Antwerp - Diamond Industry

Antwerp's international reputation is in part due to the diamond industry and the special role the city plays in the diamond trade worldwide. If Amsterdam (Holland) is the diamond cutting capital of the world - although Antwerp has more than 250 diamond cutting firms of its own - then Antwerp is the premier marketplace for industrial and ornamental cut diamonds.

It accounts in fact for about 70 per cent of the global trade. The center of all this commercial activity lies in the district along the Pelikaanstraat, in the Jewish Quarter near the main railroad station. There are several showrooms and other diamond trade outlets catering for prospective buyers. Further information is available from the Diamond Advisory Council at Hoveniersstraat 22.