New York Diamond Bourse

In the U.S., the Diamond Dealer’s Club (DDC) is at the forefront of the diamond trade. Most of the diamond bourses are located in New York specifically at the Diamond District found between the Fifth Avenue and the 46h to 48th Streets, also called the Avenue of the Americas. Each bourse has its own infrastructure, constitution and strict requirements for membership. New York is the diamond manufacturing center in the U.S. notably for the big stones.

The DDC

The Diamond Dealer’s Club is the biggest and oldest diamond bourse. With select membership, this reputable bourse is committed to provide unparalleled service and quality products. Its integrity can be attributed to its uniform code of law, select membership and independent arbitration board. The DDC is also known worldwide for its secure and neutral environment that allows the conduct of safe and comfortable business dealings between sellers and buyers.

Today, the DDC has taken diamond trading a next step higher through its internet-based trading platform with the same level of quality but now with more convenience. The platform not only offers full membership but various levels of subscription as well such as the retail store e-Trader for jewelers, the industry e-Traders for diamond manufacturers or wholesalers and dealers and the bourse e-Traders for members of the World Federation of Diamond Bourse.

The DDC trading platform provides a number of benefits to members. Apart from the safe trading environment, they also get maximum exposure to diamond and jewelry business in the U.S. as well as in other parts of the globe, improved profitability as they avail of high quality goods at competitive prices, access to the biggest and widest selection of quality and certified stones and improved credibility with membership with the club. In addition to these, users are also able to buy and sell jewelry and watches in a more efficient manner and do business with genuine diamond traders notably those associated only with DDC.

DDC members are allowed access to pertinent information posted at the DDC such as arbitration schedules, suspensions, bereavement notices and in-club buyers. Other privileges they can avail of include listing their inventories, requesting diamonds and gemstones, searching for member inventories, receiving news, viewing calendar listing for important dates and holidays.

DDC History

The Diamond Dealer’s Club was established in the U.S. as a corporation in 1931 as a central exchange for diamond trading. At that time, only 12 people signed the agreement. The first location of the club was in downtown New York on Nassau Street. Later during World War II, the DDC expanded after many European diamond dealers moved to the U.S. Today, the DDC has thousands of members from all over the world. Members come from all parts of the U.S., Europe, Japan, India, Israel and Africa. The New York office is now situated on 580 Fifth Avenue at the corner of 47th Street.

Global centers

Loose diamonds are first mined in their rough form in various parts of the world and then are sorted in London into more than 5,000 categories. From there, the stones are distributed to the cutting centers and to dealers in Antwerp, Belgium where an estimated 85 percent of the entire rough diamond trade occurs.

The main diamond manufacturing sites are in Belgium, Israel, India and New York while the cutting and polishing of this previous stone are done in South Africa, Botswana, China, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Mauritius.