Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange District
The world's largest diamond exchange — Israel's "Bursa," four towers in Ramat Gan through which a large share of the world's diamonds pass
Diamond exchange
The Israel Diamond Exchange — "the Bursa" — is the world's largest diamond exchange and the centre of the country's diamond industry. It sits not in Tel Aviv proper but in Ramat Gan, immediately east of the city: a tightly knit cluster of four towers holding the world's largest diamond trading floor.
Israel's diamond story began with cutting. The first cutting plant opened in 1937, in Mandatory Palestine, run by diamantaires trained in Antwerp. The exchange itself was formally established in 1951 in rented Tel Aviv quarters; a decade later it bought land in Ramat Gan, and the first of its towers — the Shimson Tower — was inaugurated in 1968.
Today four interconnected towers, linked by bridges into a single complex of roughly a thousand offices, banks, and services, form the Diamond Exchange District. Israel exports on the order of $5 billion in diamonds a year, and a large share of the world's diamonds pass through these buildings at some stage.
It is the opposite of a bazaar: a modern, high-security institution where accredited members trade behind controlled access. This is where the global diamond trade is transacted, not browsed.
On the map
- The Diamond Exchange District ("the Bursa")
- Four interconnected towers, linked by bridges
- Shimson Tower (1968)
- The world's largest diamond trading floor