Crown of the Queen Mother replica at Royal Coster Diamonds exhibition

Royal Coster Diamonds is the oldest, still operating,

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

polishing

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

in the world, located in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Founded in 1840, they have handled a few historical masterpieces. For example, they re-polished the Koh i Noor, which is mounted in the

Crown of Queen Mary The Crown of Queen Mary is the consort crown made for Mary of Teck in 1911. Mary bought the Art Deco-inspired crown from Garrard & Co. herself, and hoped that it would be worn by future queens consort. It is unusual for a British crown because ...

, and the

Dresden Green Diamond The Dresden Green Diamond, also known as the Dresden Green, is a natural green diamond, originated in the mines of India. The Dresden Green is a rare Type IIa, with a clarity of VS1 and it is said to be potentially internally flawless, if sli ...

, held in the New Green Vault at

Dresden Castle Dresden Castle or Royal Palace (german: Dresdner Residenzschloss or ) is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden, Germany. For almost 400 years, it was the residence of the electors (1547–1806) and List of rulers of Saxony, kings (1806–1918) o ...

History

*1840: Moses Elias Coster, diamond cutter in Amsterdam, founds Coster Diamonds in a factory building at the

Waterlooplein Waterlooplein (Waterloo Square) is a square in the centre of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The square near the Amstel river is named after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The daily flea market on the square is popular with tourists. The Stopera ...

in Amsterdam. *1848: Son Meijer Moses Coster (Martin) succeeds his father. He leaves for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for new business. *1910: Felix Theodoor Manus purchases Coster Diamonds from one of Coster’s inheritors. It becomes a company and remains so until the German occupation in 1940. *1945: After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Wim Biallosterski, owner of a diamond sawing company, purchases the company Coster Diamonds. *1962: Ben Meier purchases the Coster premises together with partner Max Meents, Joop Schoos and Simon Cohen. *1970: The old diamond factory has to make way for the construction of the town hall (

Stopera The Stopera is a building complex in Amsterdam, Netherlands, housing both the city hall of Amsterdam and the Dutch National Opera and Ballet, the principal opera house in Amsterdam that is home of Dutch National Opera, Dutch National Ballet and ...

). Coster Diamonds moves to its current location at the Paulus Potterstraat at the famous Museum Square. *1995: The well-known diamond factory Van Moppes Diamonds was purchased by Coster Diamonds. *2005: Coster Diamonds was obliged to close the Van Moppes Diamonds factory. Due to events in the world like terrorism and

Sars Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...

in the Far East, there were hardly any visitors left. *2007: Opening of the

Diamond Museum Amsterdam The Diamond Museum Amsterdam ( nl, Diamant Museum Amsterdam) is a museum located at the Museumplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 2007 by Ben Meier of Coster Diamonds. The permanent collection consists of diamond jewelry and ...

to display some of the most beautiful diamond artifacts. *2007: Introduction of a new patented round diamond cut with 201

facet Facets () are flat faces on geometric shapes. The organization of naturally occurring facets was key to early developments in crystallography, since they reflect the underlying symmetry of the crystal structure. Gemstones commonly have facets cut ...

s. This

brilliant cut A brilliant is a diamond or other gemstone cut in a particular form with numerous facets so as to have exceptional brilliance. The shape resembles that of a cone and provides maximized light return through the top of the diamond. Even with moder ...

with 144 extra facets, is called
The Royal 201
. It's considered to be the most sparkling

diamond cut A diamond cut is a style or design guide used when shaping a diamond for polishing such as the brilliant cut. Cut does not refer to shape (pear, oval), but the symmetry, proportioning and polish of a diamond. The cut of a diamond greatly affects ...

in the world. *2016: King

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following Beatrix of the Netherlands, his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the old ...

grants Coster Diamonds the Honorary title Royal (Dutch:

Koninklijk or (, Dutch for 'royal') is an honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Louis Bonaparte in 1807, then Ki ...

). Hereby, Coster Diamonds became Royal Coster Diamonds. To become Royal, an organization has to be leading in its field of expertise, be of national importance and has to be in existence for at least 100 years.

Famous diamond polishers

In 1852, Mr J.A. Feder and Mr L.B. Voorzanger, both diamond polishers at Royal Coster Diamonds, went to London to re-polish the famous Koh-i Noor. Mr J.A. Fedder died in 1864. Louis Benjamin Voorzanger won the silver medal for his achievements at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855. He also polished the “famous diamond

Star of the South The Star of the South, also known as 'Limar', is a diamond found in Brazil in July 1853. The diamond is cut into a cushion shape and weighs . The Star of the South is graded as a type IIa diamond, with a color grading of fancy light pinkish-br ...

”. He died in 1886. The family of the deceased diamond polisher still owns the silver plates with the inscription of this price for the diamond polishers, who polished the Koh-i Noor. In 1959, Ben Meier polished the many diamonds which were set in a white gold watch, which was presented to

Queen Juliana Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

by the Dutch people. Between 1991 and 1994 Pauline Willemse, a diamond polisher at Royal Coster Diamonds, polished the smallest diamond in the world. This is a brilliant cut stone with 57 facets, weighing . 0.16–0.17 mm in diameter and with a height of 0.11 mm. This event was published in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. This and other famous diamonds are on display at Royal Coster Diamonds and can be seen during a diamond tour through the polishing factory.

References

External links

* {{Official website, www.costerdiamonds.com Amsterdam-Zuid Buildings and structures in Amsterdam Companies established in 1840 Diamond cutting History of Amsterdam Manufacturing companies based in Amsterdam Tourist attractions in Amsterdam