At first, I wouldn’t blame anyone for asking how I could possibly add two of these words to the title of this piece about one of the world’s most intense jewellery market experiences. But I think the title is apt. There’s much more to this New York street than just trade.
The New York Diamond District, to the first-time visitor is impossibly jammed, full of high security vans dispensing and receiving incredibly valuable jewellery for delivery to traders and clients. On the street and the footpaths is the sort of mash of people and professions you’d expect in New York City; professional traders, private buyers and sellers, and every form of “runner” known to man. From small-timers trying their chance at moving their first piece of jewellery for a margin to those that make a comfortable living doing nothing more than going between traders. This is unquestionably the Wall Street of jewellery, only very much resembling a market of old. Yes, technology has helped. But it is people and vans that move this jewellery from around the corner to around the world. They say 90% of the USA’s diamond market passes through here. It certainly seems plausible, even after standing amongst it for as little as a few minutes. It’s so competitive and busy that you’ll be asked to move on if you are blocking someone’s valuable window frontage for more than a minute. Yes, this has happened to me more than once!
The street’s mythology has made it into songs, novels, and various movies. Most recently, Uncut Gems, where Adam Sandler has a clever role as a high-risk-taking Jewish gem trader. The producers will tell you that the character is a blend of their fathers’ stories and tales of personalities past, and I will tell you that he brilliantly crystallises the banter and activities of dealers with big personalities. Every one of them is so full of one-liners, knowledge, and street smarts that they could just as easily write a very entertaining book or have their own segment on CNN – take your pick.
The extraordinary mass of expensive jewellery and timepieces, spiced with pave “rapper jewellery” of every imaginable scale and fussiness, belies how truly accessible this street is. Yes, you can buy unimaginably valuable diamonds, any size your heart desires and your wallet enables. But you can also have a lot of first-time fun. For instance, you can search for a tiny diamond or that semi-precious stone you have always wondered about. You can take that old watch for repair to watchmakers that are as comfortable dealing with you as they are with the finest of watch traders, or you can find an inexpensive piece of vintage jewellery to begin your collection. There are traders with counters full of the old and unwanted styles, right next door to retailers with a single counter containing comfortably $20,000,000 worth of stock. That’s USD by the way! The contrasts are stark, overwhelming, and enthralling at the same time. Yes, it’s addictive and I leave after even just a day, enthused and excited by this section of a street where, just like it’s city, everything feels possible and nothing feels possible, all at the same time.
It is also an excursion, to a large degree, into Jewish culture and history. The very orthodox to the very liberal bring their own verve and energy to the street and shops. Their stories of arrival in New York are inspiring and remind one that anything is possible in a lifetime. On this particular day, the travelling promotional bus of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson claims a couple of parking spots and begins its marketing and music. A few onlookers are interested but most, and many of that religion, go about their trading and valuing, their winning and their losing, and play their part in this intensely human pastime of trading in beautiful things found in the ground.
By John Albrecht, Managing Director & Head of Important Collections
Top Image: Diamond District, 47th Street New York City / Alamy
November 2024