7 Best Shopping in Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam

This antiquarian's heaven, housed in a former department store, offers five floors of treasures on Amsterdam history. Specialties of this family-run business include books on pre-18th-century art, classical archaeology, architecture, biology, and the Olympic Games, as well as topographical maps and prints. It also offers a fair share of other literature nicely shelved by subject.

You'll feel like you've traveled back to the Roaring '20s when entering this hat shop, with its flapper-style cloches, flatcaps, and fedoras. Purchase bespoke sinamay hairpieces and modern men's and women's hats in every style and color.

By the beginning of the 18th century, Amsterdam had a virtual monopoly in the diamond industry in Europe, so when diamonds were discovered in South Africa in 1869, there was a windfall for Amsterdam's Jewish communities, a third of whom worked in the diamond trade. Built in 1879, the headquarters of GASSAN was once home to the Boas diamond-polishing factory, the largest in the world, where 357 diamond-polishing machines processed around 8,000–10,000 carats of rough diamonds per week. Today, GASSAN offers polishing and grading demonstrations and free hour-long tours, in more than 27 languages, of the building and its glittering collection of diamonds and jewelry. After the tour, have a stone set to your taste by one of GASSAN's expert goldsmiths. There are other locations in Centrum, Museum District, and at Schiphol Airport.

Filled with teak-wood canisters and jars bearing Latin inscriptions, fragrant with the perfume of seeds, flowers, and medicinal potions, this health-and-wellness store has been in operation on Nieuwmarkt since 1743. Gold-lettered wooden drawers, barrels, and bins contain not only spices and herbs, but also teas and a daunting array of dropjes (licorice). There's a second location at Westerstraat 107 in Jordaan.

Named after the Surinamese slang for "shoes," this boutique sells an exclusive selection of sneakers from brands such as adidas, Puma, Nike Air Jordan, and Diadora, as well as apparel from Patta’s own label. Coveted collaborations on limited editions have given the store a certain swagger in the city’s street-wear scene.