General Terms and Conditions

Last updated: 30 October 2024

We keep these terms as short and as readable as we can. They explain how we work, what you can expect from us, and what we expect from you. If anything here is unclear, just ask. We would much rather talk it through than have you guess.

1. Who we are

LVDP ANTWERP BV, trading as Laurence Van de Perre and LVDP, is a company under Belgian law.

Registered office: Prins Leopoldstraat 17, 2140 Antwerp, Belgium
Store: Aalmoezenierstraat 10, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Company number (Crossroads Bank for Enterprises): 1015755492
VAT number: BE1015755492
Email: contact@laurencevandeperre.com
Phone: +32 (0) 494 80 41 95
Website: www.laurencevandeperre.com

In these terms, “we”, “us” and “our” means LVDP. “You” and “your” means the person or company buying from us or commissioning a piece.

2. When these terms apply

These terms apply to every quote we send, every order you place and every invoice we issue, whether that happens in the store, by email, by phone, by WhatsApp or through our website.

By confirming an order or paying a deposit, you confirm that you have read these terms and agree to them. If you are buying as a company, your own purchasing conditions do not apply unless we have agreed to them in writing.

You need to be at least 18 and legally able to enter into a contract to order from us. If you are ordering for someone else, you are still the person we contract with.

We may update these terms from time to time. The version that applies to your order is the version in force on the day your order is confirmed. The current version is always on our website.

3. How we work

Everything we make is made in Antwerp, by hand, by a small team of craftspeople we work with directly. That shapes almost everything in these terms, so it is worth setting out up front what the different routes look like.

Collection pieces

Designs from our collection, made in your size and to your chosen specification. Because they are made after you order, these are made to measure rather than off the shelf.

Bespoke pieces

A design created with you from scratch, or an existing design adapted to your wishes. We start with a consultation in person or online, then move through a moodboard and first sketch, a 3D model and visualisation, and where useful a prototype you can try on. Nothing goes into production until you have confirmed the final design.

Reuse your gold

We can melt down and reuse your own gold, and reset your own stones, into something new. See section 8, which is specifically about entrusting us with your materials.

In store

You can buy directly at the store, or book an appointment with us. Pieces bought and handed over in the store are covered by these terms too, apart from section 10 on shipping and section 13 on changing your mind, which apply only where we sell at a distance.

4. Prices and price indications

Prices shown on our website are indications. They tell you the order of magnitude for a piece in a standard execution, and they can move with the size and quality of the stones, the metal you choose, the sizing and the finish.

The price that counts is the one in your written quote or order confirmation. That price is fixed once we confirm your order, unless you ask for changes afterwards.

Gold and diamond prices move on the international market. If a quote is more than [30] days old, we may need to reissue it at current metal and stone prices. We will always tell you before doing that, and you are free to walk away.

Prices for consumers include Belgian VAT. Prices for business clients are shown excluding VAT. Shipping, insured transport and any customs or import charges outside the EU are not included unless we say so in writing.

5. Placing an order

Everything you see on our website is an invitation to get in touch, not a binding offer. A contract exists between us only once we have sent you a written order confirmation, which is usually your invoice or quote countersigned or confirmed by email.

We do our best to keep the site accurate, but if there is an obvious mistake in a price or description we are not bound by it. We will tell you and offer you the choice to continue at the correct price or cancel.

If for any reason we cannot accept your order, we will let you know and refund anything you have already paid, within 14 days.

6. Payment

For collection and bespoke pieces we ask for a deposit of [50]% of the total when you confirm the order, and the balance before the piece leaves our hands. Production starts once the deposit has cleared.

For smaller purchases and stock items, we ask for payment in full.

We accept bank transfer (SEPA), Bancontact, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and cash up to the legal limit, currently 3,000 euro per transaction. All prices are in euro.

If your bank or card issuer refuses a payment, we cannot start or continue production, and any lead time we quoted moves accordingly.

Late payment on an invoice to a business client carries interest at the statutory rate under the Belgian law on combating late payment, plus a fixed compensation of 10% of the outstanding amount with a minimum of 100 euro. For consumers we follow the statutory reminder procedure: a free first reminder, then interest and a capped fixed compensation as set out in Book XIX of the Belgian Code of Economic Law.

The piece stays our property until it has been paid in full, even if it is already in your hands.

7. Deposits and cancelling a commission

We understand that plans change. What we can do about it depends on how far we have got.

Before we start. If you cancel before we begin sourcing stones or making, we refund your deposit minus any design time already spent, charged at our hourly rate.
After design work but before production. The design fee and any stones already reserved or bought for you are non refundable. The rest of the deposit comes back.
Once production has started. The deposit is non refundable, because the metal is cast, the stones are set and the piece exists only for you.

