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!

Antwerp Diamond Bourse

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.

City of Diamonds

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.

Photo Credit: ➨ Redvers & Nils Geylen

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Diamonds come in all shapes and sizes. Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder. But there are some natural wonders, such as the Grand Canyon or Mount Everest, whose beauty is objectively undeniable. And while diamonds as a whole are a rare and costly commodity, some diamonds are worth more than others. Over the course of history, miners have found diamonds that were so extraordinary, they became legends.

For example, the Wittelsbach Diamond, a 35.56 blue diamond with an extraordinary pattern made of 82 facets, which was a prized possession of a long lineage of kings and queens. Or the Orlov, an Indian mogul cut diamond, believed to have once served as the eye of a Hindu deity statue. And what about the Golden Eye? No, not the James Bond movie starring Pierce Bronson, the Golden Eye Diamond is a 43.5 carat Canary Yellow diamond, which is considered the largest flawless perfect cut Canary Yellow diamond in the world.

There are dozens of other examples, but instead of listing them all, I present to you: the Top Five Diamonds of the World!

5. The Millennium Star

Weighing 203.04 carats, the Millennium Star is the second largest top-color diamond in the world. It was first unveiled during a De Beers display in October 1999. It has absolutely no internal or external flaws, and is shaped like a pear. The rough diamond was found in the Mbuji-Mayi district of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1990, and initially weighed 777 carats. It was cut into three pieces, the Millennium Star being the largest of them. De Beers hasn't revealed its actual value, but it has been insured for £100 million.

4. The Spirit of de Grisogono

This deep, dark beauty is the world's largest cut black diamond, and the 5th largest diamond overall. Although cut in the same Mogul diamond cutting technique, it is much larger than the Black Orlov, weighing at 312.24 carats, while the original rough diamond was 587 carats. It is set in a white gold ring with 702 smaller white diamonds totaling 36.69 carat. It's whereabouts are currently unknown.

3. The Incomparable Diamond

No diamond can compare to this diamond! Hence the name. Discovered in Mbuji Mayi, its weight as a rough diamond was a whooping 890 carats. After four years of studying the rock, it was cut into a 407.48 carat gem, and is the third largest diamond ever to be cut. And it would have been number one, if it wasn't for those meddling internal flaws! The Incomparable Diamond was cut by a team led by Marvin Samuels, who was the co-owner of the stone together with Donald Zale of Zales Jewellers and Louis Glick.

2. The Cullinan I - aka the Star of Africa

The Cullinian Diamond is the largest rough gem-quality diamond ever to be found. It's original weight totaled at 3,106.75! It was cut into nine large gems, the most notable of them being the Cullinan II – The Lesser Star of Africa, and The Cullinan I - the First Star of Africa, weighing 317.4 carats and 530.2 carats respectively. It was named after Sir Thomas Cullinan, who owned the South African diamond mine where the massive rock was found. The estimated value of the Cullinan I is over $400 million!

1. The Golden Jubilee

Here it is ladies and gentleman – The Golden Jubilee! Weighing 545.67 carats, it is today the largest faceted diamond in the world, stealing the title away from Cullinan I in 1985. In the past, in the was called the Unnamed Brown, and was considered an unattractive piece. But after it was treated by  Gabriel Tolkowsky, who was instructed by De Beers to test new tools and cutting methods that had never been used before, this ugly ducking was turned into a beautiful yellow-brown diamond. Today, it is the property of the King of Thailand, who received it as a present for the 50th Anniversary of his coronation in 1997.

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