The Portuguese sea route and Lisbon as diamond hub
The Portuguese opened the sea route to India in 1498, establishing trading posts along the Indian coast that gave them access to the diamond markets of Golconda. By the 1520s, significant quantities of rough diamonds were moving from India to Lisbon by sea, cutting out the Ottoman and Persian overland trade intermediaries. Lisbon became Europe's first major diamond trading centre, the port where Indian rough arrived and was redistributed to cutting centres and jewellers across Europe (Boyajian, 1993, op. cit.; historical documentation of Portuguese India trade).
The Portuguese also established the framework of the diamond certificate system, the practice of documenting diamond weights and qualities in trade documentation that evolved over subsequent centuries into the modern grading certificate (historical documentation of Portuguese diamond trade practices; Balfour, I., 1987, Famous Diamonds, Christie's Publications, London).
Antwerp: the first modern diamond centre
By the mid-16th century, Antwerp had overtaken Lisbon as the principal European diamond trading and cutting centre. The combination of Antwerp's position as northern Europe's leading port city, its sophisticated capital markets (where diamond dealers could finance purchases against future sales), and the presence of skilled Flemish craftsmen made it the natural location for diamond cutting and trading. The first documented diamond cutting guilds in Europe were established in Antwerp in the 15th and 16th centuries (Ogden, J., 1982, Jewellery of the Ancient World, Trefoil Books; historical documentation of Antwerp diamond guilds).
The disruption of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), the Dutch struggle for independence from Spain, scattered Antwerp's Jewish and Protestant diamond merchants to Amsterdam, London, and other centres. Amsterdam became the leading diamond city of the 17th century, its prominence cemented when the Cullinan was cut there in 1908. The Antwerp diamond trade survived and eventually reasserted itself, Antwerp remains the world's largest rough diamond trading hub today, handling approximately 80–85% of the world's rough diamond transactions by value (AWDC, Antwerp World Diamond Centre, awdc.be; trade data).
Armenian merchants: the overland network
Parallel to the European sea-route trade, Armenian merchants from the community of New Julfa (in present-day Iran) dominated the overland diamond trade between India and Europe through the 17th and 18th centuries. The Armenian network operated through Persia, Turkey, and Russia to connect Golconda production with European buyers, a network that facilitated the movement of several historically significant diamonds including the Orlov (Amsterdam, 1775) and others (Bhattacharya, B., 2008, "Making Money at the Nexus of State and Commerce," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 51(3); historical documentation of Armenian diamond trade networks).
Primary sources
Boyajian, J.C. (1993). Portuguese Trade in Asia under the Habsburgs 1580–1640. Johns Hopkins University Press. [Portuguese sea route diamond trade; Lisbon as first European diamond hub; documentation of Indian diamond imports through the Portuguese system.]
AWDC (Antwerp World Diamond Centre). awdc.be. [Antwerp's current position handling approximately 80–85% of world rough diamond transactions; historical context as Europe's leading diamond centre.]
Balfour, I. (1987). Famous Diamonds. Christie's Publications, London. [Colonial trade context; Amsterdam cutting centre history; trade route documentation for specific famous diamonds.]
Bhattacharya, B. (2008). "Making Money at the Nexus of State and Commerce: The Armenians in Asian Trade 1605–1750." Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 51(3). [Armenian merchant network in overland diamond trade from India to Europe.]