The truth about bling

The city of Antwerp (a city in the Flemish part of Belgium) is known mostly for two things. The first is its fashion industry, which I thought was odd as I’d never heard of Antwerp in relation to fashion. The second, is for diamonds. And fact, in Antwerp there is an entire street dedicated to dealers, wholesalers and jewelers of those precious little stones (the picture below). There is also a Diamond Museum. A sucker for education and learning of any kind, I went to the museum and learned about the diamond trade, from finding them in the ground to sticking it in a ring. Therefore, I give you the Top 5 Things You Never Knew About Diamonds.


5. Diamonds, eh? For some countries like Sierra Leone and the Congo, diamonds are a pretty old business. But it’s fairly new in Canada. In fact, we are the newest entry into the diamond business with the discovery of diamonds nestled in the Northwest Territories in the late 1990s.

4. That’s some good advertising. Diamonds aren’t exactly a necessity, but they’ve been selling pretty well for the last few decades (2004 sales were worth $5.7 billion). Part of this is because diamonds are oh so pretty but part of this is advertising. In 2001, De Beer’s diamond marketing campaign, “A Diamond is Forever,” was voted the best advertising slogan of the twentieth century by Advertising Age. Created in 1947 by Frances Gerety, a young copywriter, legend has it that she came up the slogan in a dream.

3. Antwerp is kind of a big deal. Indeed, this little city in quiet little Belgium is quite an important hub for diamonds. It is estimated that 80% of all diamonds pass through Antwerp at some point. The Antwerp diamond sector itself brings in about $39 billion each year and the diamond trade is responsible for the 8% of Belgian exports and employs about 30,000 people directly or indirectly.

2. Hard up. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but they can be a metalworker’s best friend too. In fact 80 per cent of mined diamonds (or about 100 million carats a year) are unsuitable for gem use. So industry takes them. They’re mostly used in cutting, drilling or polishing. But researchers are looking at hi-tech applications of diamonds. Because of their conductivity (electrical and heat), they can also be used in semiconductors. These diamonds are called industrial diamonds.

1. What’s in a name? De Beers is a big player in diamonds—it's responsible for 40% (by value) of world diamond production. They’re involved in almost every process of diamond production, refining and distribution. Most people think there is a DeBeers family like the Rockefellers, Trumps, Loblaws or Gates that started the company and still own a part of it . Well, you’d be wrong. The DeBeers were brothers that owned land in Kimberley, South Africa, an area rich in diamonds in the nineteenth century. It was actually Cecil Rhodes (huge racist, founder of Rhodesia—which later became Zambia and Zimbabwe—and the Rhodes Scholarship) who bought the land and started the company. To be fair, a family has run De Beers for a long part of its history (the Oppenheimers, led by patriarch Ernest, bought the company in 1926 and held it until it went private in 2001). It just wasn’t the De Beers.

Waffling

Leggo my eggo is not my motto. It’s true. I’m not a waffle fan. I can count on one hand how many I’ve had in my life. They were alright, I’ve got nothing against them but they’re not for me. So when I came to Brussels and everyone told me waffles from Brussels were a tradition everyone had to try at least once, I was skeptical. This is an example of the prom effect. A prom effect—named by my friend John—refers to an event that gets built up to the point where people’s expectations are so high the actual event cannot live up to it. The best example is the high school prom. There is so much preparation and anticipation put into that one night, it’s almost impossible to live up to them. Most often, people ruin their nights when their expectations surpass reality and you end up ruining a perfectly good night. The answer: expectation management. If you kept your expectations low and under control, you’d be pleasantly surprised when the night exceeded them. The key is to keep expectations at a minimum. That way you are never crushed when they aren’t met.

Now back to my story. While in Antwerp last weekend, there was about an hour and a half before our bus was due to leave. Instead of walking around in the rain, Cassandra (my roommate and fellow Tour-ist) suggested we have a cup of coffee. Passing a nearby café, I suggested we go in and she immediately suggested waffles. I agreed. I’d have to do it at some point, might as well do it now.

Verdict: phenomenal. Glazed waffle with fresh (you could almost taste the vine) strawberries and light and fluffy whipped cream. The dough was strong enough not to become mushy under the whipped cream. I gobbled it in five minutes while Cassandra lazily munched away.

Give me an "A"

Saturday was a beautiful day spent in Antwerp—except for the fact that it was rainy and I was ill prepared for the cold.

We started the day in the red light district. We met with Patsy Sorenson, the founder of Payoke, Belgian NGO that provides assistance to victims of trafficking of human beings. Sorenson is an amazing woman. But more on that later.

After Payoke we had an audience with the mayor of Antwerp in the most beautiful city hall I’ve ever seen.

It definitely beats the hell out of Toronto’s or Ottawa’s. There were beautifully ornate woodwork ceilings and walls with wooden banisters, low hanging chandeliers, marble floors and gorgeous artwork on the walls.

Every room was more beautiful than the next. The chapel had five murals depicting marriage ceremonies throughout history: the druids, the Romans, Middle ages, medieval times and Renaissance. I took the time to get hitched myself

(Note to my family: Don’t worry, the groom is gay).

Walking through the building, my little historian’s heart fluttered in my chest.

Step outside city hall and it’s a huge square (Belgians seem to enjoy squares as there’s one in Brussels as well). On the left is a church, in front of you is a fountain that has no obvious drainage system. From one of the balconies you can see the spires of a church in the distance.

Walking around these buildings and squares, it’s a bit disheartening to think of the stone and concrete and glass that await me in Canada. Who would want to go back to modern architecture when you can live, eat and walk on your own history? North American buildings seem so boring and bland, almost cold in comparison. I do appreciate them in some ways (for example, like this (link the new ROM)). But I wonder if Europeans understand how lucky they are. They have something that North Americans never will: easy access to their own history.

More than shelter, architecture provides a collective sense of history, a communal memory. Germans can take pride knowing their style of lodging is different than the stucco of Mediterranean homes.

From my travels (both now and when I was younger visiting Portugal), I’ve been amazed at the daily reminders of history in various European cities: cobble stoned streets, coat of arms etched into buildings, gothic cathedrals on every corner. I wonder if Europeans are amazed by them as I am. What do citizens of Antwerp think when they go to City Hall? Are they as amazed as I am? Somehow, I doubt it. With buildings like most things, if you grow up with something, you take it for granted. Maybe it’s because I’m a history student, or because I’m from Canada—a infant nation compared to the old stewards in Europe—but I hope they appreciate it.