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Jewelry Business Owner
You say you'll never join the Navy, never climb Mount Fuji on a port visit, or break the sound barrier. Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Learn why@navy.com America's Navy forged by the sea. You have to be competitive and vicious. I'm gonna lose my mind, so please be careful, bro.
Interviewer 1
You give away a lot of gold on your channel.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, I gave away. I'm gonna give away more. Each one of these ounces is two grand. Let's see if somebody wants it for free. A free sample or tracks back. Anybody, please.
Interviewer 2
Why do you think that people on the street are so CL about the price of gold?
Jewelry Business Owner
People should be like angels but forget about what they should be doing. Money is a game and everybody's responsible for playing it smart. I want the gold now.
Interviewer 2
When you were doing your business, how did you end up in debt?
Jewelry Business Owner
Credit card fraud and theft.
Interviewer 1
How much debt did you get in.
Jewelry Business Owner
A couple of million? I was a young kid. They took advantage. I didn't know that people could be evil. You know, you look a little skeptical at me. You don't believe my story?
Interviewer 1
I believe your story. It's just surprising.
Jewelry Business Owner
Get the out of here. Gold is about trust. Can you trust the federal government? If you watch the gold price, it's always about what's actually happening. That's when it comes into play. Because then you're gonna need a currency system that's backed by something and measured by something. And the question then becomes is not how many dollars you have, is how many grams you have.
Interviewer 2
Well, I'm curious. What is the craziest thing that you've made out of gold?
Jewelry Business Owner
Um, well, I make a lot of crazy figurines, right? You know, like I made the baseball and a bunch of other figures. But right now I'm trying to make the Indiana Jones. You know when he's switching that bag of dirt for that big gold head? Yeah, that is going to be though about 10kg of gold. There's a lot of low hanging fruit in making crazy things out of gold. Can you curse on this podcast? Yeah, yeah, sure. Crazy out of gold. You know what I'm saying?
Interviewer 2
Oh, and also a reminder, if you want to see this episode and future episodes early, completely uncensored, you can join the membership as well. You'll get early access to everything, bonus episodes and no ads, no sponsorships. But anyway, yeah, check it out.
Jewelry Business Owner
So I'm working with one of my friends, Bouillon Trading llc, and we're. I'm going to be taking his gold because he trusts Me and melting it into crazy things. And the stuff I did is minor. I used my own gold, which is like a quarter of a million dollars for the baseball or, you know, 300 grand. I made the subway car to whatever. I'm just getting started, coming up with a couple of ideas to market my jewelry business. That's it, man. You know, trying to get to your level, bro.
Interviewer 2
You could just keep remelting the same thing over and over to different things.
Jewelry Business Owner
There is a little bit of a loss where you know where the gold goes and how. And if you're ever in New York, I'll show you the smelting process. I know you'd love that.
Interviewer 2
Yeah.
Jewelry Business Owner
You know what I'm saying?
Interviewer 1
Because try to pick up some dust particles on the ground.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
There's so be sweeping around there.
Jewelry Business Owner
There's some gold loss, you know, which is very frustrating and annoying, especially when you cast it and then you polish it. That's really, you know, you're losing if it's a big object. 20 grams, 30 grams, you know, that's an ounce. That's like $3,500.
Interviewer 1
Do you always have gold on you?
Jewelry Business Owner
Usually, yeah. I mean, I wear a little bit of gold here and there. Nothing crazy, you know what I'm saying? I got my little eagle. I got my 24 karat pendant right here. Oh, my star David, of course. And this is my 24k. That from another thing, this just a regular little pieces to just how much are those worth at today's price? Altogether? Like 15 to 20,000, I think. Altogether. I mean, this piece right here is 3,000. The chain is, you know, 2 grand. All right. This one is also around 3 to 4. And another chain, 2, 3 grand. You know, gold price is high. And then the star of David or whatever.
Interviewer 2
So what attracted you to the jewelry business?
Jewelry Business Owner
Well, you know, I was actually like a tech guy then. I was installing a video game on my friend's computer, Counter Strike. I'm sure you played that. Yeah, I was installing Counter Strike. He got a ton of viruses. You know, whole family used his computer. So many viruses. They clicked on every pop up.
Interviewer 2
Probably slime wire.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah. Back in 2003 or 2004, the family clicked on everything, you know, so the. And he was desperate for Counter Strike. Right. The guy was having some issues. He wanted to just stay in home and play Counter Strike, you know, serious issues. All right, so I'm there helping him out. I'm installing Counter Strike, uninstalling these viruses, and his cousin is sees me, and he's like, you know, he sees I'm a computer dude, and these guys are in the hood. This is not whatever, okay? This is. This is the hood at that time. And they see me solving these problems. They're like, oh, this guy's a computer dude right here. So he takes me in, and this dude and he, you know, he's hustling, he's driving. At that point of time, he was buying fake clothing from brands, you know, like, fake branded clothing from Canal Street. Just a Chinatown, driving it out of state, selling it like it's real. It's just a hustler. And he was also working with some jewelry stores over there, just networking, trying to find how to whatever. And he put me on, and he got me in, and I became kind of like an intern for him. And at some point of time, he had me sell, you know, a shirt on ebay. Evisu. You ever heard that brand?
Interviewer 2
No.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, it's like a Japanese brand that used, you know, did denim, and it was very big, like, handmade denim. Whatever. I sell it for 120 bucks, and the customer gets it and returns it and is like, I don't want this fake crap. So I'm like, I give back the money. I'm like, yeah, man, my bad, bro. This customer returned it, doesn't pick up my call, debt it me for $120. I'm like, all right, you want to dead me for 120 bucks? I'm going to go back to that store that I saw and photograph the jewelry, put it up on ebay, sell it, buy it, learn it, ship it, get to the manufacturer, start my business.
Interviewer 2
It's funny, we have a very similar story. So how I got started was taking pictures of fish and coral for a wholesaler. They'd put it online, sell it. Those skills led me to doing lease listings on Craigslist. I'd take pictures of other agents, listings in my office. Cause I just started. I was 18 years, right? And I take the photos for free. I offered them the photos, but I said, well, if I lease it from Craigslist, I get the commission for the tenant. And you lease it, and you get a tenant for your client. And that's how I got started.
Jewelry Business Owner
Exactly.
Interviewer 2
It was just taking free pictures, and.
Jewelry Business Owner
You saw a trial. So an advantage. It was the dawn of the Internet, so to speak, right? You saw an advantage and. Or you saw an opportunity where other people were blind. And for a very, you know, if I had any actual, you know, I was born in a communist country business was not in the mentality. So that really held me back, you know, I didn't even know I could start a business. I didn't really believe in my idea because it was just so foreign, you know, and maybe a lower self esteem or whatever. So that held me back, you know, with one foot in, one foot out. But I had to learn the industry for a very long time and I got it through the door. Yeah. You know, but at that time, there was low hanging fruit that people grabbed. You know, some people did a better job. Some people were in their prime for that. Like a Jeff bezos. He wasn't 18 during that time. He was 30 something. And he realized what the opportunity was with the Internet and he grabbed it.
Interviewer 1
So is there a specific moment that it kind of clicked and then you realized, okay, this, I can turn this into a real fully fledged business that makes really good money.
Jewelry Business Owner
Well, I started making money. I was in the top 1% of the eBay people when I was like 19 and they flew me down to D.C. to lobby and Congress, you know, I'm saying because they had a lobby, you know, you look a little skeptical of me. You don't believe my story.
Interviewer 1
I believe your story. It's just surprising. So you were 19 and you went to go lobby Congress.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes. So basically they invited their top 1% sellers to D.C. and then at that time, you know, they were going to try to impose sales tax on ebay or whatever the hell they were going to do. And they wanted. They opened up a D.C. office and they wanted their top sellers to lobby, you know, in Congress to tell them this is going to hurt whatever. All right, so they have us go with the assistant of Chuck Schumer and the assistant of whoever. Then it was cool. I got to go to the Capitol building. I got to go to this and that. And that was a great experience. But I was, to answer the original question, I was in the top 1% making money. I should have raised my prices, but again, I kept my prices too low because I'm like, how can people afford jewelry? I just didn't have the mentality, you know what I'm saying? I came to America in 1993, you know, and I opened up the business in 2004. Okay, so I was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. You know, it was the Soviet Union at that time. This is. People weren't thinking about business, people weren't thinking about nothing. But I knew it could happen here, and I was making money. And then I made a couple of mistakes, you know, lost control of my Business. And I had to backtrack for a long time.
Interviewer 2
How do you lose control?
Jewelry Business Owner
I was building a business around my friends. I was an employer. I just hired my friends. And then that ruined the relationship. And then they got replaced. And then the people that I had to replace them with began to steal, and there was credit card fraud and I lost money. And then in order to fight that off, I had to do a bunch of other nonsense. And I had another friend from Florida come up and help me out. But by the time we structured the business, I was in debt. So then I had to do this and I had to do that, and I had to do this and I had to do that. And people were stealing is really what it was, you know what I'm saying? And I was too naive.
Interviewer 1
How do they steal from you?
Jewelry Business Owner
Too stupid. How'd they steal? You know what I'm saying? You picked up this ring for. Right, right. Or I picked up this ring from you. You're the wholesaler. I'm me. I picked up this ring and I picked up that ring and that ring, and then you bill me for an extra ring and I didn't check the bill and then I ship it and then the return came and my staff took the item and just pocketed it, you know what I'm saying? It didn't give me to the return. It's just they were. And I had no awareness that somebody would steal. I didn't know that people could be evil. And you know, that they wouldn't even forget about fearing God. They were like, yo, this I'll get the money, I'll this guy over. Who cares? I didn't think like that, you know what I'm saying? I thought in a different capacity.
Interviewer 2
Are there any red flags if someone's going to steal from you that you look for that you see now.
Jewelry Business Owner
Now? Yeah, now, 100%. I mean, it's not even about the red flags that you see. It's guilty before proven innocent. If an honest person, you see that, there's an honest person there, you know what I'm saying? Like, you see something and it's hard to describe, you know, a fake human being that's overly nice. Like, oh, yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like, you start looking, this guy's really, really trying to be nice or trying to be like, he's a good person, might be hiding something, you know, might be this. So a person is guilty until they prove themselves innocent. Okay? Not like in the court of law where they're innocent until they're proven guilty. In real life, a person is, I don't trust you. I don't know you until you prove yourself to be whatever. But it's in what they say, you know, a person communicates with you and if something just rubs you the wrong way, you know, it's in your ears. Like if you're eating a meal and there's a funny taste, stop eating it. Something is wrong. Either it's on the floor or something fell in or some dish soap or something. That funny taste is not because it's. It's. It's just. It's funny. You know what I'm saying? It's funny taste is something happened that you didn't see. And same thing with a person. You have to have that sense. Like, what is this person saying? You know, why is he acting like. Like he's really for it? And, you know, why did they disappear? Like, I had this nasty person that I had employed. Here's an example. I'm walking up the stairs, I see him walking out of the, you know, in the building in the diamond district, and everyone's got gem shops. This one, diamonds here, there. I see him walking out of a hallway that I've never seen him before, that I've never even been in. So I'm looking and I ask, you know, what was going on in there? And they give you an answer, oh, I was just picking up something and I'm just doing this and I'm just doing that, And I'm like, you know what I'm saying? That doesn't make sense, right? That doesn't add up. If you're in some place working for my company that I've never been in, you'd say, hey, this is a great place to pick up gems and pick up this. It turns out this individual piece of. Was scheming and using my company to pick up manufacturers and keeping them in their back pocket, thinking that they're gonna build out some amazing dream of theirs. It is what it is. You see it, don't ignore it. You know, somebody's like this, that. Watch their eyes, watch what they're doing, watch what they're saying. Add it up. If you yourself are honest, you'll see that something is out of line. And it's. It's, you know, if something is out of line, then something is hidden. Keep your distance and be aware.
Interviewer 2
Can I throw out tests? Like, test your employees. Test the people that are close to you.
Jewelry Business Owner
Like, yes.
Interviewer 2
How do you reveal how you do that? Or maybe a test you've done in the back?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah. Well, you know, I'm thinking about the individual individuals that are there and the different behaviors and activities that I've seen. Obviously, the easiest thing is to leave something around and see if it disappears. That's the easiest test. That's entrapment, so to speak. You know, some people. But, you know, there's some people that will come up to you and say, hey, this was over here. And there's some people that will. Oh, they didn't notice that this is gone, and they make that betrayal. But the easiest way is just to leave around and look stupid and let people believe that you have a blind spot that they could exploit. And then eventually, you know, it's a dirty game. It's a primitive game for primitive people, man.
Interviewer 2
Now, when you were doing your business, how did you end up in debt?
Jewelry Business Owner
Credit card fraud and theft?
Interviewer 1
How much debt did you get in.
Jewelry Business Owner
A couple of million.
Interviewer 1
How old were you?
Jewelry Business Owner
I was in my 20s, late 20s. By that time, I was losing money consecutively for 10 years.
Interviewer 1
How did you not detect that?
Jewelry Business Owner
You.
Interviewer 1
How were you operating a business that was losing money for 10 years?
Jewelry Business Owner
I was growing it, so I had a bigger sales volume. I was always able to cover something with something. All right? So, you know, I grew my sales volume to a million dollars a month. So that gave me a floating capital, but, you know, I lost some of that capital, so it covered it. So I'm thinking, all right, well, I'll sell more and I'll make it back. But then I make sell more, and then it's not there, you know what I'm saying? So it was just a lot of nefarious. I was a young dude. I was a kid, and I was. And I have to admit here on the Graham and Jack iced coffee hour, that I was a little retarded. You know what I'm saying? It's a shame, but it's reality.
Interviewer 1
And so it was literally just people saying, oh, yeah, I bought seven rings, when in actuality they bought six. And they were just up charging user.
Jewelry Business Owner
Employees and then employees and vendors, nasty, dirty little crooks that would just, you know, play with the bill. And, you know, it's a complicated bill. I'm selling a lot of. I'm running around. I'm like, all right, man, I know this guy's not gonna me. I'll trust it, and I'll just take care of it and I'll pay it. That was just stupid, bro.
Interviewer 1
What happened to those people? Are they still in business?
Jewelry Business Owner
Some of them are. Some of them know what? The because is the deal with me and they don't play with me, you know what I'm saying? And they're around, man, and they are what they are. What can I say about that, man?
Interviewer 2
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Interviewer 1
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Interviewer 2
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Interviewer 1
During this period of time where you were in debt but still making good money, trying to push that debt over, were you living a luxurious lifestyle when you were making all this money in your 20s? Were you spending on nice cars, nice dinners, fancy dates?
Jewelry Business Owner
In the first one first I, I bought a nice car and I had something going for me. In the beginning when I started making money, it wasn't the craziest car. But back then for, you know, what was it? It was a Audi S5, but the V8.
Interviewer 1
How much were you making at the time?
Jewelry Business Owner
I don't know. You know, I was just a kid who just photographed some jewelry. You know what I'm saying? I didn't know accounting. I didn't know how to write a check.
Interviewer 1
No idea though.
Jewelry Business Owner
You wouldn't. I estimated that I was making 10 grand a month to 20 grand a month. But I didn't have an expense report. I didn't have QuickBooks. I didn't have nothing. I had an ebay store, Photographs of jewelry, sold the jewelry. Pick it up from these vendors. Now, I could have. I was one of the first jewelers on there. That's why I had all that traction. You know what I'm saying? I could have made millions at that time. All I needed to do was manufacture. But instead, I'm photographing from these pieces of worthless man. And they're telling me, you know. And they're not like, you know, straight answers. You know what I'm saying? You don't understand the type of people that you're dealing with. They just tell you yes to anything, and then they say, I never said that. You know, straight to your face, like, beyond your wildest comprehension. All right, so you're going, you know, this ring can't be sized. So I come up to you, you're the vendor, and I say, listen, I need this ring for my client in a size nine. And, you know, can you order it for me? He's like, yeah, it'll take me one week. No problem. All right. One week later, you come to him like, listen, the customer's been waiting. I gave you the money. Where's the ring? He's like, what? Four weeks to order this. Oh. I'm like, you told me one week. No. And I'm like, you piece of. So I'm like, now I have to struggle with the client telling some. Come back four weeks later. You didn't. I didn't even order it. You didn't even pay me. Then another four weeks go by. If it comes in. It's not even the right size. I told you. Size eight. What? Huh? No shame? No nothing. Do they put anything in writing? I should have slapped him across his face that. That very moment, bro. Then I would have to. What? Writing? Bro, this is a. You know, just.
Interviewer 2
Just like a. Like, I was a young paper.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, I was a young kid. It was all. They took advantage. I. I was a young kid who thought the world worked in a different way. You understand? That's really what it was. This. That these people. I'm not going to say derogatory, you know what I'm saying? But you're dealing with people that are just the biggest pieces of. Bro. And it was my fault. You know what I'm saying? I should have saw it. I should have walked out the door and whatever, but I thought I was just insane.
Interviewer 2
What motivated you to make as much money as possible?
Jewelry Business Owner
I mean, you know, you want to be a successful person. You want to eat, you want to be able to take care of your family, you want to have a beautiful girl, you want to have one or two of them. You want to buy an apartment, you want to have an art collection like Graham, man, what do you mean? What motivates you for the money?
Interviewer 1
But some people don't actualize that. Like, they say they want the money and they feel like they want the money, but they don't.
Jewelry Business Owner
They're never going to act on Actually wanting are two different things.
Interviewer 2
So what.
Jewelry Business Owner
Is a word? You're not comfortable in where you are, so you have to go. But if you're comfortable where, yeah, you want this, but would you really want to roll a blunt is what you really want? Because that's what you're doing. How can you be doing something, oh, baby, I want to love you and want to be with you, but you're out with another chick. You know what I'm saying? So you want the other chick. You don't want to love or you don't want to do this. You're doing what you want. You. You know what I'm saying? What? You. You're saying you want money, but what you really want is to kick back, be lazy, blow smoke up your own, because that's what you're doing. So how the hell do you want.
Interviewer 2
So what set you apart from all the people who say they want it? They never take action.
Jewelry Business Owner
I needed it. I didn't want it. I needed it. There's no point of me living and this and that. I want to be able to order this bottle of wine. I want to be able to impress this chick over here. I want to be able to pull up in this car. I need it. I don't want it. I want to be able to have a good time and really feel and experience life for its utmost and, you know, I had the necessary IQ points to be able to structure, you know, whatever was in the environment. Ebay. Picture this and that. To claw at this. That's it.
Interviewer 2
Do you think you have more street smarts than the average person at this point?
Jewelry Business Owner
I have, yeah, for sure. You know what I'm saying? Whatever that even means, street smarts or whatever it might be, sure.
Interviewer 2
Do you think the jewelry industry attracts just greedy people?
Jewelry Business Owner
Does it attract just greedy people? Not necessarily. You know, it attracts all sorts of people. And there's great people doing business over there, some of them more disgusting than others. But there's great people doing business. There's but yeah, by nature, you have to be competitive and vicious. The product is in the hand, okay? It's a different environment. There's no scannable barcode, all right? There's no warehouse. You're not selling paper towels. Some people can make things disappear. It cost you money. They could take your client, they could cut your throat, they could do a bunch of stuff. So it's a very competitive, vicious business. But the people that are in it, been in it for generations, they know the rules, and that's that the. The person that's coming in there and thinking that they're going to make something happen is a different type of. Of moron. And there's a lot of those. But yeah, you know, a sales guy, you know what I'm saying? Somebody in sales and they see the money and nobody's out there. No matter the more you pay them, the more they think they're going to be richer on their own. So if you pay them nothing, you know, they're going to be sitting there scheming, and if you pay them a lot, they're going to be scheming even more, man. It's not comfortable. You have to judge character. Character. You have to judge character and build a relationship with someone that's fair.
Interviewer 1
How often do people fake wealth?
Jewelry Business Owner
All the time. What do you mean?
Interviewer 1
Like, what are the ways that you can spot real versus fake wealth? Can you immediately tell if someone's actually wealthy?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, absolutely.
Interviewer 2
But are there tells when someone walks in, talks to you that you could tell, this guy's full of shit.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
And what are those tells?
Jewelry Business Owner
I don't even listen to the words, man. I listen to the energy. It's as soon as I hear speech, that's like, you know what I'm saying? Somebody come in. Oh, yeah, man. Oh, I like this. And this is. And I'm just like, just shut the up, bro, and get the out of here, you know what I'm saying? I walked into your home, man. Comment your art. Wait till you see the hallway. It's an informational exchange, you know what I'm saying? The information resonates, all right? It resonates. The vibrations go into the eardrum and into the brain, and then it's like, okay, this makes sense, you know what I'm saying? And, oh, this is what you're doing. This is the book I read. This is the book, you know, your Goosebumps collection or whatever. This is your favorite. There's a back and forth exchange that's building a relationship, that's building positive Positivity. If I came in there and said, yeah, I have a better one, what would you think?
Interviewer 2
Bro, I'd want to see a photo of it.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, or you'd want to see a photo one or you this and that. But still, even if I did have a better one, why wouldn't I say something positive, you know what I'm saying? Why play some stupid game, you know? So this is kind of my experience of it as people come up to me all the time. I got a jewelry store, you know, I'm saying there's no gate to get through. They walk inside and they say, I have this. And I might be wrong, I might be judging people incorrectly, but they might say I have this idea or this or I want that or I want this. And I'm just listening to them like, yeah, go speak to over there. But if it resonates and someone is saying something that inside my mind isn't annoying me, then I'm starting paying attention. And you know, some people lift you up and inspire you and some people put you down. And I'm sensitive to the feeling. I'm not even focusing on the words. I'm sensitive to the.
Interviewer 2
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Interviewer 1
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Jewelry Business Owner
That's what it is to me.
Interviewer 1
What about clothing and flexing and watches and stuff like that?
Jewelry Business Owner
Can you.
Interviewer 1
Because I've heard that if you eclipse like a real crazy level of wealth, you start wearing like kind of dragged old clothing. Like. Sure, like Adam Sandler and a lot of like, like shy.
Interviewer 2
Stop having to prove anything.
Jewelry Business Owner
Well, you don't have to prove anything when you've been in a million movies.
Interviewer 1
Okay, sure, we'. What about other people? Do you notice like a correlation at all with like the actual physical appearance of like very wealthy people versus not, not often.
Jewelry Business Owner
This one guy that I know, he's got a collection of Ferraris and. But he likes to dress with the nice shit and he's wearing Richard meals and he's doing his thing, you know what I'm saying? And he was the CEO of a Sharpie, you know, the marker or brought that to market, you know, made serious money. You're talking about half a billion dollars altogether or something like that. The guy shows money, but he wants to be fit, wants to look good. Take a look at Jeff Bezos. He was doing Amazon, you know, let's get that picture of him in his purple eggplant Halloween costume. But as soon as he made that money, he said, what the am I gonna do at Amazon all day long and you know, tinkering with this shopping cart button. Got himself a yacht, got jacked, got himself a side chick and whatever.
Interviewer 1
What about Elon though? Cause he still has the tiny home, he doesn't have any fancy cars. He like, what do you think about the difference of someone maybe like.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, sure. I mean, a star is a star. The man is, you know, the man is a star. So it doesn't really matter if the women looked at him like he was a loser, he would put something on, bro. But the knows he's got all the money in the world and she's googly eyed, smiling. Okay? That's how women are. All right, so that is the name of the game. And if you get the impression of cross, it's way more helpful. Sure, you could be humble like John the Baptist, you know, eating locusts and dry honey, you know, in the desert. But that's a different dimension.
Interviewer 2
So it's interesting. When I was working as a real estate agent, I'd host open houses every single Sunday at Beverly Hills. And I can't tell you the amount of fake people who came in every single Sunday. And you could point them out because they ended up getting really dressed up to go and see an open house. And they always had a story.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
Like you mentioned, they would always start talking about themselves. Oh, I sold this business and now I'm looking for this.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
My price range is $7 million. And you know, my. But they start going explaining too much.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
And the real people walked in. I noticed.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
Really understated.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
Would never want to talk to you.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
When you ask their information, they'd say, oh, you know, the. It's all sign in.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
And that's it. They really just didn't want to be bought.
Jewelry Business Owner
Correct.
Interviewer 2
But they more walk in and out with a bit of confidence to them. And I also noticed that sometimes the, the poorest dressed people were the richest.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
The dude is walking in with, with flip flops, kind of a dirty white T shirt and sweatpants. He's the one with like $200 million.
Jewelry Business Owner
Correct. In. In some cases. But you know, he's flashing money in other places. You know, he's going over there. Everybody got a plan. That person that was muttering nonsense when they walk through there, they thought they're going to wake up and they're going to come up and they're going to tell a story about how they're this and how they're that. And you see that, you know, and it doesn't resonate. You're an open house. You get to the point. It is what it is. You don't know me. I don't know you. I might have a million dollars or trillion dollars or what have you. I don't know, you know. But this is the house. You're buying it or you're not. It makes sense. The shit that makes sense, makes sense. That doesn't, doesn't. And people with. But you know, professional scam artists after they. Some people like, oh, I'm embarrassed. I got caught being a fraud and they leave. Some people like, oh, I know why I got caught. Let me adjust my strategy. I'm gonna come in there on some. I know that he's thinking that in his head that I'll come in there with the flip flops and the. And I'll even have my friend come up to you and say, you dropped this and it's some expensive whatever, a scam. They'll fool you. There's lots of crazy scams out there, man. There's a lot of people that if they investor energy into fraud, they will go past these filters that you're noting. Yeah.
Interviewer 2
It's interesting too. People would even tie up properties in escrow I've noticed they would, they would claim they sent a wire transfer, but then one of the digits was like mixed by mistake.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
And it's like, oh, well, I sent this deposit for the, for the down payment on the house. We already have a signed deal. Now I gotta wait to get that back. And then a week goes by, I'm still waiting to get it back. They send it again, something went wrong.
Jewelry Business Owner
What's the advantage of doing all this?
Interviewer 2
Never figured it out.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
I, I think it's the feeling of importance. Or they think maybe I'm going to hustle this deal over here and like get the money for it. Or maybe I could have a friend come.
Interviewer 1
I don't make the seller more disposable.
Interviewer 2
But it's happened multiple times. There's a reason why and I don't know. Different people. There's never been a scam. It's mostly the people, I think, wanting attention.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right. They want attention. Yeah. I mean, in Beverly Hills, in la, they want to be a part of that life and a part of that top and, but they're not.
Interviewer 1
What about different levels of wealth and how they purchase items from you? For example, if you have someone maybe worth like 200 million, are they buying crazy iced out watches versus someone that's maybe worth like 5 million, are they buying different sorts of jewelry?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 1
Is there like, like a, a difference in terms of jewelry preferences that you notice?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, I mean, listen, of course there's a difference in preferences, but for you, you know, you're distinctly asking a person with a couple of million what their taste is versus a person with vast amounts of money.
Interviewer 1
Yeah. Like, for example, vast amounts of money, maybe they're doing something because they're actually passionate, rather like getting a crazy iced out.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, there's not much of a passion. You know what I'm saying? You got more money, you're. When you want to show it off, you want, you know, you want to be at the casino and you want to do this and you. And that. It's mostly for, for women. Okay. And signaling wealth or whatever. And it's also for a good look or whatever it might be. But you know, that depends on, on the individual. But they're looking for the status. So whether they have the 1 million or 2, if it's their first watch, they might get a iced out this or a big bezel that. But if it's there, if they've been buying for a long time, they're going to get that rare piece that's, that says, I know What I'm doing the Patek Philippe, whatever with the moon phase.
Interviewer 2
Often do people come to you and not able to afford the jewelry or they're on a payment plan and they just charge you to a credit card and you know they can't afford this thing.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, the average, the average person, it happens enough. It's not that they can't afford it. You know, they're buying something for fifteen hundred dollars or two thousand five hundred dollars. So how can they not afford it? They have a steady job and can make a payments relatively, they could afford it. And what they're buying, they're buying. If they're buying the right piece of jewelry, they're doing the right thing. You know, if you bought a piece of jewelry that was heavy in gold in the year 2004 when I started, even if you paid overprice, you know, the gold price was 350 an ounce and now it's 3500, more or less. So you 10x'd your money and if you overpay, double you 5x it or whatever. So you can't lose on that. So some people are buying and getting played, man. And some people are not. Some people are over, you know, the question and the nature of the question. Of course, some people are over committing themselves on, they can't do. Some people are on drugs, they can't quit. You know, some people are buying to look like this, some people are buying to look like that. And there is some millionaires that scrounge every dollar or millionaires or whatever and look like bums, but I never really noticed them. And those are people with psychotic issues, really. But still they, they spend their money somewhere.
Interviewer 1
I saw this one video a long time ago of Michael Jackson walking through an antique shop.
Jewelry Business Owner
I think I saw that video and he's like, I'm taking it.
Interviewer 1
And then he said, yeah, but I just remember watching this video and he just seemed to not care whatsoever about the price. Do you have buyers like that? What is your favorite type of buyer?
Jewelry Business Owner
Oh, that's the favorite type of buyer right there.
Interviewer 1
And people do that. They walk into the shop and they're just like, oh yeah, 10 grand.
Jewelry Business Owner
I had a guy that came in.
Interviewer 2
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Interviewer 1
People do that, they walk into the shop and they're just like, oh yeah, 10 grand.
Jewelry Business Owner
I had a guy that came in, okay, this guy, his father was selling military equipment to Iraq with government contracts from the US So he was manufacturing in Ukraine before long in a long, long ago. And that's his father, and he was shipping it over there and just, just milking money, whatever. And his father put him on a big allowance, okay, because something in the family, not gonna get into it, put him on a big allowance. Guy came in, bought three Rolexes for me, gifted me one and the other one to another member of my staff and the other member of my staff. And then he started giving out gold bars to the other members of my staff. So this is a customer that came in, bought three watches from me and gifted them to me. Okay, that's my favorite customer, bro.
Interviewer 1
Where is he now?
Jewelry Business Owner
He's chilling. He's chilling somewhere. He hit me up the other day. I mean, the, the, the. His allowance went down or whatever, you know, I'm saying he's, he's more normal, more focused, but he was burning through, is. He was burning through a quarter million, half a million dollars a month, just having a good time. Shorties in every state or in every city, you know, buying jewelry for them, going over there, seeing them, and just burning through money and just going full tilt.
Interviewer 1
Do you think it was happier back then or happier now?
Jewelry Business Owner
I don't know. I mean he would. It wasn't particularly happiness, it was just, you know, like the Emperor Nero would be doing or something like that. He was just pushing it to the limit.
Interviewer 1
How often do people, I don't know.
Jewelry Business Owner
How happy that makes you, man, Walk.
Interviewer 1
Into the shop and not even ask the price of things and they're just like, yeah, that. I like that a lot.
Jewelry Business Owner
I'll buy that sometimes. Sometimes, you know, but I didn't, I didn't build my business, I didn't build my business around luxury clients. I always, you know, again, and I'm the immigrants from Azerbaijan, you know, I didn't grow up around money. I didn't even know people had money. So I had a mentality of value. I had a mentality of, you know, I want to sell this. And that was not good to build a jewelry business around. Now I'm going to build a mentality, a jewelry brand around other things. And then I'm going to be able to charge and push and attract the type of client. In order to do that, I need inventory, I need to be able to capitalize right, you know, I gotta make $7 million, $8 million worth of inventory. I need to get to 20 million, 25 million, deploy that properly and then I'll have the inventory to attract a client that's gonna just buy, buy, buy. Doesn't happen all the time. I have normal clients that buy great jewelry that has a good value with a fair markup because that's what I adjusted my business to. The sucking for money is not my style. I'm not going to be like, he's got the money, he's got the watch, he's got this, he's got that. Built a jewelry business and you know what it is out there, the more I act the way I'm acting now, the better that business goes. That's why it encourages this type of behavior. But I don't like to worship money, man. I don't like it. And even though I chose this business as a young person, the snobs that come in there or the snobbery, like I never attract that type of customer that they want to be like, I got this. Or you know, the guy that chrome hearts, he's got, you know, yeah, sure, there's some kid comes in that's spending his parents money from Beijing, you know what I'm saying? And he's wearing the latest chrome hearts shirt and the latest chrome hearts this and he wants to get the thing that, this and that. He's just trying to look for Some status. And he's playing that game. The game of I'm rich and I'm let's get the out of here is my take. Go deal with my sales guy and let him blow smoke up your. That's the answer.
Interviewer 2
Is there anyone you won't sell to?
Jewelry Business Owner
No, I'll sell to anybody who's, you know, respectful and who is thoughtful.
Interviewer 2
Have you noticed any difference in cultures that some negotiate harder than others or some are better negotiators than some people who never negotiated anything?
Jewelry Business Owner
Listen, I'm half Jewish. If I was full Jewish, I would have been way richer. You know, saying, I'll tell you that much, bro, I got just enough half to get me, you know, to where I need to be. And if I had a little bit more, I would have had a different character, sure, but I had more money.
Interviewer 1
How do you notice the variance of negotiation strategies amongst different cultures?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, well, listen, the negotiation strategies are going back to ancient Babylon, all right? You go to the diamond district and you're going over there. It's the same lines they used from long, long ago. You know, it's the same game over and over. But, you know, negotiation and strategies is based upon options. Right? And some negotiator might be able to talk somebody in and get a better deal. But, you know, for me, I'll get an offer over here, get an offer over there and an offer over there, and then you're shopping around. Now, there's some people that are strategic and they could squeeze you without getting that offer. And they have that skill. That's not my particular skill. You know, I want to do business simply and plainly and. And long term. I don't want to sit here and bargain with you back and forth. I really don't. I feel like it's a waste of my time.
Interviewer 2
So what are the best ways to negotiate a good deal?
Jewelry Business Owner
What's the best way to negotiate a good deal is say, this is all I have. That's what. What I do. You saying somebody like, I was buying a gem at the gem show, you know, it's a emerald. The emeralds guy says 9,000. I look in my pocket, man, I got 6,500. You want it? He's like, no, it's too low. I'm like, ah, my bad, my bad, bro. I walk around, I go to the next guy, I look at the emerald over there. I go to the next. I walk around, he's like, come, come, let's start something. You know, Emerald costs 6,000. He don't want to make just 500. That's not worth it. So he's like, on some. No, no. But then he's like, yeah, I'll take the 500, and I'll get to know this business and I'll start something. So to walk away or to say, this is all I have, if you come in there like you got all the money and you got this, then people are gonna go, whatever. But that works in that particular instance for me. You know, it's like a little mind game. Well, listen, man, I got 6,500 for you. Ah, man, my bad, bro. You know? And then you walk and you shop and you do and you this and you that. They'll take it. They'll take it, and they'll make a little bit off of you if they like you. Okay? Because then they'll like, I'll give this guy. You can't run a business with a. With a 10% markup. You know what I'm saying? Your job is to get 100% markup. The other guy's job is to get a 10% markup. You meet each other. 50, 50, whatever. But they'll take the 10% because 10% is better than nothing. But you have to prove it in their mind that that 10% is better than nothing, and they don't feel like they're giving you something that you got away with. Some.
Interviewer 2
What are some of the biggest negotiating mistakes that people make?
Jewelry Business Owner
What would be. Well, the biggest mistake I would make is I don't have the knowledge of the price. If you don't have a framework of the price, then you're just spewing numbers out back and forth, you know what I'm saying? But if you know the price and you know what is the negotiation, man, this ring I'm selling for 6,500. It cost me $4,000 to make. Will I take 6,000? Sure. You know what I'm saying? Well, I'll take 5,000. You know, if my cost is 4,000, why not? Thousand bucks in my pocket. But can I run a business by doing that? Not really. So, you know, now you have to buy this ring. What are you going to tell me? What are you going to do?
Interviewer 2
How come the price of jewelry is so up in the air between pieces like that could be six, another piece could be eight. Visually, they look pretty similar. Same with gold chains or pendants. I feel like I see prices.
Jewelry Business Owner
The price depends upon materials. Gold, diamonds, and then labor. Okay, so it's labor, materials, and that's pretty much it. The design work, the 3D modeling is as well. Now this ring might be prettier than the other ring, so you could get that one for the same materials, but it'll just be. And this one is this. But it's the romance of the business, you know, I'm saying nobody needs any jewelry, you know, you get it because you want to adorn your body before it turns to dust. So you. And that's a game you want to play, you know what I'm saying?
Interviewer 2
What do you think of gold as an investment?
Jewelry Business Owner
I think it's a good store of value. It's never really an investment, but it is an investment when they're printing as much money as they are, you know what I'm saying? Because you have to account, you know, it's denominated in dollars and dollars are being printed on a scale of a trillion extra per year or whatever, right? Interest is a trillion or what have you. So then it becomes an investment to some degree, especially when you have these nefarious activities going on between China and this. Now Trump's got the balls to be able to, you know, steady the ship, so to speak, which I'm very impressed through the tariffs, through everything else. When you get a idiot like Joe Biden or whoever, Ocasio Cortez in there, you can't give head to lower the deficit, you know what I'm saying? You're going to have to do serious. And they don't even have the comprehension to find out what's going on. And that will mean that the gold price will go up and then gold will be an investment. It'll be the only way you could get some penicillin. If the whole collapses and you have to rummage through the wreckage, you never know what can happen. Or you could just be better off buying the S&P 500. But the good thing about gold is you get to hold it in your hand. Yes, sir.
Interviewer 1
Have you made a lot of money from appreciation of your inventory?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes, it saved the day.
Interviewer 1
What do you mean it saved the day?
Jewelry Business Owner
I mean I've had pieces that I've made that cost, you know, I manufactured $300,000 worth of and to scrap it shortly after you manufacture it, it'd be 250. But the gold price went up from 2,000 to 3,500. So now I could scrap it for 300, 300 plus thousand dollars. So that didn't sell. I scrap and melt and get my money back, which is amazing. Yo, man, the People for Gold did 10x in the last 20 years. Okay? So if you're running a jewelry store with gold chains, it was the most profitable business you could have had because your inventory. You bought $1,000,000 worth of gold chains. If you didn't sell a single gold chain in your store, you had $10 million worth of gold chains. If you did sell them, you took the profit and reinvested. You had more. Not a lot of businesses where you open up a business filled with inventory and you didn't sell a single piece, and 20 years later, you're up 10x, you know, so that is. But it's. It's not a business people think about because they're not expecting, you know, people to rob trillions of dollars on Afghanistan, war or whatever. They're not on the stand. They don't comprehend how these evil forces that are really actually there, the. The stealing of it and whatever else is actually out there, man.
Interviewer 2
Why do you think that people on the street are so clueless about the price of gold? Those are my favorite videos. When you go up on the street and you ask people how much something is worth.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
And people are clueless. They have no idea what the value of gold is.
Jewelry Business Owner
That's not their everyday lives, man.
Interviewer 2
But should people know at least what the price of gold is per ounce? A rough estimate? Because it's money.
Jewelry Business Owner
People should be like angels, but forget about what they should be doing. It's, you know, what they're knowing. And, you know, money is a game, and everybody's responsible for playing it smart. You know what you're doing with money? Everything you're doing is thought out and thoughtful. And I watch your videos and you know about this, about that, and I love it. So. And you play the money game and you give out the advice to the money game as well. And if you listen to yourself, well, why don't they watch the iced coffee hour? Why don't they listen to Graham? Why not? Why are they sitting there watching to Cardi B. Shaker? Why are you sitting here and, you know, going to the strip club and twirling on a pole? Why aren't you studying? I mean, I'll tell you why. Because something's wrong. That's why.
Interviewer 2
I feel like it should be taught in schools.
Jewelry Business Owner
Listen, man, a lot of things should be done, bro. It should be definitely taught in schools. And we should track down the trillions of dollars that was stolen, and we should do this and we should do that. But we're not in the world of what should be. You know, we're responsible for our own lives and the lives of our family and the lives of our loved ones, the people, and that's that, you know, we don't really quite have a real society. This is not 1954, you know what I'm saying? This is a society where more or less every man for themselves. The government barely functions to me, and the less of it, the better. And in some community, Elon Musk has a school for his kids and his neighbor's kids. That's probably exactly what you imagine it to be. Why are we using chalkboards? Why can't there be just a touchscreen where the teacher has lesson plans that are already the best of the best? So engage the children. Why are they sitting at desks that. The same ones that were, you know, from 1933? Why aren't their desks have little basic touchscreens where they could just write notes and they could register their. You know, why not. Because the people that are running the board of Education are. That's why. If they weren't, they wouldn't be there.
Interviewer 2
There should be classes about how to use ChatGPT, classes on how to negotiate. And you had the students negotiate against each other.
Jewelry Business Owner
Here's what should be. Graham should go run for office and implement what he's thinking. Is that what's gonna happen?
Interviewer 2
No, no, because I just tell people to watch it on YouTube. Realistically, YouTube is better. Yeah, that's a better resource. So you may as well learn on your own.
Jewelry Business Owner
And the real secret is, is that you're responsible for your own. And this. It's an arcane system. Everything you're talking about is just an arcane system. And anybody who believes in that, they're gonna go to school and go to college, and that might work for them. I don't really know. But whether you're going to school or not, if you're not being responsible and learning on your own, you are playing yourself, you know what I'm saying? And you're giving your advantage away, and that's that. And, you know, like, if I had the tools, YouTube was barely out when I was a kid. I was just. The Internet, and I did what I could with it. I started a business. But if I had the chat GPT and I had that and I had the energy I had back then, I would have really loved it because it was really the source of information. Like this chat GPT is. It's got millions of dollars in value for anybody, for any given moment, for any given person. I'm extracting that money right now. I had a thing where I was Using I put GROK on one phone, chatgpt on the other. And I made GROK have chatgpt generate image after image after image. I put them in a shoebox together and I'd come back, I'm about to drop that video when I edit it. It's just been lazy. I come back and it'll have 30 new pieces of jewelry for me, or what have you. You know what I'm saying? And there's two AIs talking to each other, forcing one, the other AI to generate images so there's value there. And you know, and listen, we're all talking about the. The education systems. It's because people are retarded, Graham. And that's going to change in five years, in six years, you know, and as all these AI guys say, just anybody watching this, if they want to better their lives, which is the only thing that we could offer you as three people sitting here, they would have to get an advantage on AI for the future, because shit's going to change. Right? Any advice for me in the jewelry business? You're a smart guy. Let's see how good you are at giving advice on your own. Iced coffee hour.
Interviewer 2
I would say for the jewelry business, your social media is fantastic. I'd say that you could probably teach other people how to do that. I think you could expand your own business quite a bit because of that. I don't know if you want to get in the retail business. To me, that doesn't sound as exciting of dealing with so many employees and people. I like the customization aspect of it because you could charge a premium. But I also acknowledge that you don't want to spend your time designing one thing for one person.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
I would almost argue, man, that there, there's a benefit to, like, I'm seeing less people my own age and younger.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
Get into jewelry and watches to some degree. Yes. And they're more into, like, digital assets like bitcoin and crypto.
Jewelry Business Owner
Interesting.
Interviewer 2
So I would argue that maybe bitcoin over the next 20 to 30 years is going to take some market share away from the people who buy gold as a store of value.
Jewelry Business Owner
Sure.
Interviewer 2
There's always going to be some of it.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, yeah, Ye.
Interviewer 2
But I would almost argue, like, hey, maybe, maybe take like 10% of your business and just bitcoin it.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right? You love that bitcoin, huh?
Interviewer 2
I do.
Jewelry Business Owner
Just.
Interviewer 2
But you know what? If it goes to 0, 10% of your business, it's like someone's stealing from you, fine. But, like, if it hits, I think there's such a. Well, listen, what do you lopsided opportunity.
Jewelry Business Owner
It's like it's $100,000. Yeah, okay. It's a trillion dollar market capitalization. How much more can it hit? You're going to put it in another.
Interviewer 2
Yeah, but gold's 20 trillion. You don't think it could.
Jewelry Business Owner
I'm not thinking it. It's not there to hit. It's not there to hit if everything collapses or there's serious problems with the dollar. It's there for that to spring you to the next move. It's there to keep you safe. That's it. It's not there to hit. It's just there that. You know what I'm saying? You had your money, you saved it. And now 10 years have passed by and you could buy something. You didn't depreciate your capital and that's that. It's a go between, between moves. It's perfect for me because I could stock gold chains. If I don't sell them, I win. But for you to have a kilo in the safe sitting there doing nothing is not the best thing in the world. You're much better off buying Taiwan Semiconductor over the course 10 next 10 years or something like that. Something that manufacture something. But as far as bitcoin is concerned, you know, it's not like we're arguing. I'm saying gold is better. I couldn't give a less about gold or any of this. You know, for me it's. It's just a game to get where I want. You know, what do we want? What you're doing, A beautiful home, a beautiful life and stability. That's all you really should be shooting for. And you could do that a thousand different ways. Now granted, it's much better to win, but bitcoin's got a trillion dollar market capitalization, $100,000. That means you need a whole nother trillion dollars to make it 150, right? Right.
Interviewer 2
Not necessarily. It's whatever the tradable value is right now. So it could be a. Like you could inject 100 million right into bitcoin and have that spike the price. If, if people are not selling right and fewer people are selling, you don't need actually a trillion dollars to go into big. If you had another trillion invested in bitcoin, that could shoot up the price 10x right. So my thought is that there's an asymmetric reward with bitcoin that let's say buy a hundred thousand, it could go to zero.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
There's a Chance it goes to nothing.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
And you lose $100,000. I'd say there's a, or even an equal chance, let's just say, of going to a million.
Jewelry Business Owner
Why?
Interviewer 2
So you have a 50 50. Let's hypothetically, you have a 5050 going to zero as you do a million dollars.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
So to me, I take that bet with a small amount that I'm prepared to lose because if it's a 50 50, I'm cool losing.
Jewelry Business Owner
But yeah, well, listen, that the way you explain it. Sure, you can do that. I'm not into losing personally. I don't want to even take a small bet, you know, on that end. I don't want to take a 10% or 5% chance on any of that. I. Something like a Warren Buffett style, where it's actually producing something that's in demand and a profitable business. If I'm going to buy a vending machine for $1,000 and people buy 100 bucks worth of soda per day and to restock it cost this much and the soda costs that much, and you're making $25 a day, then I know that, that that vending machine is going to make me back the money and to be profitable after I pay off the thousand dollars with the 25 profit per day after X amount of days or whatever. That's how I look at it. You know, I'm looking at if I want to make money right now and I want to, I want to be good and I want a 10x. I'm looking at the next Nvidia Semiconductor. It could be amd they're doing something. You could ask your chat GPT and your research. Taiwan Semiconductor. They're going over here, trade wars, cooling off. China's backing away in a little bit. That means that, you know, they're not going to do all that Taiwan and this and that. Now you could 10x your money nice and safe there. And that's the way I would go about it if I didn't have a jewelry business to buy a bunch of gold chains with. And the way I explain to people is, you know, you buy your bitcoin and then when you're done in cyberspace, you know, rubbing pixie dust, you know what I'm saying? And you want to actually own something, then you buy yourself a watch with your bitcoin and you buy yourself a gold chain around your neck because your neck is real and the chain is real. The bitcoin is just, you know, out there. It gets you the dollars. You get the bitcoin to get the dollars. So you could buy this or you could spend the bitcoin on it. Whatever you want. The actual that exists. You don't want a computer chugging away somewhere processing.
Interviewer 2
But what I do like, it's a global store of value where around the world people, people attribute $100,000 to this Bitcoin.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes.
Interviewer 2
And so you could take it with you anywhere, you could transfer anywhere. And the more people buy into it.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
Obviously the higher the price. You could say that with gold too. Or you could say that with stocks.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
But I could just see a scenario where Bitcoin captures 25% of the gold market.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
Or companies take 10% of their extra cash and just buy bitcoin with it.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 2
Instead of holding it in dollars.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
And I think that's enough to boost the price.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right? Yeah.
Interviewer 2
But it could, but it could also go to 0. 100%.
Jewelry Business Owner
You know that.
Interviewer 2
I don't think so, but that could happen.
Jewelry Business Owner
Listen, if gold goes to zero, I'll buy all of it, bro. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? It's not even a problem. You know, I'll have a gold castle and you could visit it and pay a ticket in bitcoin to come see it.
Interviewer 2
You'll lose 20 grand every time you polish it.
Jewelry Business Owner
We don't know what's going to happen with this bitcoin and AI and that's that you are a proponent of it. You love it. Why is bitcoin any better than all the other? Why is Bitcoin any better than hoc2 a coin? Will we see? Listen, the real question is, will we ever see a day when everyone's rushing for right now?
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Jewelry Business Owner
It might not. We might. Because when people are rushing for the door, let's say people are dumping Amazon. If Amazon is a trillion dollar market cap, you dump Amazon, I'll jump in There, I'll melt. I'll sell my whole business and buy Amazon because I know Amazon is Amazon. But if people start rushing for the door of bitcoin, it might also have that effect. It might be somebody who says, I'll buy all of it. And it seems like that because I could have never expected it to be solid at 100k, solid at 100k. So God bless all those people and whatever they're doing and how they're doing it now. Mom, My estimate is that a new technology is going to come around. This is not 2011. New technology is going to come around and really give bitcoin a run for its money. And then people might lose out. And if it's me and you and it's 10% to some and we don't get the next Lambo or whatever, it's not a big deal. But if it's somebody with their life's earnings, they're going to be devastated. So you have to play it way smarter. I would suggest a semiconductor stock or even the Teslas. Whoever's making robots, whoever's making semiconductors, that's the one that's going to 10x or 50x over the next 10, 15 years. That's my idea.
Interviewer 2
Where do you get your gold from?
Jewelry Business Owner
I get my gold from the casting company. When I cast it, I just pay the bill. So they make me the casting. Or I get it from. Bouillantradingllc.com is a friend of mine. It's Kahan or Isaac. Is his name Isaac, Kahan or I don't know what his last. I think his last name is Kahan. His pops was in the business for a long time. He's down in the basement and he's down at the basement. You know why? Because can't keep all that metal upstairs. Go right through the floor.
Interviewer 2
Oh, no way is that heavy.
Jewelry Business Owner
Matt. Silver, mad gold and a safe go down there. And he knows what it is. You know what I'm saying? Again, he knows who's playing around, who's not. You know, I pick up my kilos and I cast them and I do my thing.
Interviewer 1
What's the cheapest way to buy gold? Like, is it people that bring it into your shop and then you're able to melt it down and you're able to buy it like even under market price for gold because you isolate the actual gold from like a 14 karat composite.
Jewelry Business Owner
Absolutely. You buy 10% under.
Interviewer 2
What about those commercials that you see?
Interviewer 1
Like, yeah, we buy gold.
Jewelry Business Owner
That was a great business. Those people on an island right now.
Interviewer 1
So I've wanted to buy, like, a gold chain for a long time. Not like anything fancy, but just something like a gold chain. I think I'm more of a gold guy than a silver guy, and I.
Jewelry Business Owner
Think it'd be fun.
Interviewer 1
The problem is, I'll go to a jewelry store, and I was just in Japan, and I was looking at gold necklaces in Japan, and I can't really tell the difference between, you know, a necklace here and a necklace there, right? And I don't know, like, how much of a premium I should be paying. Like, what would be the best way to just buy, like, a cheap standard gold neck?
Jewelry Business Owner
Let's break down the secret for the educated crowd watching this. Okay? Gold is how much per ounce?
Interviewer 1
35.
Jewelry Business Owner
Or how much is how many. How many grams in a. In an ounce?
Interviewer 2
30 something.
Jewelry Business Owner
31. Yeah. Okay, so let's divide. So let's make it easy. Let's pretend gold is 3100. And the gold and the 31 grams per in and out, it's a hundred dollars per gram. Now, 14 karat gold is diluted to what, 60, 58%. So what's 58 out of a hundred? It's $58. So that's the cost of the metal. $58 per gram. Okay, so if someone, you put it on a scale, and if they're charging you 75, you say, kind of good. This is labor. The guy's got to make money. Okay? So if it, you know, if it weighs a certain amount and he's charging you 75 per gram, you say, Listen, I want to pay 73. I want to pay 70. He would say, you know, I'll go, what's the, you know, 50? I'll give you $68 a gram and this and that. Or you guys might say, I don't sell per gram. You. You know, but you'll know the value of it, because per ounce per gram, then dilute it to the carrot, which is 14k was most likely be the case. That will leave you to a certain grand price. And then there's the factory that made it has to charge labor to the guy who bought who to the vendor. And the vendor has to make a markup, pay the rent, pay the employees, and, you know, buy wifey and whatever a gift that she might want. So he needs money, and he's gonna. If it's a light chain, it might be $150 a gram. If it's a heavy chain, it might be $59 a gram. And that's it. You put it on a scale and you do the math.
Interviewer 2
How do you tell if it's real? Like, let's just say it's tungsten. It's coated in gold, right? Like, how often does that come around?
Jewelry Business Owner
Not often, man. I mean, that's some bump, you know what I'm saying? If someone plays with you on that, it's the jewelry business. Reputation, you know what I'm saying? Like, that's why I do all the, that I do. I have to raise these kids that are watching my videos on a reputation that when they think, you know, right? When you think electronic toy, you might think Mark Rober or something like that. Or you think chocolate. Who do you think of? Beast, you gotta think gold gotta come up. That's my job. I gotta raise these kids to reputation so they don't have to worry about tungsten when they come into my shop. Shop. Because why, why go to a shop over there when you're gonna have to worry about tungsten over here?
Interviewer 1
You give away a lot of gold on your channel.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, I gave away. I'm gonna give away more.
Interviewer 1
How do the taxes work with something like that?
Jewelry Business Owner
Don't ask me.
Interviewer 2
You don't hand out 1099s afterwards.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, no, I don't like give him the gold, man. I mean, listen, you want to arrest me and me and Guantanamo, baby, because I gave somebody a gold bar? Go ahead. At this point, you don't think the.
Interviewer 2
IRS is going to see write offs though, and it's going to say, okay, who received this?
Jewelry Business Owner
Right?
Interviewer 2
And you say, well, I don't, I.
Jewelry Business Owner
Don'T, I don't even. You know, maybe I write it off or it's a, it's a marketing expense or something like that. You know what I'm saying? Listen, it is what it is, man. Yo, this country's got trillions of dollars leaking out of its. Let me, when you, once you handle that, come after me in the gold bar I gave on 42nd Street.
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Jewelry Business Owner
Episode the most expensive thing I've given away. It's just the individual ounces would probably be the most ones that I remember. Or like a gold chain I might have gave away. I still got to do a Rolex giveaway. The thing is that's a game and I want to make my business about something and do the give back and be a human being. You know, going back to the original point. Money, money money. I've Got more. I've got more. I've got more. That's not why we're here on planet Earth. That's not what we're living our lives. That's how we're being tested for who we really are. You know, is it? We're gonna take those 30 pieces of silver and say, you know, you know, and betray somebody with a kiss or not. You know what I'm saying?
Interviewer 2
Does a strong gold market help your business? Like, the higher the price is, I.
Jewelry Business Owner
Think it might change the business, and it might help the business. Well, it proves me right. I have said all this about gold because I wanted people to buy in, buy in, buy in. Now I'm going to tell them, well, listen, you know, you could have bought bitcoin at a cent. You could have bought this. But just buying a gold chain and wearing it and increasing your money is an amazing thing. You bought it, and now you melt it and you get your money back. So I did that to establish myself as a person. Who told you the future in the past, and that's that. Now that the gold price is what it is, and if it goes any higher, then gold is going to be an extremely luxury product. It used to be $14 a gram. Now it's 140. That's two different numbers, my friend. You know what I'm saying? It's like a Ferrari is 150,000. Now it's 1.5 million. You bought a Ferrari in 2004, and now that same Ferrari is, you know, 1.4 million rather than 140,000. It's two different price ranges. It went from supercar to hypercar, and that's what gold is doing. And then it could be a. You know, like I tell people, and I tell a lot of people that how was gold working back in the day? You remember Cortez, you know, he came over across one of the first few people to come over from Spain, across the Atlantic lands. A whole new civilization. Is there different people, Whole alien language, alien people. Never heard from, never seen. The most exotic you ever seen. And what does he say? He gets montezuma. And he's like, fill the room with gold and I'll let you go. I don't give a About the civilization. Imagine you go to an alien planet right now that you've never seen. See? Equivalent. A whole new civilization. And you're coming over there and you're asking, where's the gold? It's kind of crazy, but he didn't give a. About the alien civilization and their culture. And their technology and nothing. He just wanted to go back to France, get the gold for the people that finance the, buy his villa and sit back and relax. And that's how gold used to be. It used to be everything. But it's not anymore. And will it be again is the only question that we have to answer in our lives. You know what I'm saying? As far as gold is concerned, it's going to be a decoration and it's going to go up in price and I'll sell you some more of it. That's great. It's a beautiful yellow, shiny metal, fantastic. You know what I'm saying? You can hold it in your hands and you could scrap it and you could do this. That's all great. But will it be the accounting system for the world of who has and who does not have is a very interesting question. Because its gold is about trust. Okay. Can you trust the federal government? Can't. No. They're in charge of the money. And this is the story of our lives. But the story of our, our of the late, right, the gold reserve went off. Gold backed dollar went away.
Interviewer 2
1971.
Jewelry Business Owner
1971, yeah, whatever. 1971, 1970s. The story of the late 20th century and the early 21st century is can you trust them not to print and steal?
Interviewer 2
So what do you think this is going to be doing to the price of gold over the next five to ten years? See gold eventually hitting 5,000 and ounce 10,000.
Jewelry Business Owner
Eventually. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I hope not, man. I mean probably it's going to sit. It might dip back down to 2800 now the war's over, you know, but it's probably going to sit in that range for another five, 10 years maybe. That all depends, man. If they drop the bomb tomorrow, bro, it's going to be 5,000 tomorrow. If you watch the gold price, it's always about what's actually happening. Because you don't want no gold in the safe that you got to travel and you want to wire some money. But when the system is in jeopardy, and it might be, that's when you need the gold. You know what I'm saying? I'm not telling you to get gold like some gold jerk. Ah, get gold. I'm the gold guy. He's the bitcoin guy, he's the real estate guy. We gotta buy what I say? Get the outta here, man. You buy yourself a gold chain is gonna pay for itself in time. That's cool. So that's all gold is doing for you. And that's great. However, if the wars break out and they steal too greedily and the comes down, that's when it comes into play. Because then you're gonna need a currency system that's backed by something and measured by something. And the question then becomes is not how many dollars you have, it's how many grams you have. Have.
Interviewer 2
How much gold should the average person get?
Jewelry Business Owner
How much gold should the average person get? I mean, at least an ounce. You could afford an ounce, but buying it now at 3,000 is not really going to do, you know, much for you. You know what I'm saying? I was saying this for a long, long time because I knew it was going to come to this.
Interviewer 2
And why didn't more people listen to you?
Jewelry Business Owner
Because I say it in a way that, you know, it's not a popular thing, you know, and I say it in a way that I'm not asking you to go buy gold and get it. I'm telling you that when it goes up, you realize what I was saying was right. That's why I'm doing it. I'm not giving people gold in the street because, you know, I'm saying, I'm like, you don't know how to value what the in front of you. That's the video I'm making. Here. Take this gold ounce. Nah, I'd rather go work for, like, a slave somewhere. I'm like, all right, it shows. It's so wake people up.
Interviewer 2
What does that teach you about people? When you see them walk away like that, you're giving them an ounce of gold.
Jewelry Business Owner
I don't blame them, but it's hard for them to think that a person would be walking to them and giving them something.
Interviewer 2
Do they think it's a scam?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes, they think it's a scam, and they think I'm going to give it to them and ask for something or play with them or this or that. And I understand that, but you're judging incorrectly in that circumstance. So that's kind of a psychological game I like to play with people. Oh, you didn't buy a gold chain that paid for itself. Well, too late now. You could wait another 10, 20 years. Sorry. I don't give a. You know what I'm saying? Jewelry luxury company is not supposed to be built around value. A luxury company is not supposed to be built around anything. But you can't have it. So I'm switching my from I told you to get it to take care of you, because I did have a heart, and I did Care about the people. And I did want you to do well, but you didn't listen. Now you can't have it. Sorry. I gave you love, you threw it away. Now this is what you got. And now it's a luxury company, real deal. I'm gonna make, manufacture jewelry, engagement rings and so on and so forth. Make my money and do what I gotta do. And I gotta switch my style up on that end. And I gotta, you know, flow through it as people get to know me. Because my thing is, I don't wanna hurt you. I wanna wake your mind up. Up. That's it. You know, everybody could be aware and awake. I don't know how you. How it happened for you or your parents raised you a certain way or something, you know what I'm saying? But you're making moves, I'm making moves, you know, whatever.
Interviewer 1
Speaking of scams, what is your worst story with fake jewelry?
Jewelry Business Owner
I don't really even have that many stories of fake jewelry, man. You know what I'm saying? I really ever been involved in it. No one's ever given it to me. I've never given it to anybody. I've had a. Had bank fraud and crazy go down. You know, somebody took the church's bank account and wired me money and I sent in jewelry. Then they froze my. And. And they did this and they did that. And I've been through that. And I must have lost a half a million to a million in fraud. Probably a million or more, actually, now that I think about it. You know, I've been in business for 21 years, my friend, and my annual sales are $40 million plus. You're talking about, you know, 20 times 40 is 800. And, you know, in the earlier years it was less. You average it out, 3 to 400 million in sales. So I should have had a profit of a. A gross profit of, you know, 50 million, 60 million. And I only got a seven, you know. So where'd the rest of it go, bro?
Interviewer 2
Now, switching from that. Why have watches gained a lot of popularity over the last few years? And what do you think the best watches for someone to buy?
Jewelry Business Owner
Just looking at them. That's why. You know what I'm saying? Women are looking at the watch and they're judging you for it. They're glancing at it 100%. I've asked them. They say it. So it's a status symbol. And women are attracted to wealth and they're attracted to status. It's just the way they are. And for a man, this is the whole this is nature's little game. You know, nature gets you to, you know, you, you play Super Mario. And what's at the end at the dungeon after you beat the, the Bowser, it's the princess, you know what I'm saying? If it was another Nintendo game, you probably it was a Pokemon card, you know what I'm saying? You wouldn't be jumping through all those platforms, dodging the fireballs, bro. You're doing it for a reason, for that peach, you know what I'm saying? So this is the game and it is a status symbol that men can use. And now with social media, it's really amplified because you had a Patek Philippe before and some bimbo ain't gonna know that to protect. She don't know. So she don't look as she needs to see an iced out watch for, for, for sure before she's sitting there thinking like you, you're the man. But now they know which watch is which and what's worth money and this and that. And it turned into a way sexier thing to have.
Interviewer 2
So what's the best watch for someone to buy?
Jewelry Business Owner
Patek Philippe? Patek is an amazing state. It's Audemars Patek. Rolex's new money is you first got money and you're buying yourself a Rolex. But Audemars and Patek is the one that they're going to know.
Interviewer 2
What if you're on a budget, let's go with different tiers. You have 5000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 each price point. Your number one watch.
Jewelry Business Owner
5000. 5000. 5000. That's a tough one, man, because there's not a lot of $5,000 watch is basically you saying, all I got is 5,000 bucks.
Interviewer 2
I'd say a two tone datejust.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah. A used one.
Interviewer 2
Yes.
Jewelry Business Owner
An old one.
Interviewer 2
Yeah, I'm talking just that's your budget. You could buy anything you want.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, yeah, that would be good. A two tone datejust a used two tone datejust, you know. But you're talking about something from the 90s.
Interviewer 2
Yes.
Jewelry Business Owner
And that's a decent watch. There's better watches. This is a question for Roman Sharf. You know who Roman Sharf is? Luxury watchers are. He knows watches like crazy and he knows how to get something dope. But if you're getting the status, you're gonna have to get a Rolex for the 5 and a Rolex for the 10.
Interviewer 2
What Rolex do you buy for 10?
Jewelry Business Owner
It's a newer datejust or, you know, like, if you want, once you get out of the tens and you ten to fifteen and stuff like that, you're gonna get the Hulk, right? You know, the exclusive one. That's when you're actually a watch connoisseur. Because when you're watching a Hulk, when you're wearing a Hulk or a Pepsi or a B, man, you don't know if that's your Sunday watch or your only watch. You know what I'm saying? So now you're sitting there because those are like, you know, I'm wearing my Hulk today and my Yacht Master when I go out. And when I'm wearing a suit, I'm wearing my steel Patek, whatever 5,980, whatever it might be. So that's the way that kind of game works. So those are the watches that are the best status symbols that are really classic.
Interviewer 2
And what about $25,000 now?
Jewelry Business Owner
$25,000 now. Let's think about that. 25,000. That would probably be, you know, something along the lines of a yacht master two tone. That's a big boy watch, okay? You're dropping 25,000. That means your car is at least 100,000 and your crib is whatever, you know what I'm saying? That's a big boy watch. Yeah.
Interviewer 2
50,000.
Jewelry Business Owner
You're an Audemars, A steel Audemars, blue face type deal. Or, you know, a gold 12 tones deal. Those are. Those are. Yeah, you're a bigger boy. 100. That's what it says. Yeah. Even me. A customer walks through the door and they got the right watch out. I'm like, yes, sir, how could I help you?
Interviewer 2
You know, and what about a hundred thousand dollars?
Jewelry Business Owner
That would be a gold Audemar or gold Patek, you know, I'm saying the best, the sickest watch. And another one of my boys has shot. He's a YouTuber, Rissa and Kwan. Kwan, you know what I'm saying? He knows how to. This is. They're a couple. They. They're YouTubing. They got a couple of million subs and they have kids and they're, you know, a couple. And they're a couple youtubing, whatever. You know, they go to the best hotel, they do this and they stay there and they make a video about that. And he likes the best. So he'll get the two Tone Maybach. His crib will be something really status like it's done. Correct? It's done. It's there. You could see the. The mind that he put into it, you know, and that's what you want for a watch. When you walk it around. When you walk through the, through the door and you met me, I'm like, oh, there's Graham. And you walk into his crib and you're like, oh, there's Graham. You know, and that's the experience that you want to communicate. And the skeleton face AP rose gold is what Quan bought. It was 150. Okay. But that skeleton face is an exclusive discontinued limited. Did his research type. Yeah.
Interviewer 2
What do you think is the worst watch for someone to buy?
Jewelry Business Owner
You know, that's a great question because, you know, I'd say kind of like that two tone old Rolex is. Unless you're in a strip club, you know, in Connecticut. Ned watch ain't gonna impress nobody, man. So you might as well get yourself some Gucci and put some diamonds in it or, you know, Apple watch or some. Or you could customize some other. I really wouldn't want to buy that.
Interviewer 2
How often do you see people flexing with fake watches?
Jewelry Business Owner
Not that often, but not that few times either. You know what I'm saying? People who have status, it might be. I'm not going to name their names, but they have a high status. But they can't get the high status watch, so they might wear a fake one. You know what I'm saying?
Interviewer 2
How would you tell? Because some of the fakes I've seen are so accurate, they're so good. And I love watching those YouTube videos where they break down the real versus fakes.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, that's how you do it.
Interviewer 2
It's indistinguishable, though. There's to get behind it with like a yes.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, that, that, that happens. Right? That happens. And how do I tell? I don't. But my friend knows because they know what the fakes are doing because they know the fake market, you know, they know that the dial color is off. It's like it's really the colors, you know what I'm saying? Like the color is not really there or something is not really there. But how do you know? You have experience with it every single day.
Interviewer 1
What do you think are some of the most overpriced luxury brands? Stuff that people continue to buy, but you don't think it's worth it at all.
Jewelry Business Owner
I mean, all of them are overpriced per se, but that's the whole point of the brand is that it's overpriced. You know, I could tell you chrome hearts, you know, you bought a hoodie for $1,000, but that's what you shop there for. You're saying that if you're wearing a chrome hearts hoodie, you're saying to the chick, I could take you on vacation. We could go get on a plane, and I'll take you to Mykonos or whatever. That's what you're saying. So it's overpriced. The whole point is it's overpriced. You know what I'm saying? That's the whole point is to say, I have money to burn. So the more overpriced it is. But it's the game. You don't want to be overpriced. But again, thinking from a value perspective on luxury is a mistake. It really is.
Interviewer 2
And what about lab grown versus real diamonds? How do you even tell the difference for most people? Is it never just worth it to get real diamonds? Just go lab grown?
Jewelry Business Owner
No, I mean lab grown again is going to be. Listen, this. These are all lab. But in natural, this ring would be about 25,000. In lab, it's about six. Okay? Because I don't want to sit here and buy Asher cuts and set them upside down for this ring. You know what I'm saying? I really don't. I'll just buy it in lab, and it'll really do the business, and it's. And it's really, really nice. And then I'll move on to the next ring, because in natural, do you really want to buy this exact ring for 20, $25,000? Not really. $6,000, $7,000. It's a pretty beautiful piece of jewelry. Okay? If you have, you know, you're not gonna walk out of here, and then another guy's got this ring on. Not gonna happen. Okay? It's just. Nobody makes it. Nobody sets stones like this upside down. It's a unique item. And if you want that uniqueness and you've had it all, you get it. But if you want it natural, sure, I'll make it for you natural.
Interviewer 2
What's the advantage to going with a natural diamond?
Jewelry Business Owner
I mean, the advantage is that it's still a rare gem. They're both diamonds, but one is a gem, one is not. One is made in a lab and could be an infinite quantity. And the other is made in the ground. Right. Let's say the year is 2045. And 3D printers have gotten so advanced that you could get yourself a classic Ferrari, you know, like the old ones. Amazing. There's the one that's in Jay Leno's garage. He doesn't have Ferraris, but Whatever, you get the idea. There's the one that's in Jay Leno's garage that was manufactured in 1972. And there's the one that's 3D printed yesterday. They're both exactly the same on a molecular level. Mama papa, mi cuerpo crece a un ridmo alarm de Amazon Amazon gasta menos son riemas.
Interviewer 2
You say you'll never join the Navy, that living on a submarine would be too hard. You'd never power a whole ship with nuclear energy, never bring a patient back.
Jewelry Business Owner
To life.
Interviewer 2
Or play the national anthem for a sold out shroud. Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Start your journey@navy.com America's Navy forged by the sea.
Jewelry Business Owner
But the one that was built by Ferrari in 1972 has something more than the 3D printed one.
Interviewer 2
Yeah, but let's say you don't have any of like the documents that go along with it. How do you tell if you have two diamonds side by side? One's real, one's lab grown?
Jewelry Business Owner
It's becoming harder to tell. But natural diamonds have a little nitrogen inside of them and other elements that are not present in the lab diamonds. So there's gases like trapped in the natural process versus so there will be always a difference between what the hell is happening in the earth mantle to what the hell is happening in a laboratory. But the future of diamonds will always in the end up being industrial. You know, if you had a diamond engine, you can run it to 10 million miles because the frictionless it doesn't corrode.
Interviewer 2
So if someone's getting engaged, do you recommend.
Jewelry Business Owner
I recommend a gemstone. That's if you have money, if you have a good girl and she wants to have a big rock and look good, you get yourself a lab ring and you do it like I did it with this ring. You make something beautiful and unique that you can't make any which way and she'll blow everybody away with that. Or you could go and get her. If you have the budget, you get her a natural gemstone, a natural diamond that's GIA certified or what have you. You. But if you spend $35,000 on a ring and then her girl walks in with the $3,500 ring that looks even bigger and better, it's going to have a problem on the the market and the experience. So the society is figuring that out right now.
Interviewer 1
Speaking of women.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes.
Interviewer 1
What have you noticed to be the most effective ways of like getting her attention? Like the right kinds of women. Do you think like you were saying earlier how you first kind of courted that one girl. She went into the store and you were treating her as though she was like, a normal person rather than through, like, this lens of her being a beautiful girl where everyone. White glove services her.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 1
What are the actual best ways that you can try to. To get that attention?
Jewelry Business Owner
Well, when it came to that girl, she's been everywhere and done everything, so she's not impressed by money at all, you know, so she was.
Interviewer 1
Did you know that going into it was a strategy?
Jewelry Business Owner
No, I didn't know. I didn't have no strategy. I just. She started talking, and I just, you know, I was like, I'm not letting you sit here. And is. A woman might try to dominate a man in the initial conversation. Like, hold this for me. Get the out of here. You can't. You know, she's trying to see if you're submissive or dominant. So as soon as she even tests you, you gotta be like, you know, she's waiting for you to go like this. So that worked in that particular instance. And that will always be the case for me. I don't let any woman dominate me because they try, you know, they want.
Interviewer 1
To see what are other ways they test that. Like, hold this for me. If a woman asked me, hey, hold my purse, I'd be like, yeah, sure. You know?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, well, listen, you could do that. And she might be a good. And she might not be trying to dominate nothing. But she usually. I mean, like, you know, she's doing it for a reason. You know, you ignoring her or whatever might be a big deal. Then I had a chick the other day. She's like. We took a picture together. Then she's, like, swiping through my phone, and she sees me, you know, I just met her. I took her out a date. She's swiping through my phone while I'm driving, and she sees me with another girl. And that turns her on. It makes her want to compete. Because there's a paradox, okay? A woman is testing you for your manhood, okay? That's what she is. That's what the whole point of a woman is. It's like, you're coming too close. I'm gonna. You know. Or you're standing too far. I'm gonna do this. She's testing you for balance. And that's how their sensory apparatus kind of works. And from my experience, so when it comes to. It's a game, you know what I'm saying? Like, she. You do this too much. She's gonna be like, oh, this guy is doing that. You do that too little. All this guy's doing this. You have to find the balance of being not holding her, but then opening up the door for her, but then doing this, but not doing that, but then that, not doing this. And eventually she gets swooned and with enough time and then she's like, you know, that's. That's the courting, you know, process.
Interviewer 2
Sounds like a lot of work, like a lot of thoughts.
Jewelry Business Owner
You can't just because a woman doesn't gonna want to go, oh, yeah, you got this. Well, here you go. You know what I'm saying? She don't want to do that. Then you, you know, and then you. The baby comes out and there's a problem and you're like, oh, I don't know what to do. You know what I'm saying? It's genetic. The ones that if the women that chose the wrong guy, their line was done. They want the guy that's not too aggressive, but not to this, not to that, but not to this. And you have to. You as a young man, I didn't know this. You know, if you're a practical thinker, you're going to have a problem because it's not a practical thing. It's a completely different style of thinking. Take a look at Jeff Bezos. You know what I'm going to say? This guy's got the richest in the world and he's got this chick there that's for faces like this, you know what I'm saying? And you could do better than that, Jeff, but you're a logical thinker. That's the problem. You know what I'm saying? You're thinking logically and you're dealing with a woman who's playing a different game.
Interviewer 2
So you're saying if he did not think logically, he would get someone who's more attractive.
Jewelry Business Owner
If you turn. You have to turn your brain off and you have to go into a different dimension to, to use a woman because, you know, to. To be able to get there because it's a different type of courtship. Yeah, you know that. You know, Jeff Bezos like, well, what's the way, the best way to start intercompany? Well, I'll start with books because their titles are easy to search. You could buy them for cheap, they're easy to store. They're stolen less frequently, and you could ship them easy. So that's a great way to start a business. Well, woman's not thinking like that. You know, women Think in a more emotional sense or in more of this and more of that. So he's super active in a one sense and deficient in another. That's why he's got this chick, you know what I'm saying? Where he could have a way better bitch, you know, or 10 of them, a hundred of them. But if you're going to bring him on a yacht and you're gonna talk to them directly and look them in their eyes and answer their questions, they're gonna think you're a sucker. You have to make them compete. Give this one a little bit attention and then as soon as she gets comfortable, give that one a little bit of attention. And then. So you're a smarter girl than that. Oh yeah. And that's what drives them crazy. Because it's a different dynamic and if you study it from a logical perspective, you will be able to have the same advantage as you would in Amazon. But if you study it, if I like you and I'd like you to be my girlfriend, forget it. You're.
Interviewer 1
I think that's a way to court a girl that's not looking for a life partner.
Jewelry Business Owner
Correct.
Interviewer 1
I think if it's a girl that is like, she's long term oriented and she's logic brained and she's like, I need to find someone right now and I want to settle down with.
Jewelry Business Owner
That's a wonderful girl you're describing.
Interviewer 1
Okay, so you're saying, but like maybe the more Miami type, maybe some New York type, maybe some California LA type that's kind of, you need to be a little more the culture of like the, you know, of the dating market in that area.
Jewelry Business Owner
If you want a bad and you want to sit here and live the Mac life where you grab her and you have money and you take her on a trip and you're having your sec, let's, let's call it what it is. Sexual fantasies that you've been dreaming of. You're gonna have to play a different game. If you want a life partner, then you know, that's a whole different game and it should be straightforward. But even that girl, if you say the wrong things to her, she's gonna get turned off or whatever. There's a woman is a measurement of manhood, right. A woman doesn't want to be a man's mommy. Okay? Man is looking for mom and woman is looking for dad. She wants somebody who's going to control her, tell her what to do and she's confident in that and protect her and give her that and she's measuring you for it. And if you're going to come at her as a young man and you're going to be looking for your emotional support, that makes you feel good, that, you know, if you hit your head and you go to your girl and you're going and you feel better, she don't want to provide that. She don't want to be a provider of that. She would love to play that role, but she don't want to provide that man. She doesn't want to be some shoulder for you to cry on because the world is hard, bro. She wants you to be like, oh, this guy handled the world. And now, you know, I'm. I'm safe. But you have what you want, she has what you know, she wants her. And you got to find a compromise and a happy medium. But on the emotional sense, you have to know how to be able to project what she wants to get her. Do you even get the chance to.
Interviewer 2
Get her to know who you are as an immigrant? How do you feel when people say that it's hard in America?
Jewelry Business Owner
It is hard in America, in a sense, because it's not hard anywhere, and it's not easy anywhere because it's all relative to what you experience in the world, you know. But it's obviously not particularly hard in America. But just coming out of that is much. It's just more advantageous. So immigrants come here and they're used to a certain level of stress and strain, and same stress and strain that they're accustomed to is way more productive in this society. So that, that works out real well. If you're an immigrant coming from there, if you're, if you're amazing, you know, at catching food in, you know, the Serengeti, where it's a difficult environment, then, or. And you're living in that, then when you go into an easy environment, it's going to be more advantageous. But if the people that are used to it. Yeah, yeah. But does it get the head bother.
Interviewer 2
You when you see people who've grown up in America and they're just like, you know what? It's too hard out there. I can't get ahead.
Jewelry Business Owner
It doesn't. But it bother me because I'm competing against those people and I'm just going to run ahead of them and be better off? That's on them. You know what I'm saying? And it doesn't happen. Didn't happen to you and it didn't happen to you or whatever it might be. You guys are on track to Some. So that's on them. You know, in some cases, they might be right. It might not be worth breaking your back and sweating for all this. Just sit back and relax, you know, pop a pill, Bill.
Interviewer 2
So I think also you were early. You were early when it came to ebay.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
You saw the vision of that.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
I would say you were early in the jewelry industry overall to go through social media.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 2
What do you think is next?
Jewelry Business Owner
AI Man. You know, that is. I'm already pulling a hundred, two hundred thousand dollars worth of value out of. Out of here. And I'll show you right now, because I know my competitors ain't going to be watching this podcast. These idiots. You know what I'm saying? And. But I'll show you something really cool. Cool. And you see this? All right. So maybe the camera could see it a little bit. These are all AI generated pieces. Wow. I'll be sitting at home, I'll be smoking my vape, and I will be sitting there and I'll be saying, make another, make another, make another, make another. I'll just have hundreds of designs if you prompt it properly. So the amount of design work I was able to pull out of the phone is. Was 10 years ago or 5 years ago, it'll cost 2, 3, 4, $500,000. And now the AI is going to make the 3D model. So if. If I'm the first one to implement the. The AI for my business, I'm where I should be. I could have been a hundred million dollar man right now. If I didn't up the ebay from the beginning, I could have did that. Correct. And I did. But I didn't. And I had to backtrack. And then I used the social media to get me back in line, and now the AI to get me where I should have been all along.
Interviewer 2
One thing I want to point out, when I was doing research for this, you were on the People's Court.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes.
Interviewer 2
How did that come to be?
Jewelry Business Owner
Well, you know, I had a graphic designer that was doing really good. He was very talented, but his life was troubled. And one time, you know, I came to his house or where he was living in Harlem or whatever ever, and he's renting this room. And I walk inside this place decrepit. It's a python shedding its skin inside a dusty, crusty aquarium type deal. The opposite of what happened when I went to York. It was essentially what it was.
Interviewer 2
We don't have pythons, all right?
Jewelry Business Owner
Exactly. You have a fish tank. That's why it's the opposite, you know what I'm saying? But it's crusty and please. And he's got this one bedroom and his roommate, he tells me, is I'm Xanax. Sleepwalking into his room at night and just like bothering him, like, yo, this guy needs some peace and quiet and he's got the talent. Let me see what would happen. I had an extra room, you know, I had a nice apartment or whatever. Let me see what happened if I just said this guy, you know, let's take the summer, three months, get some peace rent free, just do some design work and come over and live. And you know, I like this character. Where he came, he closed the door, he smoked about a million backwoods in there, you know what I'm saying? And, and accomplished nothing over the course of that summer. And then I'm like, man, I gotta throw this guy out of here. He's a nice guy, you know what I'm saying? But I'm like, this is horrible, man. I got this guy living in my house. I'll give you three months until December. It's a human experiment I was running. So he's like, I'll make an app or whatever. But it's. It ended poorly. And, you know, it was like a five thousand dollar balance on some app or some. And I'm like, you know, whatever, bro. You. This, this app. You stayed in my house for free for six months, bro, I gave you ten grand. I'm not giving you another five. Or I'm not giving you another whatever. And then he sued me, small claims. And then he wanted to pick it up at People's Court, you know, because it was a, it was a dispute over like, you know, like, I mean, I did so much for you, bro, and you wasted all that time. Like when I opened up that door after he left, left, there's like a, a layer of this thick of dirt on the floor and it stunk. Like font fonta or fonta is the leaf, the tobacco cousin of the tobacco leaf. It has no nicotine, you know what I'm saying, bro? It was what it was. So I went in there, I'm like, yo, man, this is disgusting. And then, and then we went on People's Court. They're like, yo, they'll cover the cost if you lose. And he did have kind of like a little contract or whatever. And the judge, you know, they made, made the, the thing, the, the race game, you know, like, ah, he's gonna win because he's that da da da da whatever. And you Know I rocked with it, and that's what it was.
Interviewer 1
Why do you even get yourself into something like this? Like, you. You're living such a good life that just, like, lock in and focus on what you're good at rather than being like, yeah, come live with me.
Jewelry Business Owner
I want the parameters. I want to understand that if a human being is in trouble, yeah, I could take care of myself. I'm going to go make money. I'm going to focus on my, my, I'll brand my business, whatever. But if a person is in trouble that has talent, what does it take for them to have stability and be able to bring themselves to their. To realize their own potential? I want to know. I want to know what kind of impact can I have in a person's life? I want to know. And if it's six months out of my life to try that out and a little people's court story, it works out perfectly well.
Interviewer 1
Okay, what we're going to do is we're going to do quick questions and answers. Real or fake? Most people wearing diamonds in New York.
Jewelry Business Owner
City Most people wearing diamonds in New York City are real.
Interviewer 1
Real or fake rapper chains and music videos?
Jewelry Business Owner
Real.
Interviewer 1
Who's the broke rich person you've ever met?
Jewelry Business Owner
Brokest rich person I ever met. I will not disclose the man's name.
Interviewer 1
What's the worst? Well, like, how did you. You don't have to say his name, but, like, what was the context of this?
Jewelry Business Owner
The context of this was that, I mean, you know, he's a successful person. He has assets, but he didn't manage his money well. And, you know, he's behind on his bills and people probably stealing from him, too.
Interviewer 1
Has a celebrity ever tried to scam you?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 1
Which influencer is definitely wearing fake jewelry?
Jewelry Business Owner
I'm not sure, man. I haven't really seen. Because you get caught instantly if you're wearing that on social media today.
Interviewer 1
Have you ever been robbed?
Jewelry Business Owner
Robbed? Yes.
Interviewer 1
How much was it?
Jewelry Business Owner
It was like a hundred grand.
Interviewer 1
Do you have insurance?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 1
Are Rolexes overrated?
Jewelry Business Owner
No.
Interviewer 1
Is buying jewelry ever a smart investment?
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes.
Interviewer 1
And then this is one word. Answers. Jewelry or watches?
Jewelry Business Owner
Jewelry for me.
Interviewer 1
Cash or gold? Gold. Hustle or talent?
Jewelry Business Owner
Talent.
Interviewer 1
What drives people more? Fear or greed?
Jewelry Business Owner
Can't. I don't know. I'd say fear, but I don't know, though.
Interviewer 1
I'm curious. How much do you think your social media presence has pushed your business?
Jewelry Business Owner
90%.
Interviewer 1
So it's just completely exploded?
Jewelry Business Owner
It. Yeah, it's. It's turned me into a brand. As long as I got the right product and the right marketing and this and that. I'll be able to secure a brand that'll outlive me after I'm dead.
Interviewer 1
And what are the main ways right now that you're trying to catapult your success? Like the main levers you're trying to pull.
Jewelry Business Owner
AI And.
