Inside Miami’s Iconic Diamond District | Seybold Building

Hey guys, how are you? This is a good one. Today we're in the beautiful historic Seibo building in downtown Miami. This building's known for uh beautiful jewelry, amazing watches, and everything that rocks in Miami. My guest today is Fernando Lang and my boy MJ Green from the DDA. What's up, fellas?

How's it going, man? Thank you guys for coming down here. We're really excited about this uh day in Miami, a day in downtown.

That's right. That's right. I'm excited. I I grew up coming here. Uh I spoke off camera with you guys. Uh I bought memorable stuff here. I bought my my uh ex-wife's wedding ring, but that's okay. We're still friends. And I also got my wedding ring and jewelry actually from the store across from us here. So, this not only uh brings back memories, but um a lot of people what I seem is they forgot about this place, man.

Oh, don't worry. Next one will be bigger.

Yeah. Huh.

Next one will be bigger. It'll

be bigger. Right. Tell me a little bit about the history. E either you guys can chime in, but Fernando, especially you that we were talking, you've been here about a half a century, huh?

Do I look like?

No, no, no, no. You're a good-looking dude. I thought you were an actor when you walked up, so don't worry about that.

Well,

uh, tell us a little about the history and what people don't know how long this place has been here and how many years they've been cranking out fine jewelry.

Well, I'll tell you, uh, Richard Gemsson Jewelry has been in business for 42 years.

Wow. You see,

uh, we are located in the bottom floor in the entrance of Flaggler Street.

Yeah.

And we're excited to be in this building. You know this building this building is 10 floors of jewelers. Uh which for those that don't know this is the largest building in the southeast United States and the third largest in the country.

Wow.

So for those that know this building you know it's great. For those that don't you're relocating from New York, from California, from the north. This is really the place to come where you can visit 10 different floors of jewelers.

I think that's really exciting. I mean that's one of the reasons why we wanted to do this here is because I think that

uh the DDA district is in this moment of rediscovery right

and this building really being one of the anchor institutions that's been here in downtown for such a long time going through all the transitions and for it still to be here but the businesses to still be successful we really want people to know about the history but then come rediscover I think everybody from the day in Miami team got their wedding rings and different things here and we want to continue to see that happen. I think that that really is uh exciting and exciting for the future of downtown and so maybe you could tell us maybe a little bit more about your business. You said you've been here for 40

42 years.

42 years. Give us, you know, a little background on the business. I know you said you're on the first the first floor, but tell us a little bit more.

Sure. You know, basically we keep customers happy one diamond at a time.

There you go.

And um you know, there's a lot of good things going on in downtown Miami. You have Flaggler getting redone. You should come and visit Flaggler.

Flaggler is finally getting done.

Yes, sir. Every day, is that real?

We are extremely excited about that. Flaggler is in its last legs of uh fully being open. The portion by Julian Henry where we will have our holiday light ceremony is open for vehicular traffic and we look to hopefully see that continue on uh down the rest of Flaggler Street. So, we're really excited about that and that abuds the other side of the Seabold building. The Silbo building takes up one full city block and on the other side is Flaggler Street and so you know that's a great place to uh enter the building as well.

You're excited about that Flagler getting easier.

Of course. Absolutely. We've been waiting for over 30 years finally. What took you so long, man?

Yeah. Listen listen, you know, progression is a slow process sometimes.

It it took it took what's the vibe like here now for the holidays as it start to what times it start to ramp up? You see more people coming through. Is this the right place to come for the holidays? A lot of people are intimidated by the evil.

Sure. Sure. Listen, you know what it comes to? What better piece um what better thing you can have for jewelry for the holidays? Brilliant. Something that never loses value. It gets passed down from generation to generation.

Something not fake because we're in Miami and everybody's a scammer.

And well, I tell you something. When you say that everybody's a scammer, not in the Seabol building. No, I know. That's what I'm saying. come to the SEO building, you know, you're going to work with reputable stores, well established, and we got more more than that.

Oh, and that's why it's lasted the test of time. I mean, the Seibo building is almost as old as the city of Miami. I think there's like about a 20-y year district difference district.

