De Preter’s predecessor, Dirk Wauters, left the job in December last year, and his place has been filled since then by Piet De Roe – the second time De Roe has taken over the reins ad interim. Lieten explained, “We were looking for someone with media and management experience to lead such a large and complex business as the VRT. It is also above all a high visibility business which requires great courage to lead. Those factors made the search more difficult.”

Diamonds had been changing hands in Antwerp long before the Indians arrived. As long ago as the 15th century, Jewish diamond cutters have been faceting diamonds and traders have been selling them on Hovenierstraat – the heart of Antwerp’s diamond quarter.

The Indian connection began in the 1930s and 1940s, when the ruling Nawab of the small farming village of Palanpur in Gujarat state secretly encouraged his trustworthy Jain administrators to buy large diamonds from Antwerp for members of the Indian and Nepali royalty.