New York Diamond District is an excellent spot to shop for diamonds, fine jewelry and watches. You can find almost anything you are shopping for at remarkable discounts when compared to jewelry stores located elsewhere.

New York City's 47th street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, in Midtown Manhattan has been known as the NYC's Diamond District since the 1920s when jewelers from the Bowery, Canal and Fulton streets moved uptown to form today's Diamond District or as the street sign states the "Diamond Jewelry Way".

Prior to 1920s New York's Diamond District was on the Maiden Lane, four blocks north of Wall Street. New Yorkers visited the Maiden Lane when they needed that special piece of diamond jewelry or watch. For decades Maiden Lane was synonymous with the jewelry and diamond commerce in New York. The New York Times newspaper once stated that “the bride-to-be who could show a ring from Maiden Lane was thrice happy.”

Starting late 1800s diamond merchants and jewelers located on Maiden Lane tried to move uptown Manhattan but each time they returned back to Maiden Lane due to the fact that New Yorkers wanted to buy their jewelry on Maiden Lane. Around 1910s financial companies from Wall Street started to move and replace the jewelry companies by paying higher rents than a jeweler could afford.

Real estate developers seeing these circumstances wanted to take advantage of the situation. Real estate broker Mr. Goode even promoted a brand new construction at 20 West 47th street to the Maiden Lane jewelers even though the Maiden Lane was known as the “the permanent jewelry centre” of New York for decades. Few months after that jewelers were also showing interest in the buildings located at 1 West and 40 West 47th street.

In 1925 newspapers stated that the jewelry industry to remain downtown on the Maiden Lane and there were no plans of moving uptown. Just few months after this statement another newspaper article mentioned that the fourth building was on the way at 66 West 47th and the property prices already doubles in value since 1923 and that within a year 75% of the jewelry businesses will be located in this new district. Three new building projects started right after that and news sources reported that the 47th Street block “has almost overnight become New York’s new Maiden Lane.”

Just recently 47th street Diamond District was back in the news again,  a new high rise construction on 47th street started to for a 34-story “International Gem Tower”. The tower, which is due to be completed mid-2011, will be a sleek building at 50 West 47th Street that will feature both jewelry and non-jewelry tenants in its "office condominiums," as well as entrances on both 46th and 47th Streets.