You know, you know that the Seibo building is a historic building, correct?

Yeah. The SIBO building is always if you wanted to get a big gift, it was like the place you had to like save up, you know, whatever you were going to buy that was going to be special. It wasn't just some mall jewelry like it was real deal like you said authentic

certified.

Um do you guys certify jewelry and check if somebody brings in like what is services does your store in particular offer?

Of course. Uh we can attest if all this jewelry is legitimate. Uh with most of our jewelry you get a full GI certificate where assures you that what we tell you is exactly what it is. And um we can definitely if you have anything you want to check feel free to bring it in. We can definitely appraise it if you need it for insurance purposes.

Yeah, cuz you need that certification to make sure that you know what you're wearing is real and not and not fugazi. Um what what what's the ramp up for the holidays? Do you guys have uh normal specials that come out? Do you see more people coming in? Like do you do you notice a change in the seasons? And

Well, of course the holidays are the busiest time of the year.

Yeah, that's the good times, right?

Yep. Yes.

What are the bad times like when like uh you know maybe with like the summer is bad for restaurants. What's like a like not such a good season for jewelers?

Usually summertime or back to school season. September from all the money you gota waste for the kids, right?

Yeah. When you get your credit cards, oh, what do we say?

Oh my god. Fernando being there 42 years. Are your kids involved in the business or or they stay away?

Yeah. Yeah. I got one of my kids taking over.

Oh yeah.

And after 42 years, we need to pass a torch.

You think after 42 years it's a little bit

and you know we proud of uh do what we do. We already helping second and third generations. So really the relationships we have built all these years a family business.

Very proud to our business.

I'm glad you mentioned.

Actually, she's right here.

Oh, that's her.

Yeah. Come. I wonder who was taking pictures of us.

Come. Come on. At least give us a little wave. Yeah.

MJ. MJ. That's got to make you feel good uh to have uh Go ahead. Go. Hi. How are you?

Hi.

How are you? I'm nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. She was taking pictures. This is Jenny, guys. Say hi.

Hi. This is the definition of family business here at

Yes. Come visit us and see the difference of what it means to work with a reputable and trusted jeweler.

Wow.

Dad got her good. Got trained good.

I got to go. I think she need

MJ. That's got to make you feel good, man. To have families and businesses like Fernando in the district, right? Oh yeah. I mean, I think that uh small business is often times about uh family and families working together, right? And that's one of the things in the DDA, whether it's through our incentive programs, some of our other other events, some of our marketing efforts are all about supporting small business. Miami is a small business community, hands down. We really only now are getting to uh larger businesses and larger companies coming here. And the reason why they're coming is because of the small businesses and the fabrics of the communities that we have. And that's why people really want to be here. So I think

they want to be in Bickl. They want to be in downtown now.

Well, I mean downtown the DDA district includes Bickl includes downtown the arts and entertainment in the district. But I think that the biggest changes that you'll see over the next I'd say two to three years will be in this central business district area. And I think that you've been here for quite some time. you know, maybe you can talk about some of the changes you've seen in the overall downtown area and maybe if you have any, you know, good stories about folks that have come here, come by, you know, we would love to hear those as well.

Yeah. What do you see the changes? And I mean, you've been here through all of them.

Well, if I had to tell you stories, I'll probably be here for the next three hours.

No, we got time. We got time for that.

Oh, boy. Um, but you know, we seeing the ups and the downs.

Yeah. You know, probably if you come to downtown at this time, it looks a little rundown, but we're starting to see the changes.

We're starting to see young families walking the strollers and walking the dogs on the weekends.

Totally.

Um, and it's emerging. You go to restaurants. In the past, downtown didn't have a night life. Today, most of these buildings are occupied.

No. And parking was always an issue. I parked pretty easily today with a lot right across the street. So, that for me is huge.

By the way, we have valet parking. We validate parking across the street. So, you know, right now the traffic might be a little um challenging around downtown, but it will be worth to come visit us where you have a whole building. You don't need to pay those crazy retail prices from these big stores

where you're going to be helped by people that have no knowledge. You want to come to a real jewelry store, come to the building, richest gems and jewelry.

