Thursday, 17 April 2008 | Levent OZLER
Belgian Post Celebrates Diamonds with Reena Ahluwalia's "Bel Canto" Postage Stamp
 Today jewellery artist Reena Ahluwalia's work, "Bel Canto" is captured for posterity by the Belgian Post.
AWDC (Antwerp World Diamond Center) and Belgian Post - (De Post-La Poste) have announced the release of Antverpia 2010 postage stamps, a part of the philatelistic program of the Belgian Post. These stamps announce a European championship and an exhibition of stamps, named Antverpia 2010. It shows Antwerp as an active town: the transport, the history, the harbour, the fashion and of course the diamonds.
With only a handful of postage stamps in the world featuring diamonds, and even rarer featuring a diamond jewellery piece; this postage stamp is a rare honour for a diamond jewellery piece and a jewellery artist's work. The diamond necklace featured on the postage stamp uses 101.0 carats of diamonds. The neckpiece was designed by Reena Ahluwalia in collaboration with Diarough N.V, Belgium (diamond sponsor) and Shrenuj & Co. Ltd. (jewel sponsor).
Speaking on the occasion of this release, Reena Ahluwalia said: "I am deeply honoured as this represents the highest recognition one can get as a diamond jewellery artist. This is beyond any aspiration, one does not work thinking that one day your work will be on a postage stamp. It is overwhelming for me, as this small piece of paper represents a microcosm of sorts of the diamond industry."
More than 50% of the world's production of rough, polished and industrial diamond passes through Antwerp. 8 in 10 of all rough diamonds in the world are handled in Antwerp and 1 in 2 of all cut diamonds passes through Antwerp. With Antwerp diamond sector having an annual turnover of 39 billion U.S dollars, the diamond trade is responsible for 8% of Belgian exports, and 12% of the Flemish region's exports. 30,000 people are directly or indirectly employed by the Belgian diamond sector.
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