Interviewer 1
And that would be with, like, video.
Jewelry Business Owner
I'm gonna design vast amounts of jewelry that would otherwise cost me $500,000. In designing, I'm gonna do it for free.
Interviewer 1
I think what would be good is if you had, like, signature items that you did limited drops of, like we're doing, for example.
Jewelry Business Owner
My whole idea.
Interviewer 1
My whole idea with the chain.
Interviewer 2
I was about to say that.
Interviewer 1
My idea with the chain of, like, I don't know how much I'm paying. The chains are different here. The chains are different here. I can't guarantee quality. If I'm buying something in Japan. I just have no idea, idea. But I want one and it would be cool, especially as a store of value in terms of gold. If you did something like, hey, guys, these chains, I promise you, my cost is this, right? I am only taking 15 profit.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right.
Interviewer 1
And I'm doing a release of 100 chains. These are signature tracks, NYC chains.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes.
Interviewer 1
You guys can buy them and then sell those out. Those would sell out like this.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yes.
Interviewer 1
And then it could be kind of like a staple. Like you have one of those signature, like, tracks nyc, some sort of of label for.
Jewelry Business Owner
Consider it done. Consider it done. That's what I'm doing.
Interviewer 1
And if you're transparent about your numbers, like, that would open up doors for people that didn't even know they wanted jewelry. Just because the obstacle of thinking you're getting scammed is too big to hurdle.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, but the.
Interviewer 2
But the flip side to that is you see some people that see the amount of money and don't quantify the overhead. So let's just say there's like 3,000 profit margin in there. They'll say, well, you're making three grand. But then they're not counting in, you know, the rent and the this, and you got to count it all your time. And then they're going to be like, well, why can't you just make a thousand on this?
Jewelry Business Owner
Right?
Interviewer 2
I don't know. I think there's a percentage of people out there who would love that. I love transparent prices.
Jewelry Business Owner
The idea is limited drops. You know, I'm saying, yeah, limited drops. The economics of it have to be worked out. You know, I'm saying, don't lose money on a Limited drop. Just do the math. You know, this cost out, that cost, this charging just for the materials, it's the whole thing.
Interviewer 1
I just think that would be good for branding, like, to be the guy that, like, is doing the high level limited drops. It would differentiate you from. From other people.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, I'm with it, man. I'm with it.
Interviewer 2
Yeah. In a way it's cool because it's like your merch. Like, people have hats that they wear like a shirt, but, like, that's your merch.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah. The jewelry industry has so many parameters to it. Right. Once you go down this rabbit hole, it'll take your whole life. All right. Because you could do this and you could do that and you could save on materials, or you could scrap this and you could buy scrap, or you could do. There's so many different ways. That's what made it a very interesting game. It is. It sucks you in and you have a million ideas. Some of the businesses that were in the podcast, podcast, Buy my T shirt, Buy my hat. Mark Rober does some where he's, you know, makes these little toys, and that's genius. Right. You know what I'm saying? The jewelry business has so many different elements of humanity in it that it makes it a very interesting game to play, to win. And I'm going to win that with this idea. That idea. A poofier haircut cut. Double hot dog. And a little bitcoin. And a little bitcoin.
Interviewer 1
I've never explained this. He keeps talking about double hot dog. It's my phone wallpaper. I've had it since I was 18.
Jewelry Business Owner
Two hot dogs in one bun. I don't know, bro.
Interviewer 1
Look, all I'm saying is, what does it mean? Do you see anything wrong with that?
Jewelry Business Owner
It just brings up sexual. You know what I'm saying? I don't know. Do you.
Interviewer 2
Do you ever see.
Interviewer 1
Do you ever get served a really nice dish and you're like, I want to take a picture of that.
Interviewer 2
It's rare, but.
Interviewer 1
So this hot dog, it's Hebrew. You would like this. Hebrew national.
Jewelry Business Owner
Hebrew national.
Interviewer 1
And it was in a hoagie bun.
Jewelry Business Owner
Right?
Interviewer 1
And so I was like, this looks really good. And I was really excited. I took it over fire. I took a bite out of it and I took a picture.
Jewelry Business Owner
And it was that important that you want to see that every day. I've had picture of this. You're talking about.
Interviewer 1
You want to know about.
Jewelry Business Owner
Brad. Cherry blossoms over here, bro. What do you got, man? I'm just saying, you're not. I'm not talking about this phone cover, bro.
Interviewer 2
It's a jellyfish.
Jewelry Business Owner
Oh, let's see it, man. All right, that makes sense. I like the jellyfish. A little bland.
Interviewer 1
It's branding. People talk about it. You see the double hot dog, it was intriguing.
Jewelry Business Owner
It just scared me a bit, bro. That's all. It just took me aback, like. You know what I'm saying? What kind of. Where am I going? Where am I going to get double hot dogs right now?
Interviewer 1
In this and part. Part two of the iced coffee hour. You guys know we'll be behind the paywall. We need you for another.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah.
Interviewer 1
Hour or so.
Jewelry Business Owner
Yeah, send them in.
Interviewer 1
But, yeah.
Interviewer 2
All right.
Jewelry Business Owner
Oh, God. Thanks so much for coming. Thank you. Thank you. It was amazing. Time, boys.
Interviewer 1
This has been a blast. Thank you all for watching so, so very much. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without you guys, honest. Thank you.
Interviewer 2
How do you make an Airbnb a vrbo? Picture a vacation rental with a host. The host is dragging your family on a tour of the kitchen, the bathroom, the upstairs bathroom, the downstairs bedroom, and the TV room, which, surprise, is where you can watch tv. Now imagine there's no host giving you a tour, because there's never any hosts at all, ever. Voila. You've got yourself a vrbo. Want a vacation that's completely and totally host free? Make it a vrbo.
Date: August 17, 2025
Hosts: Graham Stephan & Jack Selby
Guest: Jewelry Business Owner (TraxNYC)
This lively episode centers on the evolving landscape of wealth preservation: Why the ultra-wealthy are turning to gold, diamonds, and jewelry over modern assets like Bitcoin. The guest, a seasoned NYC jeweler and social media personality, shares stories from his rough-and-tumble journey in the jewelry business, candid thoughts on gold versus crypto, strategies for spotting fake wealth, and raw insights into business, negotiation, and the psychology of money.
Gold as Trust and Tangibility:
The guest repeatedly frames gold as a fundamental store of value, rooted in trust and physical reality, unlike Bitcoin or even cash:
"Gold is about trust. Can you trust the federal government? If you watch the gold price, it's always about what's actually happening... The question then becomes is not how many dollars you have, it's how many grams you have." (00:58, 71:54)
Jewelry as Investment:
Gold jewelry purchased decades ago has outpaced inflation and delivered strong returns due to rising gold prices.
"You bought $1,000,000 worth of gold chains…20 years later, you’re up 10x, even if you didn’t sell a single piece." (45:25-45:50)
Why the Rich Are Buying Physical Assets:
With inflation, currency instability, and economic shocks, tangible assets like gold, diamonds, jewelry, and luxury watches are in high demand.
"The gold price is high. I'm not telling you to get gold like some gold jerk... buy yourself a gold chain, it's going to pay for itself in time." (71:44-72:54)
Cautious on Crypto:
The host argues Bitcoin offers asymmetric returns but is ultimately intangible, while the guest stresses the timelessness of gold:
"You get the Bitcoin to get the dollars, so you can buy this or spend the Bitcoin on it. But the actual [asset] exists. You don't want a computer chugging away somewhere processing." (55:14-56:06)
Learning the Hard Way — Fraud, Theft, and Hard Knocks:
The guest describes being naive and trusting when starting out, leading to being defrauded out of millions and learning harsh lessons:
"I was too naive… I had no awareness that somebody would steal. I didn't know that people could be evil… Now, in real life, a person is guilty until they prove themselves innocent." (9:06-10:28)
Red Flags and Testing Employees:
He shares practical advice:
"If something just rubs you the wrong way... stop eating it. Same thing with a person. You have to have that sense." (12:52-13:14)
"The easiest way is just to leave [something] around and look stupid and let people believe you have a blind spot that they could exploit." (13:23-14:08)
Customer Types: Real vs. Fake Wealth:
Both hosts and guest discuss how true wealth is understated — often the humblest dressers are actually the wealthiest.
"The poorest dressed people were the richest... the dude is walking in with flip flops, kind of a dirty white t-shirt and sweatpants. He's the one with like $200 million." (29:00-29:22)
"People fake wealth all the time. You spot it by the energy, not the words." (23:10-23:17)
What Drives Success:
The guest says necessity, not just desire, pushed him:
"I needed it. I didn't want it. There's no point of me living… I want to order this bottle of wine, impress this chick, pull up in this car... I needed it." (20:53-21:27)
Greed, Scarcity, and the Vicious Nature of Sales:
The jewelry business is highly competitive, requiring street smarts, character judgment, and a willingness to play a “primitive game for primitive people.” (14:08-14:56, 21:31-23:01)
How to Negotiate:
"The best way to negotiate a good deal: say, 'This is all I have.' That's what I do." (40:55-42:33)
Mistakes in Negotiation:
"If you don't have a framework of the price, then you're just spewing numbers out." (42:36-43:16)
How Pricing Works for Gold Chains/Jewelry:
He provides a formula for consumers to not get scammed when buying gold chains:
"Let's break down the secret... It's a hundred dollars per gram. Now, 14 karat gold is diluted to what, 60, 58%... if they're charging you 75, you say, kind of good, this is labor." (62:06-63:55)
Bitcoin’s Asymmetric Potential, but Gold’s Simplicity:
If Bitcoin Goes to Zero vs. Gold:
"[If] gold goes to zero, I'll buy all of it, bro. I'll have a gold castle, and you can visit it and pay a ticket in Bitcoin to come see it." (57:48-57:59)
| Topic | Timestamp | |----------------------------------------------------|----------------------| | Gold vs Government/Trust | 00:58, 71:54 | | Early fraud, debt, and naive mistakes | 09:06–15:29 | | Red flags, testing employees | 10:28–14:08 | | Real vs. fake wealth, energy over words | 23:01–25:06 | | Buying behaviors of wealthy clients | 35:34–36:56 | | Negotiation strategies and mistakes | 40:55–43:16 | | Gold as a store of value, current bull market | 44:09–45:18, 68:23 | | Debate: Gold vs. Bitcoin / Digital Assets | 52:17–58:01 | | Public misconceptions about gold’s value | 46:51–47:57, 71:44 | | How to buy gold/jewelry without getting scammed | 62:06–63:55 | | Lab grown vs. natural diamonds | 83:54–87:56 | | Watches as status, investment advice by level | 76:31–81:36 | | Social media acceleration & innovation with AI | 96:23–97:34; 102:31–104:51| | Romance, attraction, “testing” between men/women | 87:56–94:46 |
The tone throughout is raw, blunt, high-energy, and funny—often intentionally irreverent and peppered with streetwise wisdom. The guest is unfiltered, direct, and offers hard-learned lessons that cut through jargon, focusing on what works and what goes wrong in real business and real life.
Physical assets like gold and jewelry remain a pillar of wealth and trust for many of the world’s rich and streetwise alike — as bulwarks against uncertainty, currency collapse, and human nature. Yet, the game is competitive, ruthless, and fraught with lessons: trust is earned, not given; real wealth is quiet, status is signaled, but authenticity trumps all. As AI and technology reshape every industry, those who adapt first — and keep their wits about them — will thrive, whether in bling or bitcoin.
On Trust & Gold:
"Gold is about trust. Can you trust the federal government? If you watch the gold price, it's always about what's actually happening... The question then becomes is not how many dollars you have, it's how many grams you have." (00:58, 71:54)
On Wealth Fakers:
"The poorest dressed people were the richest... the dude is walking in with flip flops, kind of a dirty white t-shirt and sweatpants. He's the one with like $200 million." (29:15)
On Negotiation:
"The best way to negotiate a good deal: say, 'This is all I have.' That's what I do." (40:55)
On Need vs. Want:
"I needed it. I didn't want it... I needed it. I don't want it. I want to experience life for its utmost… That's it." (20:53)
On Bitcoin:
"For me it’s... just a game to get where I want. What do we want? A beautiful home, a beautiful life, and stability." (56:06)
For business owners, investors, and anyone curious about how real wealth is protected and signaled, this episode is a crash course in street-smart finance and the art (and blood sport) of luxury commerce.