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ANTWERP-Diamonds world capital (part 1)

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Diamonds in Antwerp (1)

Diamonds in Antwerp (2)

Underestimated Antwerp

Antwerp Zoological garden

Getting out of Central station, take left into the Pelikaanstraat, now in a complete chaos during the construction of a TGV station (end 2003). Take the first to the right into the Vestingstraat and left in the Rijfstraat. Impossible to circulate from now on by car without showing proper permissions and badges. The barriers only open for recognized furnishers and at the slightest doubt the car is searched and turned upside down. All suspect object is immediately removed. Even bicycles cannot be left in front of the Sepharad synagogue in the Hovenierstraat or one of the four Diamond Exchanges. All these streets since you entered the Vestingstraat line up their polyglot signboards, display-window after window, where brilliants, necklaces, rings, bracelets and al sort of jewels glitter. Tradition creates obligations: Antwerp polishes diamonds since 6 centuries. This area houses hundreds of small polishing and diamond cutting ateliers. And the four diamond exchanges are there to survey the quality of the finished product and the regularity of the commerce.
A new world opens in front of you: a small island frequented by diamond dealers, buyers from all over the world. More than half of the world polished production transits over Antwerp! All famous and greatest diamond producers that this world counts lives and has offices in this enclave near Central Station.
The “Hoge Raad van Diamant” (High Council of Diamonds), a group created to defend the interest of this sector has his headquarters in the Hovenierstraat, just like the exchanges, Diamantkring, Diamantclub and Diamantbeurs. Look at the merchants in this area where the square meter beats all records. They call each other by their first name, discuss the price or the valour of a stone to be sold to London, Amsterdam, New York or New Delhi. Polyglots, the Indo-Pakistani greet their American, English, South-African, Congolese or Lebanese colleagues. A lot of Antwerp Jews work in this industry and the revival of the commerce after WW II was greatly due to the Jewish community and the radiating of the manufacturing into the countryside, called “Kempen “ around Antwerp. It’s already in the 16th century that Antwerp received several Jewish families, chased from Portugal. With a population of about 18,000 Jews, a large part is orthodox. But today, if you still see beards and the traditional head covers, the younger generation wears more the traditional three pieces costume with tie.

The “little stone” (‘t steentje in Flemish) is generally negotiated behind tables in the Diamond Exchange (Diamantbeurs) or in the offices of the big dealers and manufacturers. When they make a deal, Jews say in Yiddish “Mazal and Broche”  (good luck and blessing). Businesses are done with a moral contract. The mutual confidence is essential; a word is a word, a promise a promise. If you have the opportunity to visit the inside of one of the exchanges you will see a board where all those who failed their word are posted and excluded from all world exchanges. It’s a way to keep a respect for the silent law, which is so important in the Antwerp diamond world. Excluded from the Bourse, the merchant will be banned from everywhere he will present his goods, and should in fact stop his career.
Next article will explain a little more about the criteria to judge the quality of a diamond and also how to buy cheaply eventually one stone only as a private buyer, which is not evident in these firms not used to sell under amounts of hundreds of thousands of dollars if not millions.