Worldwide Nº1

Antwerp has been the heart of the diamond trade since the fifteenth century. It outlasted every rival, and it holds the centre still: today more than 80% of the world’s diamonds have been traded here.

That single figure is the measure of the city. Mined on five continents, the world’s diamonds find their way, almost without exception, to one small quarter of one northern port — and pass through Antwerp on their way to the world.