"Antwerp diamond district Antwerp's diamond district, also known as the Diamond Quarter (""Diamantkwartier""), and dubbed the Square Mile, is an area within the city of Antwerp, Belgium. It consists of several square blocks covering an area of about one square mile. While, as of 2012, much of the gem cutting and polishing work historically done in the neighborhood had moved to low wage centers elsewhere, about 84% of the world's rough diamonds passed through the district, making it the largest diamond district in the world with a turnover of 54 billion dollars. Over $16 billion in polished diamonds pass through"
"industrial diamonds are traded in Antwerp, Belgium—the diamond center of the world. The city of Antwerp also hosts the Antwerpsche Diamantkring, created in 1929 to become the first and biggest diamond bourse dedicated to rough diamonds. Antwerp's association with diamonds began in the late 15th century when a new technique to polish and shape the gems evolved in this city. The diamond cutters of Antwerp are world renowned for their skill. More than 12,000 expert cutters and polishers are at work in the Diamond District, at 380 workshops, serving 1,500 firms and 3,500 brokers and merchants. In the 21st century,"
"Italy, Greece, and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. Owner of the largest diamond mine in Africa, Dr T. Gernon is most well known for discovering the largest diamond ever found in the history of the world ever at 5.93m. Found in the Palomar Formation near the Molino Alto Hotel which recently suffered from flash flooding. Gernon is currently a lecturer in geology at the University of Southampton. Thomas Gernon Thomas Gernon (born 1983, County Louth, Ireland) is an academic who won the Millennium Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (Ireland) for his work on the numerical modeling of"
"upon payment of a US$295 million settlement), and a voluntary agreement between De Beers and the European Commission. The latter agreement had been overturned upon appeal by the Russian mining company Alrosa, but the European Court of Justice then upheld the decision and the European Commission subsequently concluded its investigation with no more action being taken against De Beers. Today, annual global rough diamond production is estimated to be about , of which 92% is cut and polished in India, mostly in the city of Surat. Some 85% of the world's rough diamonds, 50% of cut diamonds, and 40% of"
"and the government of the French Community. Brussels also has many commuters, with 230,000 coming from Flanders, and 130,000 from Wallonia. Much of the success of Brussels is based on the high educational skills of its workforce. As of July 2012, however, the statistical unemployment rate in Brussels was 20.6%. The port of Antwerp was in 2004 the second largest European sea port by cargo volume, and the Antwerp freight railway station accounts for one-third of Belgian freight traffic. Antwerp is the first diamond market in the world, diamond exports account for roughly 1/10 of Belgian exports. The Antwerp-based BASF"
"EV9 The Amber Route EuroVelo 9 (EV9), named the ""Amber Route"" - is a long EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running from the city of Gdańsk, Poland on the Baltic Sea to Pula, Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is called the Amber Route as historically the precious stone amber found in the Baltic region was taken by routes such as this to the Mediterranean Sea. This north-south cycle route runs through Central Europe and passes successively through six countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia. , the EV9 route is complete in some countries but not in others."