I appreciate that. But I think that you know what you guys talked about the traffic is something that the DDA has worked on with the parking and continue to make those partnerships and find uh I would say affordable parking spaces and the SEO building has always done that like you mentioned you can valet right up front come in and do your shopping but then also to the lights really being on downtown and more families coming down here. We just did a demographics report and it really shows that more young families are growing but also moving to the entire DDA area because I think a lot of the excitement and development in Miami is happening in this area with Miami World Center being right there. We're blocks away from Government Center. Uh Bickl is right over here. But then this uh you know, Diamond District is just a huge massive gym that we have here. And we really want people to come and rediscover it. Come spend some time. There's a great restaurants here, great restaurants around the corner, but really come enjoy the jewelry. Come see of it. Visit our friend here and do some great holiday shopping.

You know, people say that this building is a hidden gem. It's not hidden anymore.

Not anymore. Not anymore. Fernando, before we let you go, what would you like to see in the downtown area in the next 3 to 5 years if you had a a magic wand?

Oh boy.

Maybe tell MD directly.

Um, I'll be honest with you,

I would like to see a place where when you walk down the streets, the streets will look clean. Um, I would like to have this city helping more with, you know, the homeless issue. That could be a little intimidating for customers that come to buy jewelry.

You know, I have friends that they tell me, "Go, I go to downtown right now. I don't feel safe

coming here for 42 years. I feel safe in downtown, but when you see people, you know, doing their necessities on the streets or begging or it doesn't look good. Um, so, you know, these people have to be treated humanly, but if you can clean up downtown, I think police presence is important. um you see people walking around

it will be a much better place.

What do you think about it that MJ when you hear that?

Well, I mean I think that uh we appreciate those comments. You know, we continue to work uh with all of our partners on uh homelessness services and homeless support. Uh you see our blue and our orange shirts and our ambassadors and our debt team out there keeping the uh streets clean. And so I mean I think that this continued progress also too as more stores start to open up.

Yeah, work in progress. Uh I think that the ball is continuing to roll forward and so we look to continue to not only support this building but all the other buildings and can do uh that good work. I think that people are safe downtown. Miami has one of the lowest crime rates for a major city in America and historically low crime rate for Miami at this time in moment.

No, there's been a definite

um and then there's a new uh police precinct that really is focusing on just the central business district area. And so I think that in time uh folks will really see that impact and we're excited about that and in that partnership with the city of Miami police to do additional focus. There's a lot of density here and a lot of people coming here. You know there's 300,000 people that come to the district every day just for work,

right? And then you've got the students, you've got the government center, and then you've got the individuals that live here. And so

24 hours 365.

Yeah.

This area is pretty pretty popping. And so, you know,

I've seen a lot of security here in the last hour. So, there's definitely a more presence of security. So, hopefully

building is extremely safe.

Yeah, it's locked down around here. Yeah. You know, I feel very safe. We have the courthouse a block away.

Uh we have a huge police presence, but we feel safe. Good.

So, come to downtown. You can

let them know where you are in that camera right there. And how can they reach you? Go ahead.

Well, Fernando Schline, Richard Gemsson jewelry. Um this holidays make a special one. Uh, come in, get that beautiful piece of jewelry. You're gonna put a big smile on somebody's face that you will treasure forever. Come see us. Visit us on Instagram, uh, which is rich jewelry.

Richard,

visit us on www. richchardjwelry.com and um, and come and take a stroll at the Seabol building. You're going to love it.

Awesome,

brother. Thank you so much for being here with us. You're the reason that the DDA and and downtown is working. I wish you all the luck. MJ, you're always amazing as well. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Fernando. And come to the Richard's jeweler. Maybe get me something.

Well, we'll treat we we I will tell you.

Yeah. Come down to Richards and maybe buy me something.

We will treat you like family.

Like family.

How about you,

my friend? Of course.

And thank you, Jenny. Thank you.

