The world’s most precious merchandise ...
Millions of years ago, the incandescent heat deep within the Earth’s crust created today’s most precious product, a treasure that remained hidden from view for eons. In fact, the diamond remained a mysterious object so long that it was still prized more for its hardness than for its brilliance and colour in the 15th century. Finally, however, a genius among diamond cutters uncovered the secret of its dazzling lustre. Antwerp is more closely linked to the history of the diamond than any other city, and its unobtrusive character has imprinted itself on its people. As a result, visitors to the city’s diamond district shouldn’t expect ostentation. Instead, this premier trading centre for the world’s most precious merchandise makes a laidback impression. The architecture in Schupstraat and Hovenierstraat near the railroad station is modern and eclectic. Standard business gray prevails in the offices inside. And even in the cutting shops you’ll find no glitzy high-tech equipment, but instead wooden workbenches and well-used old machinery. The only clue that there are extraordinary treasures to be guarded here are the police sentries at points of entry to the quarter. And this understated image suits the diamond dealers just fine. To explore what’s behind this facade you need a guide. Without a long-established relationship of trust, the locked doors and checkpoints here will remain off-limits to you. Our “open sesame” is Eva-Maria Leuschel, gemstone specialist and a Wempe employee for many years. She provides us with entry so we can watch while she grades and trades diamonds as one of the single-minded players in one of the world’s most exclusive markets.
In a week’s time you meet the whole world ...
Our day starts in the diamond-boiling shop. Brokers, traders and cutters stop by, pull small, origami-style folded paper envelopes out of their pockets, and watch as their precious content is unceremoniously dumped into a diamond-boiling pot. The customer chats with colleagues while the pot bubbles and seethes. When the steam finally clears, Mr. Fogel, the boiling shop supervisor (originally from Hungary) filters the acidic liquid and dries the diamonds with a red polyester cloth, against which each gem is clearly visible. This routine is so long-established that the gems aren’t even weighed before they are boiled. Like everything else in the Antwerp diamond scene, it’s all based on trust. With a friendly “Bye, merci Marco!” the customer is on his way. Now his gems are ready for their starring role at the diamond bourse. Four of the world’s 21 diamond bourses (exchanges) are here in Antwerp. The one we are touring today is the Diamantkring, which specialises in uncut and industrial diamonds. Besides orthodox Jews and local Flemings, polyglot Indians, Armenians, Africans, Asians, Americans and Lebanese pursue their business goals here. And everyone gets along just fine. Why, after all, should anyone let stupid prejudices get in the way of successful business? That’s what I like about Antwerp,” remarks our local guide for the day, diamond manufacturer Kurt Einhorn. “In a week’s time you meet the whole world here.” “
"Diamantclub" ...
A floor-to-ceiling glass wall floods the interior of the bourse with daylight, making it resemble an artist’s studio. Facing north, the slanted glass panes admit cool, even light. Waiting at one of the tables, a trader opens a newspaper. Another unwraps a sandwich. Two old men support each other as they walk out the door. Mostly male, the guests at the tables here remind one of a Latin café crowd. And that’s not entirely coincidental. Diamond traders used to meet casually in the coffee shops around Antwerp’s railroad station until the first diamond exchange, the "Diamantclub", established a more formal venue for their precious wares. Since no two diamonds are alike, these traders requently just carry their gems in their coat pockets. Even though sales negotiations are conducted more and more in the diamantaires’ offices, the bourse continues to be a key location where supply meets demand. It is also a place where word-of-mouth information is exchanged — the sort of word-of-mouth information that never reaches the papers or other media.
Sealed with a handshake ...
Business in the inner circle of the diamond trade is conducted with old-fashioned simplicity. Each transaction is sealed with a handshake — and without any paperwork. “Mazel!” — Yiddish for “Congratulations!” — is the formula that seals every deal. A series of time-honoured rituals lead up to that point. Once an initial offer has been made, the envelope containing the diamonds is sealed with sticky tape. From that point on, the trading partners have 24 hours in which to agree on a price. During this interval, middlemen called brokers negotiate back and forth between the two parties, and no third party is allowed to see the content of the envelope. Anyone failing to remit payment after such a handshake is blacklisted — mug shot and all — and banned from all diamond exchanges for the rest of his life. But the bourse’s bulletin board displays not only black sheep, it also lists new membership applications. Most of these applications come from family members of already registered traders. This custom assures the transparency of a small, tightknit community well into the future. But if anyone vetoes a new admission on reasonable grounds, the application is scrapped.
Safeguarding of the Sundance future ...
