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Cut Above
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 Ramesh Mehta has been a mouthpiece of the Indian diamond community for very long. Articulate and straight-talking, he tells you that the diamantaires could have done with a little more recognition from the Indian Government. Mostly
Gujaratis, they have, after all, grown into the most formidable diamond community in the world. Mehta has seen this growth very well over the last four decades, having arrived in Antwerp in the 1960s—the 14th man from faraway Palanpur to set foot in this quaint Belgian port city.
He’s seen businesses grow, and families multiply. In the 1980s, there were about 150 Indians, now there are about 1,000. When the Palanpur traders started trickling in to Belgium in the early 1970s, adaptation was not easy. The language was different, Europe, outside England, hadn’t opened out to Indians, and all said and done the world was still about three decades away from true globalization.
The much-celebrated Indian diamond community of Antwerp has received accolades in Belgium, been honoured by the monarchy and the Government of Belgium. Even the Indian High Commission in Brussels acknowledges its commendable achievements. But the commensurate recognition of its sparkling achievements have been missing from the Indian end. “We have never been invited by the Indian Government,” he says. “It is time that we are recognized, steps taken for making it easy for us to do business with our Indian associates.” Many of the 2.5 million engaged in the diamond industry owe their livelihood to the diamond businessmen of Antwerp. If this business gets affected, so will they. “After all, we’ve made the PIO community proud,” he adds.
Of that there is enough shining evidence.
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Shah of Stones
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 Bharat Shah of Diampex is one of the most networked diamantaires of Antwerp. There is no one in the diamond community who doesn’t know him, and no one that he doesn’t know. It is another matter that he has a huge namesake in the diamond industry, but they are very different from one another. There are also some distinct power groups within the diamond community, but Shah has assiduously cultivated all of them. So he’s on the right side of everybody.
Since the 1970s Shah, has witnessed how the Indians have slowly, yet surely, gained a stranglehold in the diamond cutting and polishing business. About 90 per cent of the world’s uncut diamonds and half of its polished diamonds are sold in Antwerp each year. The city has a trolley stop called Diamant that is home to 1,500 retail and wholesale diamond companies and four diamond exchanges. One of the oldest, the Beurs voor Diamanthandel was found in 1904.
Shah’s Diampex is just across the road from the Buers. Till recently, the Indians did not have much say in the diamond community, and that is something which Shah wasn’t too pleased about. “We made up the bulk of Antwerp’s diamond trade and yet had no voice on the important trade bodies in town. Things are finally changing,” he sighs.
At long last.
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January 2007
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