Diamond District in New York City

On West 47th street between 5th and the Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue), there is a district that is famous for selling various shapes and sizes of diamonds; the Diamond District.

The Diamond District is the one of the biggest consumer markets for diamonds with daily trading transactions of diamonds numbering the $400 million; with $24 billion in annual sales. Within the Diamond District, there are around 2,600 independent business that relates to the diamond or jewelry business. What makes this district so important on a global scale, not only a national or state scale, is that out of all the diamonds that enter the United States of America; 90% of those diamonds pass through New York and most of them through the Diamond District.

This district is a part of the 47th Street Business Improvement District (BID), which is a non profit group that is tax exempt in order to improve economic growth; but also to keep the district cleaner, safer, and more beautiful for all parties. There were other districts, mainly downtown, that focused on selling diamonds in the New York City area, but there was a movement to the uptown area to do business.

The movement uptown began in 1941 when Europeans Orthodox Jews who were in the diamond business immigrated to New York City to where the Diamond District is in the present. The mere numbers of diamond business owners moving uptown either because of immigration or because of rising rents downtown created the district known for its diamond business. An example of a quality diamonds business within the district is Leigh Jay Nacht Inc that can be found on 49 West 45th Street Suite #902.

Another highly accredited diamond shop is Iannelli Diamonds on 45 West 47th Street that has been in business since 1956, one of the older diamond shops.

The Diamond District is close to various famous New York city attractions: one block away from the Rockefeller Center, three blocks from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and three blocks away from Radio City Music Hall.