Diamond Museum in Bruges, Flanders

Diamond Museum in Bruges - details and images

Every day at 12:15 there is a demonstration of diamond polishing workshop in the basement, dating from the Middle Ages. A walk through the museum represents a journey in space and time: XV century Bruges, the relocation of the diamond industry in Antwerp Bruges in XVI century, the diamond industry in Amsterdam relocation XVII-XVIII, exploitation of diamonds in South Africa in the nineteenth century - twentieth century and return back to the diamond business in Belgium today.

The main attractions of the museum are:
- Inside the workshop's imaginary Berquem Lodewijk van decorated in bright red
- Diamond's origins in the Far East and particularly in India, exposed to some great photos
- Construction of a Gothic arch, representing the genealogy of the Dukes of Burgundy, who ruled in Bruges in the sixteenth century, also of Bruges is the development of topographic site originally located at the junction of two rivers, but evolved into a system of channels through which the 50,000 inhabitants have emerged as one of the largest commercial capital of the Middle Ages in Northern Europe (at that time was larger than Paris or London)
- Kogge model of a boat that was used by Mediterranean traders work providing export / import between XIV-XVI century. Is imported ivory, precious stones, glass and dyes and wool exports, upholstery, paintings, jewelry, textiles
- Wall devoted hungry jewelry during the Middle Ages - a combination of details in paintings by Flemish artists
- Panels on various topics such as the first mention of diamond trading in the Netherlands, a list of famous diamond cutters and diamond jewelers in Bruges
- Illustrating the relocation of diamond polishing in Antwerp at the end Burgundiene rich, and relocation in Amsterdam, and then return to Belgium at the beginning of this century
- A new era, the discovery of diamonds in South Africa in the mid-nineteenth century
- Methods of operation: a gallery of photos depicting the extraction from rivers, digging machines and a single model of machine for digging under the sea
- Kimberlit samples (mother of a diamond stone) brought from Siberia, Australia and South Africa showing the evolution of diamonds from volcanic rock, formed in Earth's mantle at 100-200 km beneath the earth and are brought to the surface through volcanic pipes
- Exhibition exclusively done on a scale of 1:1 total amount of diamonds in the world
- Details the standards used in the diamond world: polished, carat, color, clarity
- Replicas of the most valuable diamonds in the world 20: colored diamonds, diamond beads, diamond cut strange, small diamonds, large diamonds, etc..

Bruges Diamond Museum is open daily between 10:30 and 17:30, and diamond grinding demonstration takes place every day at 12:15

Museum entrance fee is diamond: 6 EUR adults, 5 € for groups 3 EUR students / children
Demonstration + museum polish: 9 EUR for adults and EUR 7.5 for groups

Address: 43 Katelijnestraat

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