This gave impetus to the establishment of modern diamond manufacturing enterprises

Unlike the three diamond centers described - Belgium, Israel and India, which, in principle, are centers for trade and production of diamonds, the United States is another type of diamond center. Although there is some production of diamonds, the United States is mainly a consumer market, where diamond trading centers in New York City serve mainly as gates to the American market.

Humble start

During the time when there were diamond jewelry for sale in the United States, traders and diamond manufacturers worked there. The earliest documentary evidence of the existence of the diamond center in New York dates back to the 18th century when it was located in the Maiden passage. A larger center appeared in the 1920s near Canal and Boveri streets.

In 1931, a group of traders in diamonds and diamonds decided to create a stock exchange in the likeness of European diamond exchanges. They created the Diamond Dealers Club (DDC) with offices on Nasso Street in lower Manhattan.

The New York Diamond Center, as we know it today, was born as a result of great international upheavals. The outbreak of the Second World War forced Jews, including members of the Amsterdam and Antwerp diamond and diamond industries, to flee to the US in search of refuge from the war that broke out in Europe and the persecution they faced.

After the occupation of Belgium by Belgium and then by the Netherlands, the Jews engaged in the trade in diamonds were captured and interned by the Nazis. Many thousands were tortured. Those who survived went to Tel Aviv and New York and created new diamond centers in those cities. Less than 5,000 Jewish residents out of 35,000 originally residing in Antwerp survived the war.

Like a phoenix risen from the ashes

We started small. Without money or goods, all they had in order to start their new life was their knowledge and experience in producing diamonds and inserting them into jewelry. But they quickly turned into a diamond-diamond community.

In 1941, as their number increased, the Diamond Dealers Club moved to 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, where they began to attract dealers located in other parts of the city. During the postwar prosperity of the economy, the demand for diamond jewelry, especially for wedding rings, has risen sharply. With the support of the marketing campaign "A diamond is forever", started by De Beers in 1948, the American consumer felt a taste for diamonds, and the New York diamond dealers were ready to supply everything they needed.

This gave impetus to the establishment of modern diamond manufacturing enterprises, the establishment of direct supplies of diamonds from the company De Beers and the establishment of trade organizations such as the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), which formalized the internal and external code of conduct in the trade in diamonds .

Currently

Currently, the New York Diamond Center has closed many of its small diamond studios because of the growing cost of producing diamonds. This did not stop the center from continuing to specialize in expensive goods - large white diamonds and diamonds of fantasy colors of all kinds.

New York is the seat of some of the most famous and influential diamond cutters in the world. Outstanding among them are Lazar Kaplan, who is widely known for producing 13 diamonds from Jonker diamond; Marcel Tolkowsky (Marcel Tolkowsky), who developed a way to improve the reflection of the light of the diamond and created the "Ideal Cut", which paved the way for polishing with the help of an automated device; And Brian Gavin (Brian Gavin), who created a super-perfect cut "Hearts and Arrows" (Hearts and Arrows). They and many others continue to play a leading role in the newest methods of polishing diamonds in New York.

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