Amsterdam's Diamond Trade: How the Dutch Polished the World

Before diamond districts and De Beers, Amsterdam was the world's diamond cutting capital, a title it held for centuries. This episode traces how the Dutch East India Company (VOC) first brought rough diamonds from the mines of Golconda to the canals of Amsterdam, and how a community of Jewish diamond cutters transformed them into brilliant gems that adorned European royalty. We explore the legend of Lodewijk van Berquem, the actual innovations of the 16th and 17th centuries, the shift of the diamond trade from Antwerp to Amsterdam after the Spanish reconquest, and the role of diamonds in Dutch painting and finance. Along the way, we touch on the darker side: the human cost of mining in India and Brazil, and the labor conditions in the Amsterdam cutting shops. This is a story of skill, migration, and a commodity that still glitters in the city's identity.

#DutchDiamondTrade #Amsterdam #VOC #Golconda #DiamondCutting #LodewijkvanBerquem #JewishDiamondCutters #Antwerp #Surat #BrazilDiamonds #GoldenAge #TradeHistory #EconomicHistory #Innovation #LuxuryGoods #Diamonds #FexingoHistory #History

Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo