Antwerp: the City of Diamonds & Printing Museum – Road trip in Belgium 4/5
It is a mistake to think that diamonds in Antwerp are cheaper than elsewhere. If the centuries-old diamond district is the home of thousands of diamond merchants, cutters and polishers, buying a diamond in Antwerp means having more choice – but not necessarily paying less.
Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips
Part 1: Travel Diary
Train Ghent – Antwerp
After half a day visiting Ghent, we take the train back to Antwerp. If we chose to spend 2 nights in Antwerp, it’s because I couldn’t find an economical hotel in Ghent for 3. So we opt for an Airbnb (a private room with shared WC and bathroom) in the city center. This proves to be a good choice because we can rest and sleep longer, instead of hurrying in the morning to take the train to the next city.
Attention, there are several train stations in Antwerp, you have to stop at the Central Station. Moreover, it is also necessary to look at the train timetables on the site of SNCB because some trains aren’t direct but stop in Brussels.
The train station is right in the middle of the diamond district, there are stores everywhere. Unfortunately, it’s not very well decorated, it doesn’t look luxurious but rather messy, disorganized … It looks like the Great Bazaar of Istanbul🙂
Our Airbnb
Our Airbnb is very modern and is equipped with a lock connected to an application. So we could open the door with a smartphone. If you are interested, here is the announcement of the Airbnb. We paid 83€/night. The room is equipped with a double bed (huge) and a single bed. The shower is superb, everything is clean, well heated, well decorated. I highly recommend it! If you don’t have an Airbnb account yet, click here to get up to 50€ discount on your first booking
It is the 1st time that my friend M. and her son sleep in an Airbnb where we share the bathrooms and WC. There is a bit of apprehension at the beginning but Airbnb customers are generally respectful at the base so everything went well.
Friterie
It’s raining and we opt for the easy solution: the French fry shop closest to our Airbnb also voted best in Antwerp. Since we have been in Ghent and Antwerp, people only speak to us in Flemish and seem not to want to understand French anymore (even though they are bilingual). At first annoyed by this attitude, we swallow our pride and M. even manages to place an order entirely in Flemish – under the admiring gaze of his son and me. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding – because our dear salesman didn’t explain anything to us and we ended up with an absolutely delicious tray of French fries and a tray of French fries bathed in white sauce and ketchup:'( Sadness!!)
Antwerp Cathedral
Although you have to pay 6€ to get in, the visit is totally worth it. This entrance fee will also contribute to the work and renovation of the tower – the jewel of this cathedral. Its construction took 160 years and the interior is different from other Gothic churches. The columns are much larger, and extend from the ground to the vaults. The whole ensemble is a bit empty, but many wooden sculptures and the small chapels with absolutely beautiful stained glass windows leave us speechless.
Right in front of the cathedral is the statue of “Nello & Patrache”: “the main characters of the English novel ‘A Dog of Flanders’ of 1872. The story takes place in Hoboken and Antwerp, with the Cathedral of Our Lady and the paintings of Rubens as a backdrop”
The central square
We discover a beautiful central square, with facades that are absolutely unobtrusive, with small golden sculptures that make all the difference.
The town hall, which must be beautiful without the works, is hidden by the protective tarpaulins unfortunately. This place is super beautiful, less than in Brussels but I have the impression that it will be more pleasant than in Brussels, because there are many restaurants with terraces and less people.
It’s starting to rain a lot and we hide in a restaurant selling only spaghetti – for 12€ we get a big plate of spaghetti and a coffee.
Diamond Museum
Right next door is the Diamond Museum: DIVA (12€/entry), which allows you to admire some masterpieces of jewelry, silverware and modern creations in an exhibition. If the jewels are very beautiful, at a moment too many diamonds on a huge jewel… it becomes vulgar. We can’t take it anymore 🙂
Fortunately, there are touch screens explaining how and where diamonds are mined, how they are cut, how the value of a diamond is determined. This information is rather basic for those who are already interested – but for those who didn’t know, there is even a video showing the lost wax casting method and the setting of a 6 claw diamond.
