Diamond India

India is the home of some of the oldest civilizations with a past intimately linked to the world of jewelry. It is a country where diamond mining and cutting are based on ancestral know-how, which still benefits it today.

Golconde oldest diamond mining operation

In the 13th century, India was the only supplier of diamonds in the world and more precisely the region of Hyderabad. The Golconde mine, still famous today for the incredible quality of the diamonds that were extracted, was the main source of diamonds at the time.

It is notably at the origin of the largest diamond of the time, the Koh-I-Noor, which was offered to Queen Victoria of England as a gift by the last Maharaja of the Sikh empire.

Diamonds were considered gifts from the Gods as they brought wealth to the region. They were depicted in Sanskrit religious texts. Traditionally Indian women wore the most splendid diamond ornaments at their weddings, symbols of eternity and prosperity for its owner.

Today Golconde is a ruined city but India has not stopped its love affair with diamonds.

An industrial and community transformation

Centuries pass and in the remote Indian provinces, the mines come to be exhausted. The Maharajas had entrusted the task of selecting their most beautiful gems to the Jains. The Jain religion is similar to Buddhism and Hinduism. This vegetarian Indian religious community advocates non-violence and honesty, while enjoying a privileged status, which explains why its members are, by tradition, bankers, merchants, and diamond dealers. Members of Jainism are not allowed to cut stones themselves. However, they have come to master the art of diamond trading.

The decline of Indian diamond mining and the discovery of deposits abroad transformed the local business. In 1730, Brazilian diamonds were discovered and in the 19th century, African diamonds.

Cutting and trading took over at the beginning of the 20th century in India. The opening up of the world market and trade with other diamond centers such as Antwerp led to the revitalization of the old cutting factories in the 1970s.

The 1990s marked the total affirmation of India as a center for diamond cutting and polishing.

Bombay, and Surat poles to serve the global market

Today, it is the capital Bombay and the city of Surat, 300 km to the north of the latter, that make the diamond market.

The largest cutting center in the world is located in the Varachha district of Surat. It is Indians from Gujarat, for the most part from the same city, who manage thousands of workshops, some of which are still very old, others well equipped with the latest technology.

If there is strength in numbers, an ancestral know-how combined with adaptability prevails.

The craftsmen cut stones of 0.01 carat as well as stones of more than 10 carats. They all strive to bring out the maximum amount of light while losing the minimum amount of weight.

All of the local production flows through the Bombay Diamond Exchange where it is sold. The Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB) sees about 90% of the world's production pass through, since most of the diamonds are nowadays cut in India. 

For any price request and quotation for diamonds from India, please contact us via the special request form.