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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