Diamond District | NYC

For those looking for diamond wholesalers selling their fine jewelry to buyers like you, visit New York’s 47th Street Diamond District. This little island of activity is famous for the art of the deal. Here, 2500+ jewelers fill one-city block and set the tone for the diamond trade across America. Annually, hundreds of billions of dollars of product flows through NYC’s Diamond District, many in the shops and storefronts at street level, and even more high above in the office buildings, where thousands of diamonds change hands every week. “Diamond Row” is indeed an exciting place, where an educated NY consumer can get a good deal!

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**Check Prices with One Click: A+ Rated James Allen – Jewelers.NYC’s 2017 Top Online Discount Diamond Store**

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History of the Diamond District

There were actually three diamond districts in New York. The original was located on Maiden Lane in the 18th century. The next was formed near Canal Street and the Bowery in the 1920’s, and a third was established in 1931 near the intersection of Fulton and Nassau Streets in the Financial District. That all changed at the beginning of World War II. In 1941 Nazi Germany entered the Netherlands and Belgium, forcing thousands of Orthodox Jews, operating in the diamond business, to flee and settle in New York City. Shortly thereafter, the industry moved north and consolidated on 47th Street between 5th Avenue and Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue). This is where the Diamond District remains today.

How Can You Benefit?

It’s simple. Any business either makes its profit from higher margin and lower volume (see our Review on Zales) or higher volume and lower margin (see our report on James Allen). All else being equal you want to spend your money at the second. With $100b+ of product flowing through the diamond district every year, diamonds need to move in and out quickly. The diamond district has some of the lowest margin jewelry stores in NYC because sellers have to sell and buyers go there prepared to buy.

One Word of Caution…

Because of the high volume/low margin setup, Diamond District jewelers assume you are there to buy. It will become clear very quickly if you are just window-shopping, and most will disengage – they have billions of dollars of diamonds to sell! So do your research ahead of your trip into Midtown and make sure you have a good idea of both what you want and what a fair price actually is (check prices at Zoara’s Diamond Pricer). There you will get a good idea of a fair price before walking into the jewelry store.

What’s Next?

Sign up for our totally free, no strings attached, e-Course, Diamonds 101 ( below) and for 3 minutes a day for the next five days, we’ll teach you what you need to know to get started in your hunt for the perfect diamond. At the same time, start researching jewelers using the search option on our home page. Featured Listings generally have more detail about the jewelers, so choose these first if you are pressed for time! Those two actions alone will give you more diamond knowledge than about 90- 95% of the customers shopping for diamonds.

When you’re done, start making calls, asking questions and then finally visit the shops of the 47th Street Diamond District! Then come back here and tell us how it went below!

New York’s Diamond District, Understanding the Magic