to mankind. Cutting and polishing these stones are a fine art that requires high levels of skill. Today, 70% of diamonds around the world come from Antwerp. In a city with a long and noble tradition as the diamond centre of the world, Verbruggen is one of the longest-standing businesses. The family has gained an impressive reputation among their customers and their peers, building and nurturing relationships that in many cases have lasted for decades.

In the 1960s, Verbruggen added a second area of expertise to its business - pearls. This has proved to be so successful that, today, the company is known as “the pearls dealer” - an accolade which, in diamond-focused Antwerp, is rare. A pearl is a miracle of nature. Natural pearls are formed when a piece of grit or other irritating object gets inside the shell of a pearl oyster. The oyster deals with this irritation by surrounding the object with layers of beautiful, iridescent nacre. Natural pearls are exceedingly rare, and in order to obtain them, pearl divers must gather and open many hundreds of oysters in the hope of finding just one. Cultured pearls are made on pearl farms, with the help of human intervention. A small bead, usually made from a mussel shell, is placed inside the oyster during a delicate operation. The oyster is then returned to the water for six months or more, where it coats this nucleus with shimmering nacreous layers. The value of the resulting pearl is determined by a combination of its lustre, colour, size, flawlessness and symmetry. Generally, the larger the pearl, the more valuable it is, and pearls that are large and perfectly round are rare and highly valued. Colour also plays an important part. White and black are the most popular colours for pearls, but they can have a variety of shades, from pink to blue, from champagne to purple. Matching pearls according to their colour and shape is an intricate art, and it can take years to source the pearls for a perfectly matched necklace. Verbruggen imports pearls directly from their source in countries like Australia, Tahiti, China and Japan.

The Verbruggen family design their own jewellery creations, and manufacture almost all of these themselves in their Antwerp workshop. While the collections are classics in their own right, they are inspired by modern jewellery trends. New creations are constantly being produced, on average 50 to 100 pieces a week. Some of these are crafted for retailers, who enjoy longstanding relationships with Verbruggen and return time and time again for the exceptional value, quality and first class service that this company is famous for. Verbruggen also sells directly to consumer clients, and produces pieces for its own collections.