The story
1840: Moses Elias Coster, diamond cutter in Amsterdam, founds Royal Coster Diamonds in a factory building at the Waterlooplein in Amsterdam.
1848: Son Meijer Moses Coster (Martin) succeeds his father. He leaves for Paris for new business.
1910: Felix Theodoor Manus purchases Coster Diamonds from one of Coster’s inheritors. It becomes a company and remains so until the German occupation in 1940.
1945: After World War II, Wim Biallosterski, owner of a diamond sawing company, purchases the company Royal Coster Diamonds.
1962: Ben Meier purchases the Coster premises together with partner Max Meents, Joop Schoos and Simon Cohen.
1970: The old diamond factory has to make way for the construction of the town hall (Stopera). Coster Diamonds moves to its current location at the Paulus Potterstraat at the famous Museum Square.
1995: The well-known diamond factory Van Moppes Diamonds was purchased by Coster Diamonds.
2005: Coster Diamonds was obliged to close the Van Moppes Diamonds factory. Due to events in the world like terrorism and SARS in the Far East, there were hardly any visitors left.
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2007: Opening of the Diamond Museum Amsterdam to display some of the most beautiful diamond artifacts.
2007: Introduction of a new patented round diamond cut with 201 facets. This brilliant cut with 144 extra facets, is called "The Royal 201". It's considered to be the most sparkling diamond cut in the world.
2016: King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands grants Coster Diamonds the Honorary title Royal (Dutch: Koninklijk). Hereby, Coster Diamonds became Royal Coster Diamonds. To become Royal, an organization has to be leading in its field of expertise, be of national importance and has to be in existence for at least 100 years.
From Wikipedia’s article on Coster Diamonds, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4