Fodor's Expert Review GASSAN Headquarters

By the beginning of the 18th century, Amsterdam had a virtual monopoly in the diamond industry in Europe, so when diamonds were discovered in South Africa in 1869, there was a windfall for Amsterdam's Jewish communities, a third of whom worked in the diamond trade. Built in 1879, the headquarters of GASSAN was once home to the Boas diamond-polishing factory, the largest in the world, where 357 diamond-polishing machines processed around 8,000–10,000 carats of rough diamonds per week. Today, GASSAN offers polishing and grading demonstrations and free hour-long tours, in more than 27 languages, of the building and its glittering collection of diamonds and jewelry. After the tour, have a stone set to your taste by one of GASSAN's expert goldsmiths. There are other locations in Centrum, Museum District, and at Schiphol Airport.