All right. We got Allan now here. We're the Seabold building. Thanks to our friends from the DDA for orchestrating this. Obviously, perfect timing for us to be doing this recording here. Not it's the holiday time. Sorry, Ben. Okay. And uh Allan, uh welcome to the show. Thank you for being here. I had a quick little talk with him off off right before we started and he told me some interesting things. So, I'm actually excited for this conversation. For those of of uh for for those people who don't know you, explain to him a little about yourself and your history.

Okay. So, my name is Alan. My real name is Aslam Bakshi. Um I'm from India originally, but I've been in this building for over 30 years.

Wow. uh ever since I came to the US, this has been my um work of place of work.

Okay.

And uh I worked for 10 years for some other companies and for the last 20 years. This has been my establishment. Uh this has been my home. I started with $0 in my office and today I'm somebody. So uh

Well, you're wearing you're you're wearing a nice watch.

I'm wearing an AP here.

So you're definitely somebody.

Yeah. Yeah. So um this is one of the finest establishments in this country. Is the third largest in the nation.

Wow.

Um people do get sept skeptical to come to downtown Miami because of certain things. But uh believe me this is the best place to come uh best place to buy jewelry, diamonds. Of course, you have to do your own homework

before you do anything like anything else in this world. But uh yes, you have to do your homework and you have to make sure you're doing the right thing.

So uh my company's name is Diamond Images. if I just missed out. So,

yeah, I think the story is great, right? I think I always say that um Miami is one of those like quintessential American dreams of people coming from somewhere else, starting a business, being successful. And so, I think that at the DDA, supporting the small businesses and telling those stories is what makes Miami special. And so, we would love to know, you know,

more about your business. What do you sell? You said that you have a very uh popular Instagram. Yes, I do. So tell us a little bit about your story and then you know we can talk a little bit more about downtown and some other things.

Perfect. So um I have started this 20 years ago. Uh I do small diamonds. Let's say from one point I go all the way up to eight carats.

Okay.

So let's let's say uh a single stone would cost you approximately let's say $10. I have up to

uh 34 of a million dollars of one stone in my inventory in my office. Uh I hoard diamonds. Uh I stock over 250 stones, all GI certified, all excellent. So uh my niche is if you're going to give something to someone, you make sure you give this a perfect item to the client. And that is my reputation.

So if you go on Google, I'm a fivestar Google rated uh person. Uh all 320 or 305 reviews I have, they're all five star reviews. I just touched 100,000 followers on Instagram last week.

Wow. uh Tik Tok we have uh 12,000 followers on Tik Tok in less than 3 months and uh it's it's a lot of hard work and what I think is if you present yourself with transparency in our business especially in diamond business that's the only way to go. Uh diamond buying is extremely difficult. I do this for 30 years. I still think every single stone that comes into my office it's a difficult item to buy. You have to screen the stone perfectly. So if I give you something, nobody can badmouth my product.

So take me a little bit. Take me behind the scenes because that's interesting. How is it that you buy the diamonds, they get to your I don't know, they get to your place and you can return them if you don't like them.

Yes. So what happens is uh I work with the largest uh companies in the in the country in the world actually. So these are people who actually um obtain diamonds from the ground from the source.

So I buy from them directly. So I would say I'm the second person in the chain of distribution of diamonds. So two ways of processing it is either we go to uh jewelry shows in Las Vegas or Hong Kong or New York or whatever and you sit with those people and obtain the right diamonds from them or the people that I work with, they know who I am. So what happens is let's say I want to buy half a million dollars worth of stones today. They would ship me half a million dollars worth of stones to my office. You select the best stone that you want from there and you can return the rest. So it doesn't come overnight. We have worked very hard to get this far to obtain that trust from that uh source. So uh in our trade there are good, the bad and the ugly. There are people who have disappeared with merchandise of mine as well in this building. There are people who are bad to begin with. So we don't know that people have come to this building established trust and have disappeared after 6 months. Wow. It has happened many times in this in this building. Yes.

Unfortunately, that's a you know a Miami thing too, you know.

Yeah. So, what happens is let's say if I buy something from you today, right? Or um if I buy something from you today, I say, you know what, what's your name again?

Eddie.