From there we accompany Eva-Maria Leuschel to Inter Gems- Claes, one of the 80 “sightholders” at DTC, the Diamond Trading Company in London. Here De Beers, the renowned South African company, invites traders ten times annually to a “sight”, a diamond sales fair. At this fair, each sightholder is issued a quota of stones. “To the best of my knowledge,” says Dirk De Nys, the Inter Gems-Claes representative in London, “no one has ever declined their package.” The market advantage this dependable flow of gems gives to DTC customers is just too great. Eva-Maria Leuschel shows Hans Clément, her business partner, the new Wempe “Sundance” commemorative rings — in yellow or white gold — in which up to seven diamonds are set. She is therefore interested in a supply of well-matched gemstones available to the customer even years after the original order, so the ring can be enhanced by additional diamonds. Only diamonds whose source can be clearly established may be considered.Both Wempe and Inter Gems-Claes take precautions not to buy conflict-related diamonds from civil-war zones.
Something very beautiful is asleep in the stone ...
Once the business part of the visit is finished, we get to watch Hans Clément at work. An envelope of rough diamonds has just arrived. He pours them onto a sheet of paper, pulls the blinds and begins to sort them under artificial light: always in groups of three — that’s how it’s done in Antwerp. Two aren’t enough, and four make it too complicated. The pale-white stones look like rock candy or cough drops. And while they pile up to form little pyramids on the plain paper, the visitor realises that the daily work of a diamantaire is not unlike that of anyone else who buys and sells natural products. Things get interesting again in the cutting and polishing shop. Wolf Ollech’s family business is upstairs in an older building. Three diamond cutters, seated side by side, greet us absentmindedly and preoccupy themselves anew with their grinding disks, known as skives. With great concentration they cut one facet after another. “As we look at a rough diamond, we can visualise the finished product,” explains Wolf Ollech. “That takes imaginative power. Something very beautiful is asleep in the stone, and that’s what we want to bring out.” Of course Ollech also has a computer that can help analyse a diamond’s structure. But it can’t replace human know-how: “Machines have no eyes. We look for a balance between beauty, economy and purity. No machine can figure that out.”
A question for the goods ...
“Why is it,” we ask, “that every stone has a different structure?” “That,” responds the cutter, “is a question for the gods.” No two diamonds are alike. You hear that a lot in Antwerp. By buying an especially complex stone, a dealer can strike it rich or go broke. Experienced cutters like Gabi Tolkowsky are therefore at a premium. “Every two months or so, a diamond fractures,” Kurt Einhorn admits resignedly as we look over Gabi’s masterpieces. Though he represents the seventh generation of a diamantaire dynasty, he goes by his first name. The very pleasant office of this luminary of the diamond scene is an exception among the otherwise plain interiors here. A grand-nephew of Marcel Tolkowsky — the inventor of the brilliant cut — Gabi scrutinises his darling diamonds here to discern their charms.
Abiding passion ...
Time and again, we meet people in Antwerp whose abiding passion is the diamond. They hoard their most beautiful stones and find talking about them more enjoyable than making more money. Gabi can derive as much pleasure from a misshapen rough diamond he carved into an eagle’s head as from the 599 ct. Centenary diamond, which de Beers commissioned him to cut in the early 1990s. This master of facets moved to South Africa for three years to reduce that gem, which was insured for 0 million, using traditional cutting methods, to a breathtakingly radiant 273 ct.Engineers were assigned full-time to develop suitable tools, step by step, which were tested on another large but less pure diamond. For Gabi it was a matter of honour to convert the “ugly duckling” into a flawless swan. “And I’ve never had a diamond bust on me,” he declares proudly.
Fire, water, light, reflection– life ...
For Eva-Maria Leuschel’s inspection, the master of crystalline shapes has lined up his most recent collection of shellshaped Fancy Diamonds, which are already a hit in the US as bracelet charms. “Who can tell,” muses Gabi, “what the true colour of a diamond is?” Cognac or cinnamon — everyone sees a different colour in it.” Then he picks up a 30.83 ct, briolette-shaped diamond to show how easy it is in Antwerp to hold five million dollars in your hand. “What do you see when you look at this stone? Fire, water, light, reflection — life itself!” exclaims Gabi, whose masterpiece was the legendary Golden Jubilee diamond with an incredible 545.67 ct. As businesslike and solemn as the diamond trade may appear from the outside, its soul lives in people with the souls of poets and a child-like belief that there is no better metaphor for the wonder of existence than the enduring diamond. After all, this stone, the hardest of all stones, had to wait millions of years before finally assuming its role as a radiant star. It’s a role that nothing — except perhaps another diamond — can surpass.
