When one thinks of luxury goods, it could be argued that no commodity comes to mind quicker than diamonds. This is especially good news for Lebanon, which, historically, has a very intimate relationship with the dazzling rocks.“Lebanon knows about diamonds,” explained Atef Nsouli, second in charge of one of Lebanon’s top jewelry exporters, Nsouli Jewelry.“The old families here were the gateway to the Gulf for diamond jewelry. They had the know how from the West and the trade with the East and the South.”Lucky indeed, since, for an economy whose many sectors have been battered over the years, and especially as of late, jewelry generally, and diamonds in particular, have stood the test of time, posting successive growth rates on the export side since 1996.According to the Ministry of Trade and Economy, jewelry is Lebanon’s number one export industry, constituting more than 30% of the overall industrial sector in Lebanon.The