Eddie. Eddie, here's 100,000. Here's 50,000. Here's 20,000. You would say, you know what, Alan is amazing. He pays me on the spot. He's really good. You know, so you establish a trust with me. And then I would say, you know what, Eddie is amazing or I'm amazing, right? Next time, you know, Eddie, let me have some more diamonds. I'm going to pay you after a month. Is that okay? Got

like you would say yes, of course.

And then you slowly try to be delinquent and

the other way. Yeah.

That's an unfortunate situation, but happy that's not the majority of the cases. You know,

I don't think that this building would be here this long and been this successful. And so I think that what you do find and what makes this place special is that the trust that is here. And you know, the majority of the small business owners that we'll, you know, talk to today have all been here 20 plus years, right? And so I think that that verifies the trust and that's why they've been successful for so long. And that's why that this is really a gym in downtown Miami that we want everybody to kind of rediscover and uh have their own personal relationship with. If you are buying something of that type of value,

it always is something that you're gonna have a level of a personal relationship with. And I think that that's something that is really exciting about the Seibo building is in talking to different people about it. The stories that they have, whether it was their wedding ring, something that their mother got them, something for a bar mitzvah for, whatever that might be. These are real personal life moments that are created and originate

in downtown Miami for

hundreds of thousands of people for over a hundred years. And so I think, you know, could you maybe tell us, you know, uh

I want to know like the most the biggest diamond you've ever sold to somebody here. Tell me that.

The biggest one I've sold

most money you ever made on a transaction? Yeah.

Um the most money I would have made would be uh I would say like 50 grand on a single diamond

on a loose stone

in on a on a I would say like yeah that would be my uh instant profit in less than 5 minutes.

Wow.

But it doesn't happen like that all the time. We work very hard to make even $100 even today. Even all the stores around here it's not like they're making money one to three year and running away from here. No, it's it's a lot of hard work. Uh you have to be transparent like I said and yeah that's how it works.

And so you're selling the diamonds that then might be put into a ring. Yes. Into a necklace. Okay. Awesome.

So what I do is uh I have loose diamond inventory in my office. Like these stores around here they are finished product.

Right. Right.

So I am loose diamond inventory holder. So let's say the stores come to me salon and let me have 10 stones or 20 stones. I supply them stones. There are stores around in Miami who actually depend in on this building because this building has 300 stores. So we have a watch maker here, we have a jewelry maker here, we have everybody in this building. So they come to this building to buy the loose diamonds to have a ring made to their um satisfaction with their imagination that they have. So everything is done in this building. I'm very proud to be a part of this building for the last 30 years and 20 years of my being in this building. Uh this is the best building in the whole world. I have goosebumps telling you this because you know you grew I grew up here.

Yeah.

Uh and I'm very proud to be here. Yeah.

So you you I mean I have a question now. So if everyone in the city depends on this building, right? The majority of juders depend on this as you're saying that they're all connected in here some way somehow.

Yes. Is is is coming here obviously a better option than maybe going to one of those juders outside like in Kendo and things like that or 100%. Oh yeah% why would you say what's the benefit of coming here be beyond just seeing more more volume and more inventory. Okay. So benefit is a lot of people here uh do work with end consumers as well because some people say I know this guy, I know this guy. So they save some money over there. Again, this is a main hub in uh Miami. So people who don't have access to everything, they come here and the prices are very affordable over here. Uh a mom and pop store, let's say in Kendall or in West Palm Beach, would have a little bit more profit compared to stores around over here. So, we work with a smaller profit in this building and we try to do more volume.

More volume. Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense.

Yeah.

Are we Is he close enough to the mic? Sorry, guys.

I'm close. I'm okay. Right.

Um I think that's awesome. This is a real true hub. I think that that's what makes uh the DDA district so special is there's all these different things. Again, government center a few blocks away, the financial services and the hub that exist in Bickl.

That's cruising. Miami Heat Arena, Miami World Center, the Bright Line, the Metro Mover, all these things kind of really being here. And we really want to reintroduce people um to the Seabold building and this entire Diamond District. I think I've seen Floyd Mayweather here at least five times.

