London

A shopper on Hatton Garden today

What might make Zeto grumpy, if he weren’t such a genial individual, is the way the customers have changed. ‘When the public come in now, they come in with pieces of paper. They’ve been on the internet. They walk in and they say, “I’ve done the four Cs [colour, clarity, cut, carat weight].” They have an I-know-a-bit-about-diamonds-so-you-can’t-catch-me sort of attitude.’

Numbers may be down, but people are still coming, and one reason for that is the same reason that keeps the big chains out of Hatton Garden: discounts. The majo rity of the shops are independently owned and traders work on discounts, which the multiples don’t like to do. ‘If all the shops got together and said “No discounts” it would be better for the trade, better for Hatton Garden,’ asserts Zeto. What Hatton Garden caters for above all is engagement rings. ‘Everybody wants to sell diamond engagement rings, followed by diamond earrings, followed by diamond pendants, followed by diamond bracelets,’ he says. Feature continues

When I ask Zeto about conflict diamonds – stones sold by rebel groups to pay for weapons, which these days come mainly from the Ivory Coast – his smile fades. There are no conflict diamonds in Hatton Garden is the message, and certainly none in the Bourse. It’s a safe bet Zeto and his colleagues will not be queueing up to see the new Leonardo DiCaprio film ‘Blood Diamond’ when it is released after Christmas.

It’s also a safe bet, however, that Zeto and his fellow dealers and diamond brokers will not let a Hollywood film bring the action on the trading floor to a halt. The Diamond Bourse and Club opened 70 years ago. Enquiries come in from all over. ‘The main thing here is that people generate enquiries,’ says Zeto. ‘I might have a friend ring me up and say, “A pal of mine’s getting engaged. Can you get a stone to show him?”

Also the shops round here will phone up people here and say, “We’ve got a customer coming in Saturday. Yes, we’ve got lots of rings in the window, but this particular one that they like, they want it bigger, a bit more this, a bit more that.” Basically, we deal with these people’s enquiries and supply them.’

In spite of some slight concern over retail trends, Hatton Garden unquestionably remains the diamond centre of the UK. ‘In any building there are five floors,’ says Zeto. ‘On each floor you might have five, ten rooms. In each room, you’d find a guy doing repairs, a guy setting diamonds, a guy doing this, doing that. There’s still lots of repairing, making, mounting, assembling.’

It’s as hard to imagine Harvey Zeto doing a William Wycherley and going broke as it is to picture Hatton Garden devoid of glitter and sparkle. Hatton Garden has shown that it can respond to change by adapting. This unique corner of the capital will not only survive, but continue to thrive.