Trading district
Diamond District (47th Street)
New York, United States
The block of West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues: jewellery shops at street level, and dealers, cutters, setters and laboratories in the exchange buildings above. The Diamond Dealers Club is the trade's exchange.
New York's Diamond District is the block of West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Midtown Manhattan. The trade gathered here from the 1920s onwards and grew after the Second World War, when diamond dealers and cutters arrived from Antwerp and Amsterdam; it remains the centre of the American diamond and jewellery trade.
What you find
Street-level jewellery shops, and above them, in the exchange buildings and office towers, dealers, cutters, setters, engravers, casters, refiners and grading laboratories. The Diamond Dealers Club, founded in 1931, is the trade's exchange.
How trading works
Wholesale trading happens in offices and on the floor of the Diamond Dealers Club, open to members and their guests, where deals are traditionally sealed with a handshake and the words "mazal u'bracha" and disputes go to the club's own arbitration. Much of the trade works on memo (consignment).
Visiting and buying safely
- Street-level shops sell to the public; compare stones on their grading reports, not on the salesperson's description.
- Touts on the sidewalk steer passers-by to particular shops; walk in where you choose.
- For a trade visit to the club, arrange an invitation through a member.
Places and institutions, not businesses: JewelLoop does not rank, recommend or endorse anyone listed. Hours and contacts change, so check with them before you travel or apply.