A lot of artists just come in and just this is a great place to get something uniquely made that is truly special that you can pass down from generation to generation.

100%. Everything can be customized in this building from designing to casting to setting the diamonds to the finished product. It's literally everything can be done in this building.

Yeah.

I was going to ask you um you're a diamond expert. Yes.

Right. What makes you a diamond expert?

And then

I didn't know anything about GIA certifications until I went to get married. I had to get my my wife's wedding ring. Can you give I'm sure a lot of people out there feel like that. People who are young, they're looking for a wedding ring. They don't know that you should be looking for a GIA certification, right? So if you can tell us what makes you an expert and a little bit about what's the importance about getting something certified.

Okay. So um the importance of getting a diamond certified is very important because you would have certain idea as to what you're getting. If you don't have a certification on a diamond you don't know what you're getting uh in terms of the cut, the clarity, the symmetry, the polish. You have no idea what you're doing in a respectful way of course. So GIA grades any diamond that you give them. So GI's grading does not mean the stone is perfect. GI has certain parameters of grading. So if I buy the lowest spectrum, I'm going to be the cheapest guy in town. But if I buy a very strictly graded stone, I'm going to be a little bit more expensive, but you're going to get something that you are paying for. So um it is GI has a lot of gray areas. You can buy a VS1 diamond which is supposedly perfect according to you. You can have a black inclusion on a VS1 diamond right in the center of the table. On the other hand, you can have a stone which is two grades lower in clarity with an imperfection on the side of the stone.

So you would rather buy a diamond which has imperfections on the side, not on the table. So what happens is when you have a diamond with a imperfection on the table, the value goes down. So any diamond that you pick in the market, right? You need to make sure everything is perfect. Not just GIA, not just color and the clarity. I can make diamond buying so complicated with my knowledge. I'm not kidding.

That's incredible.

I swear uh it's so difficult to buy diamonds. I like I said, I do this for a living for the last um 20 years in my office.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I can tell you're passionate about it.

Yeah. You know, that's why my clients love me for what I do for them. uh the way I present myself, the the you know, like I said, if you read my reviews, you will see like every client loves me and it's because you give them what they want. People work very hard for their money. Doesn't matter $100 or $1,000, you work very hard

to make it. So why would you hurt someone who is working so hard to get his money's worth?

Yeah.

And that's where I come from. And like I said, you know, um we all start at certain point the biggest um people in the nation or in the country even on if you walk shy and stuff like that. Those people come with zero dollars and today they are somebody. So I'm the same way. I have started with zero and I'm at certain level.

You're living the American dream. American dream. You want to give your client what they deserve, not rip them off and that's who I am.

I like that. I like that. We we really appreciate and love that that integrity and really being able to provide that value. Switching it up a little bit, maybe what are some of your favorite lunch spots uh downtown? Cuz I know you're here all the time. So, yeah,

that's a good one. And

can I tell you something?

In 20 years in this building, I've only had lunch one time in a restaurant over here.

Okay.

One time.

I do not have time for lunch. Like I said, I work

working too hard.

Working too hard. My wife gives me lunch from home. Okay.

So once in a while my daughter sends me uh Uber Eats. Okay.

So

So you have no favorites?

No. Honestly, no.

Oh wow.

I would say on BL. Yes. But

so what's your favorite spot in BL? It's all about downtown.

For us. What do you have?

Uh BL.

Where does the diamond expert go eat?

I would go to let's say um um there's a place called Mr. 01.

Mr. Pizza.

It's an amazing place over there.

Awesome. They do a great job. They have a franchise. They have multiple location.

Franchise. Yeah. Um, I might I'm going blank right now, but

have you been to Fertzies, which is a few blocks down the street from here? Brand new

brand new

brand new pizza place that's just opened up. Uh, one of the DDA incentive uh program recipients. It's right here on the Flagler, the owners of Tam Tam. Very thin crust bar style pizza. You have to check it out. I'll make sure. Yeah, I'll make sure to make that happen.

Yeah. So, yeah, it's like, you know, I work hard and um you don't have time for lunch, honestly. I just have a quick lunch on the run and that's pretty much all these years.

