| By :
Mark Etinger
There are few cities as glorified as New York. It's the place everybody wants to live, or at least visit, at some point in their lives. New York City has a lot of renowned things about it and one is it's shopping. NYC jewelers and the Diamond District are a very popular part of the city for those looking for a bit of luxury in their lives. Few people realize how the area began. The Diamond District NY is on 47th street, between 5th and 6th avenues. It has been known as the Diamond District since the 1920s when jewelers located downtown in the Bowery, Canal and Fulton streets moved uptown. But before the 1920s, the Diamond District was actually in the Wall Street area on Maiden Lane. It was the place to visit for diamonds engagement rings and luxury watches. Since the late 1800s, reputable jewelers tried to move uptown from Maiden Lane, but often returned back to their old stores since New Yorker's new Maiden Lane was the place to buy. No one was looking for jewelry uptown just yet, so they were losing business after the move since no one even knew they were there. Maiden Lane also had a reputation, so people wanted to buy from that area just to say that they did. But a real estate broker by the name of Mr. Goode wanted to take advantage of the idea of moving up, so he promoted having a new building at 20 west 47th street for the Maiden Lane jewelers to move to. After a few months, they were showing interest in the new location. In 1925, a newspaper article mentioned how 4 buildings had now been built in the new area and suggested that 75% of reputable jewelers would be found uptown on the new location. This prompted other jewelers to move as well as they wanted to be part of the big change and make their money. Three new building projects started soon after and it's said that 47th street became the new Maiden Lane almost overnight. Now, the Diamond District NY has dozens of jewelery stores along it's streets. A new tower is being built and is due to be completed mid 2011. It is a 34 story International Gem Tower that will house many tenants, including a good number of jewelers. The area continues to grow and grow, even after almost 90 years since jewelers first moved uptown.
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