If you want to change the design after you have signed it off, we will always look at what is possible. Changes may affect the price and the lead time, and we will confirm both in writing before doing anything.

8. Your gold and your stones

If you bring us gold or stones to reuse, this is what we agree.

You confirm that the materials are yours to give us and are free of any claim by anyone else. We will note down what we receive and give you a written receipt.

We will assess the value of your gold and let you know what it is worth against your new piece before we do anything irreversible. Melting is permanent, so we only proceed once you have confirmed in writing.

Old stones are not always reusable. Small chips, abrasions and internal tension are common in stones that have been worn for years, and setting or unsetting can occasionally cause a stone to break. We will look at your stones first and tell you honestly what we see. Where we think there is a real risk we will say so before we touch anything, and we only continue once you have confirmed in writing that you want us to. Damage that comes from the condition of the stone itself is a risk you accept when you ask us to reuse it.

While your materials are with us they are covered by our insurance, up to 10,000 euro per client. If your materials are worth more than that, tell us and we will arrange additional cover.

We keep materials for a maximum of [12] months after the piece is finished or the project is cancelled. After that, and after two written reminders to your last known address, we may charge storage or dispose of the materials.

9. Making time and delivery

From first consultation to finished piece, most work takes 4 to 8 weeks. That applies to a collection piece made in your size, to a bespoke commission and to a rework of your own gold.

These are estimates, not promises, and the timing depends on the design process as much as on us. Stone availability, the complexity of a setting and the workshop calendar all play a part, and so does how quickly decisions get made along the way. Every round of changes to a design moves the finish date. We will tell you as soon as we know that something has shifted.

If you need a piece for a specific date, a proposal, a wedding, a birthday, tell us before you order. We will say honestly whether it is realistic and we will plan around it. For pieces we hand over in the store we can commit to a date. For pieces we ship we cannot, because the last leg is not in our hands. If the date is critical, plan to collect.

Unless we agree otherwise, the outside limit for delivery is 12 months from the date your order is confirmed.

10. Collection, shipping and risk

Most pieces are collected in the store. We love handing them over in person, and for engagement rings and bespoke work we generally recommend it.

We ship within Belgium and the EU by insured courier, fully declared, with signature required on delivery, up to an insured value of 10,000 euro per shipment. That covers most of what we make, bespoke commissions included. Above 10,000 euro we hand over in person. Shipping cost is confirmed before you order.

Who carries the risk in transit

If you are a consumer, the risk stays with us until you, or someone you have appointed who is not the courier, physically receive the piece. If a shipment is lost or damaged before that moment, that is ours to solve, and we will replace the piece or refund you.

There is one exception, set by law. If you arrange your own courier and that option was not one we offered you, the risk passes when we hand the piece to that courier.

If you are a business client, risk passes when the piece leaves our premises, and any claim against the courier or the transport insurer is yours to bring. We will give you all the documentation you need for it.

A late parcel is not a lost parcel

The two are different situations and we treat them differently.

As long as the tracking shows your piece is in the carrier’s network, moving, or held in an open investigation with delivery still expected, we treat it as delayed. We will chase the carrier, keep you updated, and get it to you. We will not remake the piece or refund you while it is still traceable. A bespoke piece takes weeks to make and the stones are often not repeatable, so remaking it before we know it is actually gone helps neither of us.

We treat a shipment as lost, and then we replace or refund, when any of these happens:

the carrier declares the shipment lost
the carrier’s investigation closes without delivery
tracking shows no movement for [10] days and the carrier cannot tell us where the parcel is

From that moment it is on us, as set out above, and we deal with the carrier ourselves.

None of this affects the rights Belgian law gives you if delivery runs late.

When we will not ship

Some pieces we hand over in person only. That includes any piece with an insured value above 10,000 euro, and any piece our transport insurance will not cover. We will tell you this before you order and it will be on your order confirmation, so it is never a surprise at the end.

We may also decline to ship a piece where we judge the transport risk too high. For example when the delivery address is a hotel, a shared building or an address we cannot verify, when the destination or route falls outside our transport insurance, or when the timing leaves no margin before a date that matters to you. We would rather tell you honestly that we will not put the piece on a plane three days before your wedding than gamble with it. If this happens we will tell you as soon as we can, and we will arrange collection in the store or hold the piece safely until you can come. Any shipping fee you have already paid is refunded.

If you still want the piece shipped and we do not offer shipping for it, you are free to arrange transport yourself. In that case you choose, appoint and instruct the carrier, you contract with them and pay them directly, and we hand the piece over to them against a signed receipt. Under Belgian law, where you use a carrier that we did not offer you, the risk of loss or damage passes to you at that handover. We will pack the piece properly and give you the documentation and declared value you need, but from that moment the transport is a matter between you and your carrier.