I was I have a curious question. Uh what is I see a lot now especially online where people make like fake diamond like those pressurized diamonds like they're lab grown diamonds grown diamonds.

Um do you see like a demand for that? Do you guys work with that as well too or

I do work with that.

How does that work? You know like how do you order that? You just order that from a lab?

Okay. No, no. Lab grown diamonds are essentially grown in the lab. All right. So it's man-made. So they have the same ingredients as a natural uh um diamond but the same composition, same chemical properties, same look aesthetically everything is the same. The only difference is the price. So let's say u lab diamonds are basically uh I would say they have no value to them. Uh because let's say I sold you a stone 2 years ago for $7,000 and I made let's say 500 bucks profit from you. Today I would supply the same diamond for 1,500. That's so much of a drop in prices. And in China, in India, lab grown diamonds are literally sold by in kilos.

Wow.

That you can literally buy in a kilo for like almost nothing. And then they

will you'll be able to see a difference between a lab grown and a and a real one.

Um I would say no. Uh because only a machine can detect actual difference between a lab and the real one. Anybody who says I can um this is lab with in a in a heartbeat is he's lying because it looks identical to the real real product right so that's not true

you have to have a machine which detects everything

that you have or

I do have a machine so then maybe the the I think that that's really interesting because that's a conversation that comes up a lot and so I think what you're saying is that the value and the opportunity for appreciation when you say like you know buying a piece of jewelry that you pass down to generations the value is really only in the natural diamonds as opposed to the lab grown diamonds. The likelihood of it appreciating is very very yes rare. Yes. Or or most likely unlikely. So really if you're looking for a piece to pass down from generation to generation or to hold its value at least. Yes.

Then it probably needs to be uh a natural diamond.

See diamonds are a symbol of love and expression. Yeah. So, why would you want to give your significant other a fake diamond? It's like, you know what? When you wear an Armani suit, you feel different.

If you have a Louis Vuitton bag, how do you feel? You feel different.

And it feels heavier and the quality. You touch it and the quality

in your heart. You know what you have. So,

you work hard for it.

Yes. So, if you have a fake lab grown uh diamond in in your on your finger, you know it's huge. You know, let's say if I cannot afford a big rock and if my wife has a big rock on their finger, you know, this guy, he can't afford a big

Yeah. Yeah. You pick up on it.

So, talking about that. Okay. This uh one of my last, this is my last question. All right. I have a lot of my friends that have been proposing to their girlfriends. Uh have our producers, two of our producers that proposed and are getting married. Um one of my co-host, Kiko, actually got his wedding ring here. For those guys out there right now that are about to propose or are looking for an engagement ring or a diamond or anything, what advice would you have for them?

Okay.

How should they go about the process? Cuz it's it's it's it's you know, you got a lot of pressure on this right now.

Yes. So, what you do is if you are in a market to buy a diamond ring, the first engagement ring, give her give her a product which is even if it is small as to what you can afford, but give her the real thing.

Yeah. It's very important to give the real thing because that's your first symbol of love. Everything else can be lab grown. Who cares? Doesn't matter. But give her something nice that she would treasure her. Imagine when you have kids. If your kids fiance gives your kid a lab grown stone, I'm like, "What is this?"

But they come here and so in the in the case of they come here and they talk to you. Let's say, do you start with them like, "Hey, what's your budget? What are we doing?"

Yes. Yes. You ask the person what shape of a diamond you want first. That's true.

The shape is very important and then you ask them what size or you ask them a budget or you go backwards because people are normally hesitant in telling you, okay, I want to spend $10,000. Then they think I'm going to get ripped off. No, give them a size or give them something to work with so you get the most out of it. That's how I work. That's why I give my clients the most that I can because you want to make sure you give the person the utmost.

And what's like the average cost you're seeing right now for like a nice a good, you know, engagement rate or something like that. Today you can get a beautiful diamond 1 karat for let's say 3500 that used to be 5500 2 years ago but due to lab grown um diamonds in the market the value of diamonds have gone down over 40 45%. So if I sold you a stone 2 years ago for $6,000 please take it from me today for $3500.

