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Hi, I'm Brant Menzwar and welcome to my show Just a moment. As a former world touring musician turned keynote speaker and author, I've experienced my share of life altering moments that have both broken me and propelled me forward. How you leverage those moments or push through them will define your destiny. Each week on my show, I'll provide tools on how to maximize those moments as well as interview some of the most successful entrepreneurs, entertainers and athletes on how the power of a single moment changed their life. Join me to learn how to change what's possible for your life. It'll take just a moment. Today's guest is Yasha Tarani, a businessman, watch selling legend and born and bred New Yorker who brings the best of wristwatches to 47th street and beyond. His company, Rex Watches, is a viral beacon of collector culture in the Internet age. But the success wasn't handed to Yasha on a silver platter. He had to earn it the honest way. This is his moment.
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I'm Yasha Terani and this is my moment. I was born in Queens, New York, but I grew up in Long island for the most part. My father started out as a jewelry repairman and then he ended up basically owning a jewelry company. He had factories in Hong Kong and China and my mom was a child psychologist who later on got into the same business with my father and started basically running the business here in New York. I had a pretty good childhood, very family oriented. I played sports. I was like an athlete in every sport. I play football, I play basketball, and I played baseball for the three season. Other than that, I think my biggest struggle in high school was trying to get myself geared down to actually study and try hard. It was a situation where to me I was more like just getting by with what I could, as little as possible. But now that I look back, I just know if I put a little more umph into it, I probably could have been a lot better student.
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Law school gave Yasha something he hadn't expected. Purpose. But the vision that once fueled him of a career woven into the world of sports he'd grown up loving fell apart fast. He would have to chart a different course.
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I was in law school at the time. I was living in the city, Manhattan, going out, trying to not miss too many classes and trying to there on time. But a lot of hanging out with friends, a lot of going to school, but also at the same time keeping my social life at least up to par. I wasn't one of those guys that was in law school just sitting there and studying all the time. I would study when I needed to, but I would also make sure that I was still out there. I started being a finance major actually, because a lot of my friends were getting out of school and started making money in stock. So I started there. Then I realized that most of them are not going to college and they just started dabbling in stock. So they're driving Porsches and stuff. And I was so jealous. I was playing basketball in the basketball league, I was working out. And at the same time I was doing law school. My goal in law school was to be a sports agent. That's why I went to law school. I took a class, I had a great teacher. I forgot his name. I wish I remembered it, but he was former NFL player too. And after speaking to him, it was an industry that was very hard to get into. I was sending out my resume, willing to work for free to all the agents, sports law firms, and no one even responded to me. So once I realized it was hard to get into, I just put my focus more on family law. The first six months I joined a single man firm with a family friend. But that was the grind for me. I was waking up 5:30 in the morning, getting on train, getting to court. But it really taught me a lot as to how hard it really is to make money in this world.
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Grinding it out at a law firm was met with a moment of reprieve and a spark of inspiration. It had given him the financial freedom to make a purchase that would one day change everything.
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I was sitting in my office, I'll never forget this. And I was like, you know what? I've got money to buy. Nice watch. It was 2010 and I went and bought a Rolex GMT mattress. It's a green hand. It's the 116710LN. I bought one right here on 47th Street. And I remember I paid $6200 for the watch. And after three months, although I liked it, it was a little plain for me. So I was like, you know what, let me go see if I could trade it in for something different. When I went to trade it in, they were giving me basically traded. And something just went off in my head. I didn't have much money to invest crazy on watches. And I'm like, I could switch up my watch. And I started searching ebay and Craigslist, all these places, pawn shops. I was trying to get deals on watches. And next thing you knew, I had 10 watches in stock just sitting there. And I would look at them and love them and enjoy them, and sooner or later, I would sell them. So that's how it started. 2010 is the first time Yasha's turning
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point arrived quietly tucked inside the exhaustion of the grind. When the chance to pivot surfaced again, he was ready. And this time he took it.
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2013, I just had my first daughter. I was full fledged practicing family law attorney. My wife was into. She was working at a blood banker. And I realized that we were both working pretty hard. It was bringing in money, it was paying my bills, but I just wasn't happy. I would go to court in the morning, literally before I would even head into my office. I would sit in the parking lot for an hour, plus calling pawn shops, looking on ebay, looking on Craigslist, see if I could find deals online. Watches. My focus mentally had already changed. I just wasn't comfortable financially to make that change. And then I realized when my wife got pregnant again with my second daughter, which was towards the end of the year, I basically took her aside and said, hey, this is the time I'm not gonna just drop everything, but I'm gonna start transitioning. And she was all for it. So once she gave me the okay and the support, you know, I was full fledged into being a watch dealer. I had started my first booth on 47th street, which was this big. I had two other partners in the booth as well, just to show you where I started from. And I would go there twice a week. I would be a lawyer three times a week, come to 47th street twice a week. And that's when my journey started for me, where I became really driven to be in this business full time.
