Learn from the experts of the trade
CPD-accredited one-day courses at 100 Hatton Garden, for anyone who has to handle a stone, grade it, price it or sell it. Open to the trade as well as to members.
Why learn from the London Diamond Bourse
Industry experts
Our tutors are renowned experts in their field. Craig Sievewright spent 34 years at De Beers, working across rough, polished and special stones. Shaheen taught as a GIA instructor and was head of education at SGL.
Real stock, real equipment
You’ll get hands on with polished diamonds and gemstones, rough, loupes, tweezers and the Bourse’s own trade equipment. The same kit members use on the trading floor.
What CPD accredited means
Continuing Professional Development is the framework professional bodies use to recognise structured learning after qualification. An accredited course has been assessed for its content, delivery and what an attendee can do at the end of it.
Every attendee leaves with a certificate of completion, and their own diamond grading kit.
Three courses
Each runs for one day at 100 Hatton Garden, from ten until four. Dates are set against demand, so ask and we will tell you when the next one runs.
Selling Coloured Gemstones with Confidence
Learn how to sell coloured gemstones with confidence. Varieties, properties and treatments, the quality factors, origin, rarity and certification.
Course detail →Practical Diamond Knowledge
For anyone selling polished diamonds across a counter. Handling and viewing technique, the 4Cs with polish, symmetry, proportion and fluorescence, reading a grading report aloud to a customer, and identifying fancy cuts.
Course detail →Diamond Manufacturing
The route a diamond takes from rough to polished. Get hands on with rough diamonds.
Course detail →All fees exclusive of VAT. The member rate applies to LDB members and to employees of member firms. Rates for a course run privately for a team are quoted on request.
The Diamond Pipeline Course
Not an LDB course. Five days with the De Beers Group Institute of Diamonds at Charterhouse Street, run in conjunction with the Hatton Garden BID, and free to those accepted on to it. We list it here because it is the best grounding available to anyone starting out on this street.
Mining to marketing
Day one, exploration and recovery with the De Beers exploration team, and the properties of a diamond with research and development. Day two, sorting and grading a pack of rough with the pricing team. Day three, grading polished for carat, colour, clarity and cut. Day four, rough to polished, and how a diamond is taken to market.
Who can go
No previous diamond experience is needed. Applicants must have a direct connection with Hatton Garden and a genuine interest in or experience of the artisan trades. Places are limited and allocated by De Beers, not by the Bourse.
Everyone accepted keeps a grading pouch — loupe, tweezers and scoop — from the third day onwards.
Full course detail and dates: Hatton Garden BID →
Who these are for
Retail teams
Shop-floor staff who are asked diamond questions every day and want to answer them without guessing. Most of our group bookings are retailers sending three or four people at once.
New entrants
People a year or two into the trade, or moving into it from another field, who need the practical grounding that nobody formally teaches on the job.
Members’ staff
Employees of member firms, at the member rate. Members can also book a course privately for a whole team.
The mentor programme
A course is a day. The mentor programme is a year: monthly one-to-one sessions with an established member, student workshops, industry Q&As, the mentorship group, and a listing in the public student directory.
Request dates
Tell us which course and how many people, and we will come back with the next available date and confirm the fee. Courses can also be run privately for a team.