Tag Archives: 47th street

11:59PM – bet on crazy

The Friday before Christmas was the Winter Solstice. I stopped by the diamond exchange on 47th Street. There were no customers in sight. Only the rich have money and the vast majority of the .00001 had fled south for Palm Beach or St. Bart’s. Richie Boy was working with a wealthy friend, asking $260,000 for […]

QUEEN OF THE PLAZA by Peter Nolan Smith

St. Patrick’s Day promised to be another disaster for the Retail Collection of the Plaza Hotel. Hordes of green-clad spectators streamed down the escalator into the basement. Their eyes averted the luxury goods on offer, as their destination was the hotel’s public bathroom. Within the first hour I had given directions to the toilet over […]

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre / BET ON CRAZY by Peter Nolan Smith

Every Valentine’s Day diamond dealers and jewelers on 47th Street anticipated a winter spending spree by lovers for their loved ones, but each year of the 21st Century the sales numbers dropped drastically, as the economic downturn cut into everyone’s surplus, but the rich. Valentine afternoon in February 2011 shoppers crammed the chocolatiers along 5th […]

HAPPY HEARTS by Peter Nolan Smith

Every Valentine’s Day diamond dealers and jewelers on 47th Street anticipate a mid-winter spending spree by lovers for their loved ones, yet year after year sales numbers have fallen by double-digits, as the economic downturn cut into the income of the middle-class. Diamonds might be a girl’s best friend, but not this year. Yesterday the […]

11:39PM

A little before midnight. Five years ago I worked at the diamond exchange of 47th Street. There are no customers on the winter solstice. Only the rich have money, Richie Boy had sold several big-money items to his wealthy friends. $260,000 for a magnificent sapphire for an investment banker, $190,000 for a stunning Fancy Yellow […]