C
Yasha, welcome to Just a moment, brother. Thank you so much for being here.
B
No problem, man. Thank you for having me.
C
Listen, as we've talked earlier, I had a chance to meet you in person when I was in New York last. And I've just. I've been following you online for years, being a watchaholic myself. I just. Your story, it's so interesting to have accomplished this. You go to law school, you spend all these years in school, you come out, you practice different types of law, you make this pivot into watches. Is it something when you were growing up, was it like, did you always just have a passion for it, or was this something that sort of, when you finally had a little bit of money to be able to buy something nice for yourself, you were like, oh, I didn't realize. This is how the other half lives over here. What was that for? You?
B
Yeah. I wouldn't say it was a childhood dream. It was more like something where when I was in my teens and you start to get into what people had, I was not able to buy real Rolex or anything like that. I remember the first real, any type of watch I bought was a Breitling and it was under $2,000. The first good watch I actually got was a Movado from my dad when I graduated high school. But I just love watches from that point forward. I just feel like for men, we don't have much. Women have a lot of accessories. Men, a watch is a statement piece. That's our stand watch, car basically. So to me, I was, I started just getting to it. I started to really watch what people were wearing and what they were doing. And when I started really getting into watches, it was the days of The Jacob Co. And the Big iced out watches and stuff like that. And that's really what initially got me into watches. And then when I put that first Rolex on my wrist, I knew that I was hooked.
C
So I guess I'm curious with the entrepreneur side of you, was that a hard transition for you to make to start looking at all the other things now you have to start to think about and then how do you deal with the sort of nefarious side of the business where in the last couple of years it's gotten to the point where the fakes are so good that you got to take them apart now that you have to face every day?
B
Yeah, absolutely. Initially it was scary. I basically was leaving a very steady, pretty lucrative business to make my hobby, my profession. I had a lot of bouncer in the road. There was a lot. I was being sold fake watches. I was not being sold watches because of my ethnicity. In the beginning, people just didn't want to deal with me. They didn't want someone in the business who wasn't within their own little clique. So it took a lot for me to actually get over that hump. And I didn't come in blazing tons of money or having tons of money where I could just buy my way into it. I was scrounging. In the beginning, I had a lot of things that definitely tried to block and get in my way. So I was fearful every day. Is this the right decision? Can I do this with my family? Can I, can I support my family like this? But at the end I just. Honestly, I always tell people this too. Today, even my little nephews, when I talk to them. You gotta believe in yourself. If you don't believe in yourself, you're really just, you're never gonna succeed. You have to believe in yourself. And if you know that you can do something, you gotta go and do it. And then as time went on and I realized that my foot in this business is where it belongs and this does make me happy and I can earn a living doing this, then yes, you have to deal with all the people trying to sell you fakes or trying to bring you down or trying to do things like that. Where my motto has always been, since day one, I back my merchandise with everything I have. There's not one watch that can ever replace my name, my business or my integrity. So if I get a watch and I'm buying it from the public or even a dealer, it all is going to get checked. I don't care if it takes long, I don't care if it costs me extra money. I don't care about any of that. But everything I buy must be checked because you're right, there are a lot of super clones that. And I've told people, I would say 90% of the time by just touching the watch, I can tell you if it's a clone. But that 10% can still get you and it can lose you a lot of money and a lot of clients. So you still have to get that checked out. Once I get it checked out and I it's approved, then I feel comfortable selling it to my customers. Yeah.
C
As I've watched you for a couple of years and I think one of the reasons you become so popular on social media is literally the transparency that you have within your business. You show when someone tries to pass something that's not real on to you. Even recently I saw that that happened when a recent Cartier, I think that you were sold, but you were able to follow through with that process, actually track the person down, get a refund. Like being able to show the transparency of what you have to go through sometimes it really builds the trust. And as you got into on 47th there, it seems to me as an outsider that it's a little bit of a good old boys club in a lot of ways. Right. It's it. I love the fact that it seems now that you're in and maybe welcomed by the whole group there, you guys work a lot together. Whether you're melting a watch down for gold or you're pulling diamonds out of it or whatever it might be, is it, am I seeing something that is real there or is it something that is still. Everybody's out for themselves.
B
No, I think that it's 100% real. And those who do follow me will see I don't. I'm not into doing videos with random people just to get views or just to get clicks or people I don't do business with. So if you see me doing a video with someone, I respect that person and I do business with them. And I've turned down a lot of videos of people who want to do videos with me just because I don't really like the way they do business. I don't really know them and they might have millions of followers, but to me it's way more important to have the following that I have. But at least they're a true following and they're following that is really following me just for me, not because I did clickbait and I just did videos with other people. So if I'm doing a video with someone, I actually do business with them and everything I do is real. I have never done a video that was not real. Everything I do is real, 100%. If I'm melting something, it's being melted. If I'm buying something, it's being bought. That's something that my videographer and I discussed on day one. That's something we're always going to do. We're going to keep it 100% real. Yeah.
C
It's interesting as I've watched sort of the growth of Watch Talk and on. On Instagram and it's this interesting in the last few years you saw this sort of meteoric rise of a few personalities, right? Whether it's the Buckley's or the Vukums or the Nico Leonards or the. You name it, right? Like they're. Everybody's out there doing their own thing. But what I've always loved about sort of watching you is you keep it about the business, you keep it about the deals that you have. Teaching, explaining, even things like here are things that have sat the longest, here are things that you know are selling for way above retail. Here's are that are really great deals. How has that sort of rise of social media affected you in your business in the last couple years?
B
It's been absolutely tremendous as far as reaching clientele and broadening my client base. Before I was doing a lot of business with more local jewelers or jewelers where yes, there will be retail customers or customers coming from outside. But I would say 5% of what I see now we have customers that literally come from. We had someone the other day from Ethiopia. I've had people from Australia come to say hi and sometimes buy, sometimes not buy, it doesn't matter. But the fact that they're coming and they just want to take a picture with you or even buy a watch from you, absolutely amazing. It's something that I never really thought of. And what I always tell people is that I'm not a content creator, I'm a watch dealer that does content. Like, that's the difference in me. I just, I just do my thing with the help of Brandon, my videographer. He puts it all together. But I'm just conducting business and really just trying to educate people with the truth about what goes on in the business. Because there, this business is very lucrative, but there is, there's a thin line between lucrative and honesty. And there could be, you can combine the two very easily if you just do the right thing. And that's what I pride myself by and most of my following. Literally the first thing they say is that we trust you. You're trustworthy. You seem like you put it all on your sleeve. You're not hiding anything, you're not trying to make a quick buck, which again, I'm not. The one watch that I sell is not going to make or break me. So, yeah, it's. I'd much rather have my, my clientele really just follow me because they want to learn information. They trust me, they understand. And I'm not just doing it again for clickbait.
C
You know what's interesting to me is as myself, somebody who, over the last, gosh, five or six years, I've been teaching organizations about values and values based leadership. And I think that's initially what attracted me even to your account, is that I can tell what you care about without you having to say it. Right amount of trust that you have built, like you're one of the only people that I would trust to do business with, even though we don't really know each other. And that, to me is an amazing feat that you've been able to sort that level of trust with people who have never met you, who don't know you, but yet the content is so genuine in what you put out that it allows people to feel like they know you because we're seeing those values that matter most to you. Is that something that's in the top of your mind when you're putting things out there?
B
Absolutely, that's the first thing on my mind. I just want people to know that this is me, that I'm real. Almost every customer that comes to me, whether they're a customer or Just a follower, they say, we feel like we know you already. Like we just connect with you. And that's what makes me happy, because that's what I'm trying to put out there. I'm really trying to let people know that this is Yaksha, this is my business.
C
I'm wondering. You took this massive risk. You transitioned. You didn't just stop one and start the other. You had this little transition period. But now that you're neck deep in it now, this is your life. What makes you nervous today in the. In what you're dealing with every single day, as opposed to back when, even in. When you were practicing law, I'm sure the concerns were a little bit different, but I'm wondering what your concerns are in this market.
B
My biggest concern is basically me not continuing or my support staff or my staff or whoever not continuing what I stand for. At the end of the day, life is life. And you get a lot of people cross. Cross you. And a lot of people, if you're high up, they want to bring you down. It's just the way it works. So in our business, it's very cutthroat. And my one fear that I have is that somebody or something will try to basically take down everything I've built. And it's a thought that I have, and I guess that is a thought that most people have when they're quote, unquote, successful. So it's really just protecting who I am and just continuing to do the right thing, because at that point, then nobody can make anything up as long as the right thing is being done. Facts are much more important than just words. Yeah.
C
Where do you see the future taking you? Is it 10, 15 years from now? You've got several locations now. I know you just expanded. I saw the. The Rex 2.0 booth recently. Is that the plans for you, or do you have something else in mind?
B
My plan is basically I'm 47 years old right now, so I'm thinking hopefully in the next 10 or 15 years, I have maybe two more locations countrywide. I would. I probably wouldn't go out of the country, but they're running at a level where I'm not needed as much as I work right now. Just like be able to step back a little bit. The end all would be. That would be basically to have location running. I'm saying by themselves, I would still be on top of everything, but. But not so hands on.
C
What being in the position you are now, you see so many different types of watches. I'm wondering do you still have a grail that you don't possess?
B
It's so funny. I can tell you that my first Grail was a $7,000 watch. And at this point I don't really have a grail anymore. I'm like still waiting for that grail piece to come out or let me see it or something. Like I've seen beautiful watches. I've seen watches that I love. After a couple times seeing them, I get over them at this point. I don't have a grail right now, but I feel like someone's going to wow me eventually and it's going to, it'll happen.
C
For somebody just getting into the hobby and starting out, there are so many micro brands available now. What would your advice be? Are you somebody who says whatever you really love and buy that, or is it, do you look for somebody to buy something maybe pre owned that is a higher quality brand perhaps, as opposed to a micro brand that might not be as well known or have the history behind them? Like what would you say to somebody who is just getting into starting their collection?
B
Yeah, I think if you're starting a collection that you're going to wear and you want, obviously everyone wants the value to be held as good as, as much as possible. Buy watches that you like, but don't overpay. It's just about the payment. If you're walking into a hublot shop and you're paying full retail for hublot you're getting when you want to sell it, it's going to be a problem. But if you like hublot, then buy it in the secondary market. Buy a pre owned one, take that 50% less than what the retail price is. Get one that's in mint condition. I always tell people condition is way more important than year or anything like that. And that way you know, you have your hublot but you didn't overpay drastically for it. And when you want to sell it one day or anything, instead of losing 50%, you might lose 10%. So I always tell people you want to wear of course what you like. I bought watches before that I thought I liked and I didn't like it once I got them. And if you're buying watches just for value, you're not going to love your collection. Buy watches based upon what you like, but buy them at the correct value.
C
So we always like to wrap things up by talking about a moment that we'd love to revisit. Not necessarily a regret per se, but something that with what you know now, is there a moment for you that you'd love to go back to and approach differently?
B
Yes, absolutely. When Covid hit, the watch market overnight dropped 30%. Within the next week it dropped another probably 20%. And the issue was during that time, it's not that the prices of watches were going down so much as nobody was buying, nobody wanted, nobody knew what was going on in life. We had our states closed and we're home and dealers from all over the world were calling me wholesalers. He's offering me John Mayer Daytonas at retail, meteorite watches at retail. And I wasn't buying them because I was scared. I was like, my inventory is probably going to be worth 80% less than it was a week ago. Why would I continue to buy watches? So if you, I want to, I don't want to say regret because it's not a regret because at the time nobody was buying. It's not like I made a mistake and someone else jumped. But I think that if I truly would have had a grasp on, I guess, the strength of the watch business throughout the years, I would have really stepped back and thought that we would get out of this. There were so many watches that doubled, tripled in value within a year of me saying no to all these watches. I'm someone that is definitely a risk taker in business. So I feel like I was a little too tentative then. So I wish I could just go back and be myself more and not be so attentive.
C
It's been interesting to me to watch the, the people that have relationships with ads and just the opportunity to buy a watch at retail is something that is an earned opportunity. Right. It's a relationship there that you can't just walk in off the street and usually buy the watch that you want to buy. And now you're starting to see some of these other brands carry their own pre owned watches as well. What are you seeing that's affecting? You know, some watches you can buy and they'll sell for 3x or 4x or 5x and others you, you buy and you're driving a Range Rover off the lot the next year it's worth 50 grand less. Like what is it that's really affecting that price in those instances?
