The Diamond District is an area of New York City located on West 47th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) in midtown Manhattan, within walking distance of many New York attractions. It is located one block south of Rockefeller Center, three blocks south of Radio City Music Hall (along the Avenue of the Americas), three blocks south of St Patrick's Cathedral (along Fifth Avenue), and one block east of the Broadway Theater District. The Plaza Arcade, lined with shops, connects the street to Rockefeller Center.

The district was created when dealers moved north from an earlier district near Canal Street and the Bowery that was created in the 1920s, and from a second district located in the Financial District, near the intersection of Fulton and Nassau Streets, which started in 1931. The move uptown started in 1941. The district grew in importance when the German Nazis invaded the Netherlands and Belgium, forcing thousands of Orthodox Jews in the diamond business to flee Antwerp and Amsterdam and settle in New York City. Most of them remained after World War II, and remain a dominant influence in the Diamond District

A notable, long-time anomaly of the district was the famous Gotham Book Mart, a bookstore, which was located at 41 West 47th Street from 1946 to 2004.

The area is one of the primary centers of the global diamond industry (along with London - rough stones; Antwerp, Belgium - historical but waning; Mumbai, India - increasing in significance, Ramat Gan, Israel - also growing, and Johannesburg, South Africa - the major historical source), as well as the premier center for jewelry shopping in the city. An estimated 90% of diamonds in the United States enter through New York.

 Operation

It has been reported that total receipts for the value of a single day's trade on the block average $400 million. There are 2,600 independent businesses located in the district, nearly all of them dealing in diamonds or jewelry. Most are located in booths at one of the 25 "exchanges" in the district. Many deals are finalized by a simple, traditional blessing (mazel und brucha) and handshake. The Diamond Dealers Club also known at the DDC, an exclusive club that acts as a de facto diamond exchange, has its own synagogue. Retailers with shops line the streets outside. Above the bazaar is the Gemological Institute of America, which trains gem dealers.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/4447/shopping_in_new_yorks_diamond_district.html?cat=46

 

Okay, first the disclaimer: I am not in the jewelry industry. I am not a professional buyer nor am I an industry insider. I am just a guy who needed to buy an engagement ring, chose to do so in Manhattan’s Diamond District and did far too much

 research. Since my Diamond District experience, I have found myself giving lots of advice to friends and acquaintances concerning the nuances of the District and how to use them to the buyer’s advantage. What follows are several hints and stories which will hopefully make the reader’s experience in the Diamond District a little less stressful and a lot more profitable.   First, an idea of what to expect. After buying my engagement ring I described the process to a friend by likening it to purchasing a prostitute in Hanoi: it’s a situations where the supply far exceeds the demand meaning that the sellers – many of which have a thuggish quality to them – can be very upfront and aggressive. You can expect an afternoon of moving from one shady stall to another, starring at diamonds which may or may not look exactly the same yet differ in price by thousands of dollars. The salesmen are ubiquitous and will not simply let you browse. Some will even stand out on the street and openly solicit you for business if you so much as slow down near their door. And then there’s the haggling; buying a diamond on 47th street makes car-shopping look like a walk in the park. So why do it? The answer is simple: money. In the Diamond District you can generally pay less than half of what you would pay at national chains like Zales.   Importantly, the same elements that make the Diamond District an uncomfortable and intimidating place also can give buyers a huge advantage. The trick, of course, is knowing how to create and exploit your advantage as a buyer. It is here that I may be able to offer some suggestions. First, know the basics. Learn about color and clarity rankings. Study the certification process and how to read the certificates. Most importantly, know what you want – have a good idea of what type of cut and setting you are interested in and establish a realistic price range. By learning this information ahead of time you’ll be able to speak the salesmen’s language and as such you will be treated with a great deal more respect. The vendor’s impression of you is important. If he or she believes that you are someone they can take advantage of and make a hefty profit off of, they will. On the other hand. if the vendor believes you to be someone who understands individual diamonds and the market as a whole, he or she is likely price their stones competitively on the assumption that you know what you are looking at and will not tolerate outrageous offers.   When shopping in the Diamond District, you can certainly visit the shiny and well-kept storefronts. These stores will offer the widest variety of high quality stones in an atmosphere which is relatively comfortable. However, if you are looking for a good price, you will want to go to one of the many diamond exchanges – the large open spaces where vendors work from small stands and not individual stores. Visit as many stands as possible, even those that look slightly shady. Doing this will give you a good idea as to pricing and will help you get a sense of whom the best sellers are.   A tip that I found helpful in the buying process was that one should not automatically avoid vendors selling uncertified diamonds. Stores selling uncertified diamonds can generally go lower in price than other stores because they are the true wholesalers. What someone should do if they are buying from a store selling uncertified diamonds is work out a deal contingent on the diamond being certified. There are experts in every one of the diamond exchanges who can certify diamonds in minutes. Their nominal fee – usually around $50 – can result in you getting a stone for hundreds of dollars less than had it been already certified.   So, after doing some wandering and getting the feel of the district, its time to return to the places who had something special to offer. Of course, here is where the bargaining comes in. Any price you are quoted, while seemingly cheap, can be brought down by as much as half before a final agreement is reached (notice that you’ll never see a pre-marked price on a diamond). I found that weaving a story put me in a favorable position when it came time to bargain. First, I casually mentioned to the seller that I was in town for a few days and, although I was sure I would be buying a stone, I had set aside this day to simply look, not buy. The typical response this elicited was “well if you’re hear let’s see if we can work out a deal now”. The seller, thinking that he or she was getting first crack at a buyer, was generally willing to make a pretty attractive offer – keep in mind, if I walked out that door, the odds of them ever seeing a commission from me were slim. Even after a good offer I stuck to my guns: I wanted to see all the options first. Of course, story or not, this is a good idea since, once you have an offer, you can always come back to a vendor. By this point, I would often get the line “well at what price would this stone have to be for you to walk out the door with it today?” This is the time to make the kill. You already have a good offer from the seller and you both know there are hundreds of other places you can go to if nothing works out. Knowing that, I generally tossed out some ridiculously low number. Some vendors said it could not be done and came back with a counter offer. Others simply rolled their eyes. Much to my surprise one of the sellers went for it! It was 50% off the price he originally quoted and thousands of dollars lower than Zales was offering for the same size stone at a much lower quality. Game, set, match!   Should you decide to purchase a diamond in the district and you live out of state (or have the address of someone out of state you trust) arrange for the diamond to be shipped to that address. In doing so the sale is registered as a sale out of state and thus you will not need to pay sales tax on your new diamond. If you don’t think sales tax is that significant, think of it this way: if you spend $3,000 on a ring, paying 6% sales tax will amount to an additional $180. Take my advice, save the money on tax and buy your fiancée-to-be or special someone a few dozen red roses instead.   Shopping in the Diamond District will never be a stress free activity. It will always involve plenty of work, lots of haggling, and a small amount of luck. Hopefully though, the tips above will remove some of the mystery and anxiety surrounding the process and result in the benefits far outweighing the costs. Happy hunting!