This does not change our responsibility for the piece itself. Your warranty and your rights if something is wrong with the workmanship are exactly the same, whoever carried it.

What we need from you

Insured transport only works if the paperwork holds up, so a few things are on you:

do not give the courier standing instructions to leave the parcel without a signature, with a neighbour, in a safe place or at a pickup point. If you do, and the piece goes missing, that is a delivery you arranged outside the terms we agreed, and it is at your risk
if the parcel arrives visibly damaged or opened, refuse it, or accept it with a written reservation to the courier, and photograph it before opening
if a shipment has not arrived within [7] days of the expected delivery date, tell us. We cannot open a claim after the courier’s own deadline has passed
if we ask you for a short written statement for the insurer, please send it. It is usually one paragraph and it is what makes the claim work

Outside the EU

Any duties, import VAT or customs charges are yours to pay, and local rules on precious metals and stones are your responsibility to check.

11. Sizing

Getting the size right matters more than almost anything else, so please take the time.

There are two ways this works. Either you come to the store and we measure you properly, which is what we recommend, or you give us a ring size and we make the piece to exactly that size. We do not send out ring sizers.

If you give us a size, that size is what we make, so please have it measured by a jeweller rather than guessed from a ring in a drawer. Fingers change with heat, cold, exercise and time of day, so one measurement on a warm afternoon is not enough.

If the size turns out to be wrong, the first resize is on us, whatever the reason, as long as the design allows it. We can usually resize within a range of about four sizes. Some designs cannot be resized at all, full eternity bands and heavily set bands in particular, and we will tell you that before you order. Any further resize is charged at cost. Shipping both ways is yours.

12. Materials, diamonds and stones

We work mainly in 18k gold and platinum, with natural and lab grown diamonds and coloured gemstones. Every piece is marked with the legal hallmark for its metal.

Lab grown diamonds are real diamonds. Chemically and optically they are identical to mined stones. What differs is origin, rarity and how the value behaves over time. We will always tell you clearly which you are buying, and it will be stated on your invoice.

Diamonds from 0.50 carat come with a certificate from GIA, IGI or HRD. Smaller stones can be certified on request at extra cost.

Natural stones vary. Colour, inclusions and fluorescence differ from stone to stone, and no two are identical, including two stones with the same grading. Handmade pieces vary too, in tiny ways that are part of how they are made. These variations are not defects.

Photographs on the website and on Instagram are taken under studio light and at high magnification. Screens differ. Slight differences between an image and the piece in your hand are normal, which is another good reason to come and see things in person.

13. Your right to change your mind

If you are a consumer and you bought a ready to wear piece from our website or otherwise without meeting us, you have 14 days from delivery to cancel, no reason needed. Tell us by email within those 14 days, send the piece back unworn and in its original packaging within 14 days of telling us, and we will refund you within 14 days of receiving it. Return shipping is yours to pay and we recommend insuring it.

This right does not apply to pieces made to your specification or clearly personalised, which under article VI.73 of the Belgian Code of Economic Law includes made to measure rings, bespoke commissions, engraved pieces, resized pieces and anything made using your own gold or stones. It also does not apply where the price depends on movements in the metal and stone markets that we do not control.

In practice, almost everything we make falls into one of those categories. So please be sure before you confirm. We would rather spend an extra hour with you on the design than have you stuck with something you do not love.

Pieces bought in the store are not covered by this right at all, since it exists only for distance and off premises sales. If you have second thoughts about a store purchase, talk to us. We will see what we can do, but it is a favour rather than an entitlement.

14. Checking your piece

Please look at your piece carefully when you receive it.

If something is missing or visibly damaged on arrival, note it with the courier at the moment of delivery and tell us in writing within 48 hours, with photos. For consumers, you have two months from the moment you discover a visible defect to report it, but the sooner you tell us the easier it is to put right.

We can only assess a visible defect if the piece has not been worn.

15. Warranty

If you are a consumer, you have the full legal warranty of two years from delivery under Belgian law. Nothing in these terms takes that away.

On top of that, we stand behind our work. If a piece fails because of how it was made, a bad solder, a badly cut seat, a setting that was never secure, we fix it, at our cost, for as long as we are able to. Just come and see us.

What is not covered

normal wear. Gold is a soft metal and it will pick up marks. Chains thin, prongs wear down, polish dulls. This is what wearing jewellery looks like
damage from knocks, drops, sport, gardening, DIY, swimming pools or the beach
stones lost or damaged after a knock or after the piece has been worn in a way that is not consistent with our care advice
damage from chemicals, perfume, hairspray, chlorine or ultrasonic cleaning at home
work done by another jeweller. If anyone else resizes, repairs, polishes or resets one of our pieces without our written agreement, the warranty ends. Not out of protectiveness, but because we can no longer tell what happened to the piece

To make a claim, please keep your invoice, and where possible the original box and pouch.

