Social Circle: Celebrating 10 Years at the Antwerp Diamond Bourse

Recently, I was invited to deliver a live seminar at the Antwerp Diamond Bourse to offer my best social media advice for busy diamantaires. While planning my talk, I remembered that an article about this Belgian hub of diamond trading was THE FIRST piece of content I ever produced on KaterinaPerez.com. I can’t help but feel like I have come full circle, just in time for my website’s 10th anniversary! Here, I’d like to take you behind the scenes of my whistle-stop day in Antwerp and share some insights into the significance of the Bourse itself…

The Antwerp Diamond Bourse, otherwise known as Beurs Voor Diamanthandel, has special significance to my journey as a content creator, editor, and jewellery key opinion leader. In 2013, I travelled to Antwerp, explored the Bourse, bought my first diamond for my 30th birthday and wrote my first full article for the earliest iteration of this website. I wanted to tell my readers about the establishment and its significance for European diamond buying, trading, and cutting. Therefore, you can imagine how excited I was to return there to give a talk titled “How to Succeed on Instagram in the Diamond Trade,” exclusively for Bourse members, on April 19, 2023. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate ten years than by going back to the beginning and revisiting some of the centres of the jewellery business that have shaped my professional career.

Before I tell you more about the speaking engagement, let’s dive into the history of the Antwerp Diamond Bourse. It was founded in 1904 by diamond merchants who wanted a more secure and organised place to do business. Previously, they had been operating from the café ‘Petit Duc’ on Pelikaanstraat in the city! However, the history of diamonds in Antwerp goes back much further – around 550 years – so the trading hall in the modern-day Diamond Bourse reflects all this tradition. For centuries, Antwerp has played a significant role in the trade of rough and polished gems, including dealings with India, Africa, Canada, Australia and Russia. These links run deep and are intertwined through multiple generations of the same families and communities.