"important. Antwerp World Diamond Centre, (AWDC) the successor to the ""Hoge Raad voor Diamant"", plays an important role in setting standards, regulating professional ethics, training and promoting the interests of Antwerp as the capital of the diamond industry. The AWDC is a non-profit organisation to represent the important diamond community in a united front to various stake-holders. A six-lane motorway bypass encircles much of the city centre and runs through the urban residential area of Antwerp. Known locally as the ""Ring"" it offers motorway connections to Brussels, Hasselt and Liège, Ghent, Lille and Bruges and Breda and Bergen op Zoom"
"China. Diamonds are cut and polished in Surat, India and the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. India in recent years has held between 19–31% of the world market in polished diamonds and China has held 17% of the world market share in a recent year. Another important diamond center is New York City. The diamond cutting process includes these steps; ""planning"", ""cleaving"" or ""sawing"", ""bruting"", ""polishing"", and ""final inspection"". Diamond manufacturers analyze diamond rough from an economic perspective, with two objectives steering decisions made about how a faceted diamond will be cut. The first objective is that of maximum"
"cut quality. Since diamonds are one of the hardest materials, special diamond-coated surfaces are used to grind the diamond down. The first major development in diamond cutting came with the ""Point Cut"" during the later half of the 14th century: the Point Cut follows the natural shape of an octahedral rough diamond crystal, eliminating some waste in the cutting process. Diamond cutting, as well as overall processing, is concentrated in a few cities around the world. The main diamond trading centers are Antwerp, Tel Aviv, and Dubai from where roughs are sent to the main processing centers of India and"
"a city whose history goes back beyond classical times. On its way it passes through the towns of Umag, Porec, Pula, the Lim channel and the UNESCO World Heritage Site listed Euphrasian Basilica. The route is currently not realised. EV9 The Amber Route EuroVelo 9 (EV9), named the ""Amber Route"" - is a long EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running from the city of Gdańsk, Poland on the Baltic Sea to Pula, Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is called the Amber Route as historically the precious stone amber found in the Baltic region was taken by routes such as this"
"Flemish Diamond The Flemish Diamond (in Dutch: ""Vlaamse Ruit"") is the Flemish reference to a network of four metropolitan areas in Belgium, three of which are in the central provinces of Flanders, together with the Brussels Capital Region. It consists of four agglomerations which form the four corners of an abstract diamond shape: Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven. Over five million people live in this area, with a population density of about 820 per square kilometre. The Flemish Diamond is a regional government concept not officially recognized by the Belgian central authority, the Federal government, which recognizes no poly-centric conurbation"
"of Israel's total exports, 12% of world diamonds (by their value) were polished in the country. In 2010 this number decreased to 9%. , diamonds amounted to 28% of Israel's total exports and they were still 12% of the world's production. The industry is located in the ""Diamond District"", located in Ramat Gan in the Tel Aviv District. The complex is made up of four buildings, interconnected with walkways. The entire trading operation takes place in this complex. The Diamond Tower in the district contains the world's largest diamond trading floor. Israel's government funds a non-profit industry body, the Israel"
"The main company operations are run from both Mayfair, London and Geneva in Switzerland. All diamonds at Backes & Strauss are D, E or F colour and internally flawless with only a very, very slight inclusion. Polishers at Backes & Strauss have perfected the ideal cut and are able to obtain the best cut for maximum beauty and brilliance of the diamond. Ideal cut diamonds show the ""Hearth and Arrows"" pattern when viewed through a Hearts and Arrows Viewer, justifying the perfect symmetry and proportion of the diamond. Every Backes & Strauss watch has at least one diamond set into"
"to the north and south of the city centre have been retained for their sentimental value and are used mainly by cruise ships and short sea shipping. Antwerp's other great mainstay is the diamond trade that takes place largely within the diamond district. The city has four diamond bourses: the Diamond Club of Antwerp, the Beurs voor Diamanthandel, the Antwerpsche Diamantkring and the Vrije Diamanthandel. Since World War II families of the large Hasidic Jewish community have dominated Antwerp's diamond trading industry, although the last two decades have seen Indian and Maronite Christian from Lebanon and Armenian, traders become increasingly"
"Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK. Situated in the north western area of the Birmingham City Centre, there is a population of around 19,000 people in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses involved in the jewellery trade, which produces 40% of all the jewellery made in the UK. It is also home to the world's largest Assay Office, which hallmarks around 12 million items a year. Historically the Jewellery Quarter has been the birthplace of many pioneering advancements in industrial technology. At its peak in the early 1900s the"
"of employees. Last year, the country’s import of rough diamonds rose 24.5 percent to 149.8 million carats against a year earlier, and export of cut and polished diamonds witnessed a surge of 28.3 percent to 59.9 million carats. The old market is located at Opera House and Prasad Chambers (Charni Road). The cutting and polishing of diamonds occurs mainly in the city of Surat, which is also known as 'Diamond City'. The cutting and polishing units in Surat vary from large firms employing several thousands of diamond cutting and polishing workers to very small informal enterprises having a few workers."
"mostly by the people of the Patel community. Around the world, 8 out of 10 diamonds on the market were cut and polished in Surat. This industry earns India about 10 billion USD in annual exports. A legacy of old Dutch trade links, it began after a Surti entrepreneur returned from East Africa bringing diamond cutters. The rough diamonds themselves, however, come to Surat as rough crystals ripped out mainly from deep under the earth of South Africa and other regions of the continent, and go from here as smooth gems to Antwerp, Belgium where the international diamond trade is"
"rough diamonds in the world. During the 1990s the stronghold of De Beers Group was weakened by diamond traders who engage directly with diamond producers in Russia and Africa. Israel Diamond Exchange Israel Diamond Exchange Ltd., located in Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, Israel, is the world's largest diamond exchange and the centre of Israel's diamond industry. The exchange is a private company that incorporates about 3100 members; these diamantaires are engaged in diamond cutting and trading - marketing, brokerage, import and export. The exchange operates from a complex of four buildings in area known as the Diamond Exchange District;"
"Regent Diamond The Regent Diamond is a diamond owned by the French state and on display in the Louvre, worth £48,000,000. It is widely considered the most beautiful and the purest diamond in the world. According to one rumour, in 1698, a slave found the uncut diamond in the Kollur Mine (in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India) and hid it inside a large wound in his leg. An English sea captain stole the diamond from the slave, killed him and sold it to an Indian merchant. In a letter to his London agent dated 6November 1701, Thomas Pitt,"
"diamonds are still occasionally found in the Golconda mine and in Brazil but to date, 80% of the world's pink diamonds now originate from the Argyle mine in Kimberley, Western Australia. Out of the mine's 20 million carat annual output, only 0.1% are classified as pink diamonds. After the diamonds are polished, the total carats of pink diamonds becomes smaller still. This makes pink diamonds not only rare but also difficult to obtain, as all interested buyers of pink diamonds around the world are consequently fixed on Argyle pink diamonds. The earliest known pink diamonds are the Daria-i-noor and the"
"all over the world, including Israel, India, Lebanon and Russia to capitalise on the sale of over US$1.5 billion worth of diamonds. Press Reports describe the Marange find as, 'the biggest in southern Africa since diamonds were discovered in South Africa a century ago'. In September 2013, Belgian and diamond industry officials successfully lobbied the European Union to lift sanctions on ZMDC diamonds. In December 2013, the first European Union Marange auction took place in Antwerp and fetched $10 million for 300,000 carats, working out to a price of just over $30 per-carat on average. A second auction is scheduled"
"de Thévenot and François Bernier were also French traders in 'Golconda Diamonds'. Some of the most famous diamonds from Golconda are: Out of 38 diamond mines of India, 23 were located in the Golconda Sultanate, making it the 'Diamond Capital' of the past. It was considered a point of pride by any ruler to be the owner of one of the Golconda Diamonds. The top four pink diamonds of the world are from Golconda. Currently, most of the world famous diamonds are from Golconda, and several monarchs and legendary personalities keep them as a mark of pride. Golconda Diamonds The"
"the century, the focal point of the world's diamond trade shifted from Amsterdam to Antwerp, bringing many Jewish diamond traders and polishers to the city. During World War I, many fled to the neutral Netherlands, but they returned after the war. Many Polish and Romanian Jews immigrated during the 1920s: Nazi persecutions brought waves of German and Austrian Jews in the 1930s. Prior to the Second World War, and its peak, the Jewish community of Belgium consisted of roughly 70,000 Jews (35,000 resided in Antwerp and 25,000 in Brussels). About 22,000 Jews at that time were German Jewish refugees. Only"
"clearing. Antwerp World Diamond Centre The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) is a public/private corporation, officially representing and coordinating the Antwerp diamond sector. It is located in heart of Antwerp in the Hoveniersstraat. The chief executive officer of AWDC is Ari Epstein. The Diamond office facilitates the import and export of diamonds in and out of Antwerp. This is primarily done through marketing campaigns, services, conferences, trade fairs, economics missions, and various other ways. The World Diamond Center is home to all of the major diamond mining companies, which discover diamonds for over 1,800 individual diamond dealers across the globe."
