The diamond, a rare gem...

Diamond is one of the rarest gems in nature. Its chemical composition is very simple: it is carbon, just like the graphite in pencils, but with a very different molecular structure that results in, among other things, a melting point of 6,900 degrees Fahrenheit, or two and a half times that of steel. Billions of years ago, the elementary forces of heat and pressure transformed carbon into diamond. The volcanic mass in which this crystallization occurred rose and burst through the Earth's crust, cooling in kimberlite vents. And it is in these kimberlite vents that rough diamonds are still found today.

Currently the most important European place for the trade of cut diamonds is Antwerp in Belgium with 3 diamond exchanges and thousands of operators from all over the world. These are not stock exchanges in the traditional sense (there are no real-time diamond quotations) but physical places where supply and demand meet and where the major rough diamond processors, the Sightholders, are based. The advent of the Internet and the birth of companies like 18carati that sell diamonds online has contributed to reducing the importance of a physical exchange for the diamond trade.

Antwerp is home to IGI (International Gemological Institute) and HRD (Hoge Raad voor Diamant), the two most prestigious European institutes for diamond certification. GIA, the prestigious American certifier, has also recently opened an operational office in Antwerp.