For example, we learn that 80% of the world’s production of rough diamonds is still processed in Antwerp: a transaction volume of more than 18 billion dollars, concentrated in an area of barely 2km², near the railway station. In the museum’s souvenir store, one can buy rough diamonds but also cut diamonds, with characteristics of color (D, E, F, G…), purity (VS1, VVS1…) and carat. The prices are frankly not very interesting.
As an example, here are the observed prices:
- 0.06ct, G, VS1 : 110€
- 0.05ct, G, VVS1 : 110€
- 0.07ct, G, SI1: €112
- 0.08ct, H, VS2 : 168€
- 0.08ct, D, SI1: 144€
- 0.08ct, F, SI2: €134
- 0.21ct, G, SI1: €523
- 0.26ct, D, SI2: 641€
Antwerp Castle
Right next door is the castle of Antwerp, which is currently under construction and closed to visitors. There is an interesting view point and starting point for the boat tours, but the weather is getting worse and we hurry to take shelter.
Museum of Printing
That’s how we ended up at the printing museum. I didn’t want to go there at the beginning, but fortunately we did, because it’s really the highlight of our whole road trip in Belgium
As you knew, before the invention of our printers, printing was done by aligning each letter (upside down) and then using the printing presses to “stamp” the contents on each sheet.
So there are letters of different sizes, there are some that are so small that you can’t even recognize the letters anymore… there are even lettering, decoration patterns, spaces of different sizes… it’s a real treasure that we see here.
The first part of the visit consists of a tour of the house of the Plantin-Moretus family: the printers and publishers very famous for the quality of their printing but also the works and authors they were able to attract and have printed at home. Here we were able to touch some sheets printed with the old method. Ohlala, I think we have absolutely lost that nice feeling of touching a quality paper – handmade. The way the printing press puts the ink on the paper has nothing to do with what we have today. On this paper, you can see the trace of the ink drooling a little, the pressure it exerts on the paper, the old typology… how beautiful! M. and I almost have tears when we see all these beautiful things lost, frankly when we touched this beautiful handmade and hand-printed paper, all we wanted to do was to run and buy one of the old hand-printed books.
The interior of the museum is a bit dark, but this is to protect the absolutely beautiful leather-covered walls and the old books.
Posters and notes explain how the letters are made. First an engraver makes the punches. It is they who make the “font”. They can keep their punches or not. Usually, the Plantin-Moretus family buys the punches so they are the only ones who can use the font created by the engravers. Otherwise, the engravers will sell to several printers what is called “matrix”. The matrix makes it possible, with the help of a special mould, to produce lead letters in unlimited series.
The modern typologies used on the computer are inspired by the punches made by the masters of other times. Even traces of ink smudges are incorporated into the modern typology to recreate these beautiful letters. Many of the fonts we use use the names of old master engravers, such as Garamont.
The difference between a punch and a (printing) letter is that a punch exists in a single version – whereas printing letters are mass-produced from these punches.
A richly illustrated bible with 94 engravings can be admired here. One of the most beautiful Bibles printed in the Plantin printing house. There is also a collection of bible in 5 languages (the content of which isn’t shown to the public).
I think I missed the print collection. You can view the collection online here. As you might have guessed, the printing of the designs must be done with the “stamps” as well. To create these “stamps”, we call them “prints” instead. The drawing is engraved using the etching method (engraving on a plate often made of bronze, using nitric acid). I had the opportunity to learn how to make prints at the Petit Palais in Paris, and this method allows for precise strokes – and there are advanced – and chemical – methods that allow for extremely varied textures, shadows and lights. The advantage is that you can print your work as many times as you like – and make tests of colors, more or less ink etc. If you have the opportunity I strongly advise you to learn how to make a print.
The visit of this museum really took away all the stress we have been under for the last few days – related to time, fatigue, Flemish… and gave us a smile up to our ears. Frankly go ahead, it is absolutely beautiful and instructive. The ticket costs only 8€
Part 2: Practical Tips
Budget
- Subway in Antwerp: 2,5€ per ticket – you have to validate the ticket at the machine, when getting on the subway: at the first wagon
- Cathedral : 6€
- Diamond Museum : 12€
- Printing Museum: 8€