"with an estimated value of $998 million was produced in 2009. The diamond supply chain is controlled by a limited number of powerful businesses, and is also highly concentrated in a small number of locations around the world (see figure). Only a very small fraction of the diamond ore consists of actual diamonds. The ore is crushed, during which care has to be taken in order to prevent larger diamonds from being destroyed in this process and subsequently the particles are sorted by density. Today, diamonds are located in the diamond-rich density fraction with the help of X-ray fluorescence, after"
"a diamond shape: Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and Leuven. Over five million people live in this conurbation, with a population density of more than 800 per square kilometre. Actually, given the high level of commuting from and to Brussels every day, supported by one of the densest networks of railways and motorways in the world, It could be easily argued that the whole Belgium and Luxembourg area is one conurbation or is becoming one. The most notable conurbation is Lille-Roubaix-Tourcoing-Villeneuve-d'Ascq, located in the north of France, with over 1.2 million people living in the area. That conurbation is actually an international"
"water, and venomous snakes. The French traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier visited the Krishna River diggings in 1665, and estimated that about 60,000 people were mining diamonds. The town of Karwan, near the fortress city of Golkonda, now a suburb of Hyderabad, became the world's largest diamond-cutting and diamond-trading center. Golconda was not close to diamond mines, but owed its status as a diamond center to its location on a major trade route from the mines to the south and east. The diamonds became known as Golconda Diamonds, and in Europe, the word Golconda came to mean a place of great"
"permit holders bays. There are a variety of cheaper off-road options at around 50p per hour. There are also some free parking spaces on the side streets. Free bays are marked by a white P in a blue square on a nearby sign. Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK. Situated in the north western area of the Birmingham City Centre, there is a population of around 19,000 people in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses involved in the jewellery trade, which produces 40% of all the jewellery made in"
"of fire, brilliance and scintillation 33.33% in each area, making the diamond sparkle from every angle under any light condition shaping the internal light while absorbing external light to its maximum. Yair Shimansky Yair Shimansky is a jeweler based in Cape Town, South Africa who specializes in diamonds. He is owner of several Shimansky Collection retail stores in South Africa, and also owns a diamond cutting and polishing business in Johannesburg, South Africa. Shimansky has been noted for his works being of high-quality, and some as being very expensive, such as the world's most expensive temporary tattoo and a 900"
"alongside Belgium and India. Israel's net polished diamond exports slid 22.8% in 2012 as polished diamond exports fell to $5.56 billion from $7.2 billion in 2011. Net exports of rough diamonds dropped 20.1% to $2.8 billion and net exports of polished diamonds slipped 24.9 percent to $4.3 billion, while net rough diamond imports dropped 12.9 percent to $3.8 billion. The United States is the largest market accounting for 36% of overall export market for polished diamonds while Hong Kong remains at second with 28 percent and Belgium at 8% coming in third. In 2007, when diamonds still constituted almost 24%"
"of diamond polishing tool, the ""scaif"", which enabled the creation of the stereotypical sparkling, multifaceted diamond. This attracted orders from European nobility - and attracted other craftsmen to Antwerp. Charles the Bold commissioned him to cut and polish the Florentine Diamond. In the 1890s a diamond industry is established in Antwerp by families of diamonds traders and manufacturers who came from Amsterdam, Netherlands. Since late 20th century, Indian and Armenian diamond dealers have gained importance in city's diamond trade. Antwerp diamond district Antwerp's diamond district, also known as the Diamond Quarter (""Diamantkwartier""), and dubbed the Square Mile, is an area"
"from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea. It is so named after the precious stone amber collected in the Baltic, which was taken by routes such as this to the Mediterranean. One of the shortest of the EuroVelo routes, EV9 still manages to cut across Europe from north to south, from Poland to Croatia, and in doing so passes through the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovenia en route. EV10 runs around Baltic Sea. Some of its parts are mapped on OpenStreetMap project . On the state of the route there is an OpenStreetMap wiki page EV11 connects (theoretically) the"
"dropped due to the ongoing Global financial crisis, particularly within the Eurozone and the United States. The United States is the largest market accounting for 36% of overall export market for polished diamonds while Hong Kong remains at second with 28 percent and Belgium at 8 percent coming in third. , cut diamonds were Israel's largest export product, comprising 23.2% of all exports. Israel is one of the world's major exporters of military equipment, accounting for 10% of the world total in 2007. Three Israeli companies were listed on the 2010 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute index of the world's"