Diamonds have for centuries spoken to the heart and to the imagination. In the symbolism of gemstones they have come to represent eternal love. Since the dawn of time artists have battled to capture the enchanting, sparkling light with delicate strokes of the brush. But diamond cutting is an art in itself. Of course the five separate steps of marking, cleaving, sawing, girdling and faceting hardly sound romantic at all. And yet without them girls would apparently have no best friends at all. If they do there is one city in the world to thank – Belgium’s Antwerp – which for over half a millennium has been the undisputed diamond capital of the world.

Travel to Antwerp’s diamond district today - the size of one large block and situated near the city’s railway station – and you will find no less than 2,500 separate companies connected in one way or another with diamonds: workshops, buying and selling offices, banking and insurance – employing thousands of people. For more than 70% of the world’s total diamond production is traded in this elegant and handsome Flanders city of Rubens and Van Dyck.

The unique infrastructure of the diamond district, which comprises four separate exchanges, means that choice is huge. And this in turn makes for fierce competition and razor-sharp prices – not to mention a highly efficient service. Today Antwerp remains the most important diamond trade centre in the world with an annual turnover of 23 billion US dollars. More than 85% of the world’s rough diamonds, 50% of cut diamonds and 40% of industrial diamonds are traded in the city that also boasts five centuries of music, art and decorative arts. The diamond sector accounts for 7% of Belgium’s total exports; it is thus an important ambassador for the country in addition to being one of its economic mainstays.

Stop the man on the Clapham omnibus and the chances are that he will be able to tell you that diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring substances. But would he also be able to tell you that the word diamond is derived from the Greek adamas – meaning steadfast, untameable? This is also the origin of the symbolic value assigned to diamonds – they ward off the powers of evil, in addition to keeping their owner in good health. Beware of those diamond merchants, however, and their well rehearsed patter – that the bigger the purchase you effect, the better your health is likely to be!

Invulnerability in turn means courage and indominability, and little time was lost before diamonds became the symbol of royal power. Almost every royal household has its crown jewels, although the British have the most famous of all kept – all right, I’ll tell you - in the Tower of London. This is the Cullinan diamond, the world’s largest, which is of South African origin. (Also known as the Star of Africa.) It was found by a supervisor in a mine near Pretoria, weighed in at 3,106 carats, and received the name of the discoverer of the mine. When Edward III received the stone, he gave the Asscher brothers of Amsterdam the task of cutting it. It was cut in to 9 large stones and 96 smaller ones of varying sizes. The large stones are the property of the British royal family and the largest, the pear-shaped Cullinnan I of 530 carats with 74 facets, is mounted in the royal sceptre and which forms part of the Crown Jewels.

Whilst valuable jewels remain an undisputed and very visible status symbol, their symbolic meaning has undergone a shift from indestructibility to a more sentimental context, that of eternal love and fidelity. Which is why diamonds traditionally sparkle on engagement rings. That said, whilst the Romans had diamond rings, the Western concept of diamonds as jewellery is not so old. It was not until the later Medieval period, when diamonds joined rubies and emeralds as the most highly prized of precious stones, that people began to polish the rough stones to put them in man-made settings as jewellery.

Of course, the value of diamonds also exercises an attraction on those of us whose intentions are less than honourable, with theft and murder regular characteristics in the cast of the story of the great stones. In 1792, during the French revolution, the French Crown jewels, which had been seized by the revolutionary government, were stolen.

Their rich sparkle makes diamond eye-catchers in high society as well as among film stars. When Elizabeth Taylor received a gift of a famous diamond from Richard Burton, there was a feeding frenzy in the tabloid press. Not that that put the seal of eternal love on that particular marriage, mind you. Marilyn Monroe was more than just a screen goddess, she was a symbol. In the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, she sang the hit song Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend, wearing a pear-shaped diamond of almost 26 carats for the occasion. That song proved to be worth millions in terms of marketing and publicity – the tune and words having entered into the public psyche. In fact if you telephone Antwerp’s Diamond High Council today and you are put on hold, Marilyn is out there waiting to sing to you.

Why Antwerp and diamonds though? Why not Scarborough and diamonds? Aha – it’s all down to geoga. For in 1498, Vasco da Gama discovered the direct sea route to India around the Cape of Good Hope and Lisbon became the most important harbour. For until their discovery in Brazil in 1725 India was the principal source of supply. Because of the dense traffic between Antwerp and Lisbon, the Scheldt City became the great trading partner of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, and the Antwerp diamond industry began to flourish. The city has been handling diamonds in one way or another ever since. Today’s stones are mined mostly in Africa, and to a lesser extent in South American, Russian and Australia – although India remains a key player in the industry.

In Antwerp the rough stone is first studied by the owner to determine the shape yielding maximum value. Cleaving is the term used when a stone is split with the grain to remove its irregularities. A high-speed blade coated with a mixture of oil and diamond dust is used in sawing, which is effective against the grain. Bruting done with a diamond lathe rounds the corners of the stone’s widest part. Polishing, the final state of the cutting gives the 57 facets and brilliance to the stone.

Jews play a special part in the diamond world in Antwerp. As early as the sixteenth century, several Jewish families from Portugal had settled in the city, and they were active in the diamond trade. Around 1880, East European Jews swelled the ranks of the community considerably. They played a role in the founding of the Beurs voor Diamanthandel, one of Antwerp’s four bourses in 1904. The post-war revival of the Antwerp diamond industry is largely the work of the Jewish community. Today, many of Antwerp’s Jews are still involved in the diamond trade, although many other nationalities, especially Indians, Zairians, Lebanese, Armenian and, more recently, Russians, all contribute to the cosmopolitan character and multiracial mosaic of the diamond city.

Some of you might be wondering what all of the fuss is all about. After all, a diamond – whatever its shape or size – is merely a colourless, transparent mineral, a crystalline form of carbon. And thus still a girl’s best friend? You bet! And Antwerp, a gem of a city, is undoubtedly the place where you should place your bet.

• Diamond Museum, Antwerp

Lange Herentalsestraat 31-33

B-2018 Antwerp

Tel: + 32 3 202 48 90

Fax: + 32 3 202 48 98

• Diamondland

Appelmansstraat 33A

2018 Antwerp

Tel: + 32 3 234 36 12

• Diamond High Council

Hoveniersstraat 22

B-2018 Antwerpen 1

Tel: + 32 3 222 05 11

Fax: + 32 3 222 07 24