B
It's really just supply and demand. It goes back to basic business 101. At the end of the day, the supply and the demand on a steel sport model Rolex is very different than the supply and demand on a two tone diamond bezel ladies Rolex. What the dealers and the ads are trying to do is get you to buy those lesser desirable ones, the full retail plus tax plus maybe buy some jewelry from them just to have the opportunity to maybe then get a steel sports model where, listen, some people will play that game, but the other people are like, you know what, I'll just pay 2x. It is what it is. I get the watch I want today. I'm not gonna play these games with them. But it's all, again, at the end of the day, it's all relationship based. And it wasn't like this when I started. It was opposite. Dealers were begging me to buy their watches then at discount. So obviously right now the Rolex supply hasn't changed, just the demand has gone up tremendously.
C
Listen brother, I can't thank you enough for spending some time with us. For everybody out there who wants, if they don't follow you already, what's the, what's the best way for them to continue to follow you on social media?
B
That'll be great. I appreciate that. On IG, we are Rex Watches LLC. On Facebook, the same Rex Watches LLC. And on YouTube we are the Rex Watches NYC.
C
Fantastic. Listen brother, thank you so much again. Keep doing what you're doing. I love watching on a daily basis your journey. And thank you for being on Just a Moment.
B
Thanks man. Appreciate you. Thank you.
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Thank you for joining us on this episode of Just a Moment. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast and tell a friend or two about it to help spread the word so everyone can find a moment that inspires them. Don't forget to leave us a review and check us out on the web@justamomentpodcast.com Just a Moment is produced by Natalie Von Rose and Brandt Menzoar. For more inspiring shows like this, visit surroundpodcasts.com.
Host: Brant Menswar
Guest: Yasha Tehrani (Founder of Rex Watches)
Date: March 23, 2026
Duration: ~23 min main discussion
In this episode, host Brant Menswar welcomes Yasha Tehrani, founder of Rex Watches and a prominent figure in modern collector culture. Yasha shares candid stories behind his career shift from attorney to viral watch dealer, highlighting the pivotal moments—and missed chances—that shaped his journey. The episode explores risk-taking, integrity in luxury sales, the role of social media, and hard-won lessons from setbacks and the grind, all within the unique ecosystem of New York’s 47th street watch district.
“After speaking to him, it was an industry that was very hard to get into. I was sending out my resume, willing to work for free...and no one even responded to me.” — Yasha ([02:40])
First Rolex & The Spark
“I didn’t have much money...I started searching ebay and Craigslist, all these places, pawn shops...next thing you knew, I had 10 watches.” — Yasha ([03:53])
Transition to Watches Full-Time ([04:58])
“My focus mentally had already changed...Once she gave me the okay and the support, I was full fledged into being a watch dealer.” — Yasha ([04:58])
Barriers & Integrity ([08:21])
“There’s not one watch that can ever replace my name, my business, or my integrity...Everything I buy must be checked.” — Yasha ([09:26])
Building Trust on Social Media ([10:23], [13:13])
Transparency (e.g., revealing attempts to sell him fake watches) and authenticity built him an exceptionally loyal online audience.
He avoids collaborations unless there’s mutual respect:
“If you see me doing a video with someone, I respect that person and I do business with them...everything I do is real.” — Yasha ([11:30])
Social media’s impact: connected him with clients worldwide; Yasha insists he’s “a watch dealer that does content, not a content creator who sells watches.” ([13:34])
Tone of New York’s “47th Street” Community
Trust and Relatability ([14:44])
“I just want people to know that this is me, that I’m real...they say, 'We feel like we know you already.'” ([15:34])
Current Worries & Long-term Vision ([16:19], [17:22])
“That would be basically to have locations running...not so hands on.” — Yasha ([17:22])
Advice for New Collectors ([18:31])
The “Missed Moment”: COVID Market Crash ([20:17])
“If I truly had a grasp on the strength of the watch business...I wish I could just go back and be myself more and not be so tentative.” ([20:17])
Supply, Demand, and Relationship Dynamics in Watch Sales ([22:14])
“What the dealers and the ADs are trying to do is get you to buy those lesser desirable ones...It's all relationship based.” ([22:14])
Yasha Tehrani’s journey from law to luxury watches is defined by integrity, calculated risk, and an unwavering commitment to transparency. His story shows how personal passion and authenticity—when matched with hustle, risk-taking, and mentorship—can create not only financial success, but an enduring brand trusted by collectors worldwide. Yasha’s advice for collectors and entrepreneurs alike: take risks, trust your instincts, and always value relationships and reputation over any single deal.