The Antwerp Diamond Heritage

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History Timeline

14th Century

• 1314

  Bruges welcomed into its port the first trading ships from Venice.

• 1324

  Death of Marco Polo, the Venetian explorer who opened the trading routes from Europe to China and the East.

15th Century

• 1447

  First documented record of a diamond trade in Antwerp.

• 1476

  Lodewijk van Bercken is said to have method of cutting a diamond with a diamond.

• 1477

  Archduke Maximilian of Austria gives a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy, establishing the tradition of diamond engagement rings.

• 1483

  Wauter Pauwels is listed as diamond cutter in Antwerp.

• 1497

  Vasco da Gama opens Portuguese trading route to India. On route he discovers Cape of Good Hope.

16th Century

• 1572

  The Eighty Years' War breaks out.

• 1582

  First diamond polishers guild established in Antwerp.

• 1585

  Antwerp captured by Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza. Many Protestant diamond cutters were sent into exile.

17th Century

• 1648

  Peace of Munster ends the Eighty Years War and signals the start of dominance by Amsterdam.

• 1668

  Jean-Baptiste Tavernier sells Indian diamonds to King Louis XIV of France.

18th Century

• 1729

  The Danish East India Company was chartered to carry on trade in the East Indies.

• 1730

  Discovery of diamonds in Brazil.

• 1769

  Patenting of the spinning machine in England, signalling the start of the Industrial revolution.

19th Century

• 1866

  Diamond fever erupts in South Africa after the Eureka find.

• 1870

  Opening of the Kimberly mine (Big Hole).

• 1886

  Cafe Flora was created in Antwerp as an informal diamond club.

• 1888

  Establishment of De Beers Consolidated Mines.

• 1893

  Establishment of Diamantclub van Antwerpen, Belgium's first diamond bourse.

20th Century H1

• 1904

  Establishment of Beurs voor Diamanthandel in Antwerp.

• 1910

  Establishment of Fortunia Society, which was later disbanded.

• 1911

  Establishment of Vrije Diamanthandel.

• 1928

  Establishment of Antwerpse Diamantkring.

• 1940

  Antwerp occupied by German forces.

• 1944

  Antwerp liberated by Allied forces.

• 1945

  Belgian government creates Diamond Office.

• 1947

  Establishment of World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

20th Century H2

• 1955

  Commercial quantities of diamonds discovered in Soviet Russia.

• 1973

  Hoge Raad voor Diamant (HRD) established as umbrella organisation and official representative of Belgium's diamond industry.

• 1991

  First economic diamond deposit discovered in Canada's Northwest Territories.

21st Century H1

• 2003

  Kimberley Process Certification System launched.

• 2007

  HRD reconstituted as the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).

THE BIRTH OF A DIAMOND CENTRE

14th Century

For more than five centuries Antwerp has stood at the very epicentre of the world diamond trade. Through periods of war, economic depression, shifts in the balance of rough diamond production and the birth of new markets for diamond jewellery, the Flemish city has cemented its role as the capital of the international diamond business.

When the Antwerp centre was in its infancy, India was the only known source of diamonds. The subcontinent would remain the only significant producer of unprocessed diamonds until the 18th century

Throughout the Middle Ages, the entry into Europe for riches from the East was though Venice. As such, the northern Italian city was the principle transhipment point for Indian merchandise, including diamonds. On the opposite end of Europe was the Flemish city of Bruges, which was home to a vibrant cloth trade and also the most sophisticated money market in the Low Countries. Located on the Zwin River, which flowed into the North Sea, Bruges was a maritime power in its own right. In 1314, it welcomed into its port the first trading ships from Venice, and so was born a trading axis that traversed Europe and led all the way to India.

With a steady supply of rough goods flowing in, it was Bruges that developed as the first Flemish centre of the diamond business. The city also became home to a booming diamond industry. Indeed, popular legend credits one of Bruge’s citizens, Lodewijk van Bercken, with developing the modern method of using a diamond to cut a diamond. Van Bercken’s statute is proudly displayed today in Antwerp, in close proximity to the city’s diamond district.

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