Inside the pawn shop where Wall Streeters and other New York elite sell their Rolexes and Birkin bags

Advertisement
Inside the pawn shop where Wall Streeters and other New York elite sell their Rolexes and Birkin bags

Jewelry inspector, New York Loan Company

Sarah Jacobs/Business Insider

Eleanor Walper inspects a yellow, radiant-cut diamond at The New York Loan Company.

Advertisement
  • The New York Loan Company sells items like $30,000 Hermès Birkin bags and fine jewelry.
  • Its professional staff and tight security make it unlike any other pawn shop experience.
  • They promise their clients absolute confidentiality.

The New York Loan Company isn't your typical pawn shop. Your fingerprint must be taken before you can access the front door. In the front hall hangs a portfolio of prints by John Baldessari, worth $90,000.

Located in Manhattan's Diamond District, in Midtown, the building in which the pawn shop is located - the International Gem Tower - has more than a few valuables inside.

"All the floors in this building have had to be reinforced because of the vaults in all the different offices," Eleanor Walper, a loan officer and in-house gemologist for the company, said to Business Insider.

Advertisement

At the New York Loan Company, customers can sell valuable belongings, purchase others' goods at a discount, or get a short-term loan using their items as collateral.

Inside, you'll find items like $30,000 Hermès Birkin bags, double-digit-karat diamonds, Super Bowl rings, Emmy and Golden Globe trophies, high-end fine wines, and framed Andy Warhol pieces. Other high-end items that the company holds as collateral are kept in a vault, inside of a vault, at an undisclosed location.

Below are the items that are for immediate sale - either because they were purchased from a client, or as Walper put it, the client has "chosen to walk away from" them.