16. Repairs and aftercare

We look after our pieces for life. Bring your jewellery back to us for cleaning and a prong check once a year and we will do it with pleasure, free of charge.

For anything outside the warranty, we repair at cost. We will always look at the piece first, give you a price and a timeframe, and wait for your go ahead before doing anything.

If you are sending a piece to us, contact us first, pack it plainly with no logo or mention of jewellery, use an insured courier with signature on delivery, and include your details and order reference. We cannot accept liability for pieces damaged or lost in transit to us, or for pieces sent without letting us know first.

If you have lost one earring, tell us. Whether we can make a match depends on what materials are available, and it helps enormously if we can work from the remaining one.

17. Looking after your jewellery

A few things that will make your piece last generations:

take it off before sport, swimming, gardening, cleaning and sleeping
put it on after your perfume, lotion and hairspray, not before
store pieces separately, in a pouch or a lined box, so they do not scratch each other. Diamonds scratch gold, and they scratch other diamonds
clean it every couple of weeks in warm water with a drop of mild soap and a soft brush. No bleach, no solvents, no abrasive paste
check your stones now and then by holding the piece to your ear and tapping gently. A loose stone rattles. If you hear it, stop wearing the piece and bring it in
avoid the beach. Sand is quartz, and quartz scratches gold

18. Insurance and valuation

Once a piece is yours, insuring it is up to you. We are happy to provide a valuation for insurance purposes on request, at cost. Bear in mind that insurance replacement value is usually higher than what you paid, because it reflects what it would cost to remake the piece today.

19. Our designs

The designs, drawings, 3D models, prototypes, photographs and texts we create stay ours. Buying a piece buys you the piece, not the right to reproduce the design.

That matters for bespoke work too. If we design something with you, you own the finished piece and the story behind it. We keep the right to photograph it, to show it, and to draw on the design in our own future work, unless we have agreed something different in writing. If your commission is private and you would prefer we never show it, tell us and we will respect that.

Our drawings, 3D files, prototypes and finished designs may not be copied, reproduced, or passed to another workshop, whether to have the piece made elsewhere, to have it made more cheaply, or to have a variation made. This is not a request. Our designs are protected, and having one made by a third party is an infringement of our rights that we will act on.

20. Identity checks

As a jeweller we are bound by Belgian anti money laundering rules. For larger transactions, for cash payments and when we buy or take in gold, we are required to verify your identity and keep a record. We may ask you for ID and, in some cases, for information about where funds or materials come from. If we cannot complete those checks, we cannot proceed with the transaction. We are sorry for the friction. It is not optional.

21. Privacy

We handle your personal data in line with the GDPR and our privacy policy, which you can find at www.laurencevandeperre.com/utility-page/privacy-policy. In short: we use your details to make and deliver your piece, to keep our records straight and, if you have asked for it, to send you our newsletter. We do not sell your data to anyone.

22. Liability

We are liable for damage caused by our own fault, and nothing in these terms limits our liability for death, personal injury, fraud or intentional wrongdoing, or any liability that Belgian law does not allow us to limit.

Beyond that, our liability is limited to the invoice value of the order concerned, and we are not liable for indirect loss, lost profit, sentimental damage or consequential damage.

We are not liable for damage caused by using a piece in a way it was not made for, or in a way that goes against the care advice in section 17.

23. Things outside our control

If we cannot do what we promised because of something genuinely outside our control, we are not liable for it and we do not owe compensation. That includes fire, flood, theft, war, terrorism, pandemic, government measures, strikes, transport disruption, supplier failure, power or internet outages, and serious illness in our very small team.

We will always tell you promptly, and we will agree a new timeline or, if the delay is unreasonable, unwind the order and refund what you have paid for work not yet done.

24. If something goes wrong

Talk to us first. Email contact@laurencevandeperre.com or call +32 (0) 494 80 41 95. We will confirm we have your complaint within two working days and do our best to resolve it quickly and fairly.

If we cannot find a solution together, consumers can turn to:

the Consumer Mediation Service (Consumentenombudsdienst / Service de Médiation pour le Consommateur), North Gate II, Koning Albert II laan 8 box 1, 1000 Brussels, www.consumerombudsman.be
BELMED, the online mediation service of the FPS Economy

25. The rest

If any part of these terms turns out to be unenforceable, the rest still stands, and we will replace the problem clause with one that comes as close as possible to what we meant.

These terms and any agreement between us are governed by Belgian law. The Vienna Sales Convention does not apply. Disputes go to the Dutch speaking courts of the judicial district of Antwerp, Antwerp division, without prejudice to the right of a consumer to bring proceedings before the court of their own place of residence.