Celebrity and jewelry have a tendency to go hand in hand. Both are glamorous, sparkling, and in some extent both are eternal. But some Hollywood figures seem to take it a bit too far.

The most notorious of them all has to be Elizabeth Taylor. She loves jewelry so much, she even wrote a book about them! In 2002 Taylor released My Love Affair with Jewelry, a book that documented her beloved jewelry collection.

Jewelry items in Taylor's possession, most of which were designed by Shlomo Moussaieff, include the 33.19-carat Krupp Diamond, 69.42-carat pear-shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond and the 50-carat La Peregrina Pearl, which she received from ex-husband Richard Burton.

Some stars love jewelry so much, they're even willing to risk their reputation to get some! This week it was reported that Lindsay Lohan “lost” $2 million worth of jewelry, which she borrowed from Beverly Hills high-end jewelry store XIV Karats. Actually, the official excuse provided by the 23 year old star was that her house just happened to be burglarized when it was time to return the jewelry. This story might have been excusable, if it wasn't for another incident involving Lohan, an Elle UK Magazine photo shoot, and $40,000 worth of diamond jewelry that have mysteriously disappeared.

Some celebrities take a different approach, preferring the spiritual over the material. The queen of pop, Madonna, who has arrived in Israel to give a gigantic performance, has been seen quite frequently wearing a simple red ribbon Hamsa necklace. This is no surprise due to the pop star's ongoing love affair with the world of Kabbalah, and it was only appropriate to wear such an item when visiting Israel.

But don't assume for a moment that Madonna has given all of her riches away. In this year's Academy Awards, Madonna went all out and showed up at the ceremony and its after parties with over 600 carats of jewelry. Some of the items she was wearing included a black and white 500 carat diamond chain, a diamond bangle with 25 carats of diamonds and platinum, an onyx and diamond bracelet with 50 carats of diamonds, a pair of diamond pear shape earrings of 20 carats each and a square diamond and onyx ring. No wonder the metal detectors at the airport go berserk when she's around!

Speaking of the Oscars, this event has always been about speculations. Not necessarily over who wins the best soundtrack for a foreign animation documentary, but over who will wear the most outrageously expensive clothing and accessories. The eyes are usually turned to supermodels and skinny actresses, but you'd be surprised to learn that the most expensive diamond clothing ever to appear on the red carpet was worn by none other than comedian Whoopi Goldberg.

In the 1999 academy awards, Whoopi hosted the event, and at a certain point appeared on stage wearing a Queen Elizabeth costume, inspired by Cate Blanchett's performance. The outfit was embedded with $40 million worth of diamonds, lent to Goldberg by Harry Winston.

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Following last week's post on the diamond blog about the history of diamonds in India, here is the second part of my review of the history of diamonds: this time – Belgium! 

Belgium, and more precisely Antwerp, has been the world's center of diamond trade for the past 500 years or so. There are four diamond bourses operating in the city, one for bort and three for gem quality goods. Throughout the years it lost its dominance at times only to regain power later on.

Diamond cutting in Antwerp started in the 16th century, when masses of Jewish people who were expelled from Spain and Portugal settled in Belgium, bringing with them the knowledge of diamond trading. Antwerp was growing as a city and soon became the commercial heart of Europe, with 40% of the world's trade passing through its massive port.

By the end of the 17th century, internal conflicts between the guild of diamond cutters and rich merchants in Belgium led Antwerp to lose its status as a world diamond center, and the focus shifted to Amsterdam. In the 18th century, Amsterdam gained control over the world's diamonds supply, and preferred to keep the best stones for its own diamond cutters, leaving Antwerp with low-quality diamonds. This, however, led Antwerp diamond cutters to develop new methods of turning low-quality rough diamonds into fine polished gemstones.

In 1871, a new source of diamonds was discovered at the Kimberley diamond fields in South Africa, which led to the resurrection of the diamond industry in Belgium. Mass quantities of rough diamonds were transported to Europe, and diamond cutters in Antwerp once again had their hands fulls. The discovery of the Kimberley diamond fields in South Africa also sparked the birth of De Beers, which would eventually become an international diamond giant.

Things were looking bright until the Great Depression of the 1930s. The demand for diamonds and luxury goods in general plummeted, and the diamond industries in Belgium and the Netherlands were forced to limit their diamond production by 50% in order to avoid overcapacity.

During World War II, despite the noble attempts by the Belgian government and the Belgian people to protect Jews in Belgium from the Nazi invasion, the Belgian resistance was eventually defeated and many Belgian Jews were sent to concentration camps. Those who managed to escape immigrated to the United States, England, Portugal and Israel and some of them started new diamond operations in those countries.

After the war, Antwerp took some time to recuperate and rebuild its diamond industry. The Correspondence Office for the Diamond Industry was formed in order to return hidden diamonds to their rightful owners. From that moment on and until the 1970s, the Antwerp diamond industry was dominated by the large Hasidic Jewish communities that remained in Belgium. However, in the past two decades, Indian and Armenian diamond traders have gained a foothold in the Antwerp World Diamond Center.

Today, Antwerp supplies nearly 85% of the world's rough diamonds, with a $16 billion turnover from polished diamonds every year. More then 4,000 people are employed in the Antwerp diamond cutting industry.

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Earlier this month, Israel Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Binyamin Ben Eliezer announced that his ministry will act to support the Israeli Diamond Industry. With the global financial crisis still at large, unemployment is high, and the diamond industry is low on “Excellent” diamond polishers. The solution is simple: the ministry would help finance professional training programs for diamond polishers.

The Israeli Diamond Industry, which has been deeply affected by the crisis, is expected to see an increase of hundreds of millions of dollars in local production of polished diamonds, and the 100 people who undergo the training will be hired by local manufacturers.

The Israeli Diamond Industry is doing everything in its power to pull through the crisis, as evident from our Together Works program. Other governments around the world are also trying their best to help their diamond industries.

The government of Russia, for example, has pledged to invest some $1 billion in diamonds produced by Russian diamond giant Alrosa. I can't imagine what Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is planning on doing with $1 billion worth of diamonds, but it is nonetheless quite a noble gesture.

In India, the government has launched a new scheme to support the diamond and jewelry industry, which includes subsidized loans, support of safety measures and protection from occupational hazards, and the establishment of an institute for the development of gemstones and jewelry.

Meanwhile, Ontario launched diamond drilling training programs in two colleges in Northern Ontario. This is just one expression of Canada's Economic Action Plan, which includes a C$12 billion investment in infrastructures, some of which directed at the diamond mining industry.

Sierra Leone, which relies heavily on the export of diamonds, recently decided to lower the commissions for the export of diamonds and gold, in an attempt to encourage more mining companies to operate in its territory.

And finally, last month the Thailand government canceled the 7% value-added tax on the import of raw materials for the Thailand jewelry industry. This tax exemption will be valid until December 2011, by which time, hopefully, the global financial crisis will be over.

It's difficult to say that things are looking bright, but they are definitely looking brighter. The governments of the world continue to provide well needed and deserved support to the diamond industry, and hopefully, we will all soon pull through it together.

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