Where the jewellery trade works: gold souks, jewellery quarters, diamond districts, manufacturing towns and export zones, with what you find there and the official website where there is one.
Diamond district
Antwerp, Belgium
What you find: Rough and polished diamond trading; diamond bourses, laboratories
A few traffic-free streets beside Antwerp Central Station, Hoveniersstraat, Rijfstraat and Schupstraat, where the world's rough diamond trade has centred for over a century, with bourses, dealers and laboratories. Trade only. Also listed in our gem markets.
Manufacturing district
Arezzo, Italy
What you find: Machine-made gold chain and gold jewellery manufacturing
Tuscany's gold district, a centre of Italian gold chain and jewellery manufacturing with roots in Etruscan goldsmithing. It hosts the Oroarezzo trade fair every spring. Pieces made here carry the provincial code AR in their mark.
Gold souk or gold street
Istanbul, Türkiye
What you find: Gold jewellery, gold coins, silver and antique jewellery
One of the world's oldest covered markets. Its main jewellery street, Kalpakçılar Caddesi, runs from gate to gate between gold shops; workshops and gold dealers fill the hans behind. Closed on Sundays.
Jewellery town
Hanau, Germany
What you find: Goldsmith training, contemporary jewellery, the German Goldsmiths' House
A goldsmiths' town since Dutch and Walloon settlers arrived around 1600; it has a state school for jewellery and the German Goldsmiths' House, which shows contemporary jewellery.
Diamond district
London, United Kingdom
What you find: Diamonds, engagement and wedding rings, bench jewellers, bullion dealers
London's diamond and jewellery quarter, between Farringdon and Chancery Lane. Shopfronts on the street, with workshops, setters and diamond dealers in the floors above and the buildings behind.
Jewellery town
Jablonec nad Nisou, Czechia
What you find: Glass and costume jewellery, beads, components
A town in the Jizera Mountains that became a world centre of glass and costume jewellery at the end of the 19th century. Its museum and shops show the craft; many small makers still work here.
Jewellery quarter
Birmingham, United Kingdom
What you find: Jewellery making and retail, bench jewellers, the Birmingham Assay Office, a jewellery school
A historic quarter of workshops just north of Birmingham city centre that has made jewellery for more than 250 years. Hundreds of jewellers still work here, alongside the Birmingham Assay Office and the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter.
Manufacturing district
Istanbul, Türkiye
What you find: Gold jewellery manufacturing, wholesale, refining
A purpose-built jewellery complex near Istanbul's airport, opened in 2006 to move workshops out of the historic Grand Bazaar. Manufacturers, wholesalers and a refinery sit together; it is a trade centre rather than a shopping street.
Jewellery town
Pforzheim, Germany
What you find: Jewellery and watch manufacturing, jewellery design schools, the Schmuckmuseum
Known as the Goldstadt (gold town): its jewellery industry began in 1767 and grew into Germany's main jewellery and watch-making centre. Today it has jewellery makers, design and technical schools, and a museum devoted to the history of jewellery.
High jewellery street
Paris, France
What you find: High jewellery houses and their workshops
The square that has been the address of French haute joaillerie since the 19th century. The great jewellery houses have their salons on the square, with workshops in the surrounding streets such as rue de la Paix.
Jewellery quarter
Florence, Italy
What you find: Gold jewellery shops, Florentine goldsmith work
Florence's medieval bridge, given over to goldsmiths and jewellers by a decree of Grand Duke Ferdinando I in 1593. The small shops along it still sell jewellery today.
Jewellery town
Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
What you find: Gold and silver work, jewellery manufacturing, design school
Known as the 'gold and silver town': precious metalworking has been its trade since the Middle Ages, and jewellery and silverware are still made and taught here.
Jewellery town
Torre del Greco, Italy
What you find: Coral jewellery and cameos carved from shell and lava
A town on the Bay of Naples that became the centre of coral working in the 18th century and of shell and lava cameo carving soon after. Mostly small family workshops. Red coral is rare and imitations are common: ask what you are buying.
Jewellery town
Valenza, Italy
What you find: Handmade fine jewellery with coloured stones and diamonds
A small Piedmont town that is Italy's centre for handmade fine jewellery. Unlike the machine-made gold districts, Valenza's workshops make one-off and small-series pieces, and most coloured stones imported into Italy are set here.
Manufacturing district
Vicenza, Italy
What you find: Gold jewellery and chain manufacturing
Italy's largest gold jewellery production district, running from Vicenza to Trissino and Bassano del Grappa, with a goldsmiths' guild dating back to the Middle Ages. Home of the Vicenzaoro fairs.
Places and official bodies, not businesses: JewelLoop does not rank, recommend or endorse any shop or dealer. Websites are the district's own or an official body's. Many trade offices and factories see buyers by appointment only, so check before you travel, and follow the export and customs rules of every country involved. Gem trading places are in Gem markets of the world.