Yeah

that's how much of a discrepancy we have right now.

Wow I did it have dropped substantially. This has been I mean I think super uh informational and hopefully everybody learned a lot. But I wanted to say before you go,

thank you.

Thank you for bringing your business to and starting a business in the DDA district for being here 20 years. The changes of downtown and where the future of the DDA district are going are because of business owners like yourself. And so even though you don't eat lunch here a lot,

we appreciate your business and I, you know, really happy that you had the opportunity to be able to give the audience a little bit of education. And thank you. Where can they come see you? On the second floor.

I'm on the 10th floor.

Third floor.

10th 10th

10th floor. 10th floor. All the way at the top in the penthouse.

Yeah. Follow me on Instagram at Diamond Images USA. Tik Tok. Diamond images USA.

Last last question. Have you ever eaten a diamond?

No, sir. Oh,

Adam Alan, nice talking to you.

Nice talking to you. Thank you so much.

All right, we're back. We're back. I'm jumping in here after Eddie. This one is special because this lady here to my left is uh the owner of the building. MJ, this is pretty big.

Lynn Fusco, say hi to everybody.

Hello everybody.

I met her like what, three minutes ago? We're best friends already, right? We're sipping out of each other's coffee. It's great.

How are you?

Good. Very good.

I want to thank you. Thank you for letting us be in the middle of your building.

Yes. because we are dead center here today

uh with MJ in the middle of the Seibo building, historic building.

Yes,

I've been asking questions all morning about the building. Right, MJ?

About the building, about the history. I think, you know, we're really excited about the the interview.

Speak just get close to the mic

because of the history. The Sibo building is almost as old as the city of Miami. And so can you just tell us a little bit about your dad, a little bit about the history? You know, you've been this building has been here through all of the iterations of downtown before the DDA. And so if you could just Yeah.

drop a little knowledge on us really about the Seabold building, your family, and all of that.

Yeah. Just tell us a little bit about why you're a legend, Lyn.

Yeah, exactly.

So, well, thank you gentlemen for this. This is a great opportunity for the building and for us. Um the building the structure is 104 years old.

Wow.

And and some days I feel like I'm 104.

No, you got it.

And so and and we have owned it in in it's for 51 years. Just about almost 52 years.

51 years. Wow.

So you're a little girl walking around here.

Yes.

So it has it's been as you said through all kinds of iterations. It was Bentley's luggage. It was it was Bentley's luggage. It's had retail. It has wholesale. It had a department store, luggage store. It incorporated multiple uses through the years, but I would say in the last 30 plus years, it's largely a jewelry building

and the third largest jewelry building in the United States.

Correct.

A lot of people don't even know it's 10 stories.

What were the early days like? Like what were the retailers in detail? like you remember, you know, obviously it's family business, so you're there from the beginning.

I would say just about half our tenants now are third generation.

Wow.

Third generation. So many of the people that you will are on the show today or that you'll walk down this lobby arcade or upstairs

are people that I saw when I was 12 years old uh walking around the Seabold building and then they eventually inherited this the trade and they're now running those businesses. So it's very much you feel very much at home here amongst all of us. We all know one another and that and I think that helps and you can feel it in the ambiance of the building.

I felt it when you said I mean I think that that is really beautiful, right? I mean three generations of small business owners being in the same place in Miami, their families being able to be successful and continue to grow here. I mean I think owning the building and providing that opportunity is huge. At the DDA, one of the things that we really focus on is really supporting those small businesses. And that's why we wanted to take this opportunity to really tell this story because I don't know of anywhere else in Miami where you can find three generations of small businesses doing the same thing, working. I mean, that's just absolutely uh amazing. So, I really can commend you and everybody that uh that works here uh for that and for that opportunity and telling the story of Miami. These are Miami small business owners.

They are. And we do whatever we can. We take all of their concerns uh suggestions for how to market the building, how to change the building very seriously to help them go grow further. And then we have new tenants, you know, coming in from all over the world.

A lot of lot of construction going on outside. Looks like the building's getting a facelift, the entrance. Uh yes, the ground floor was completely renovated two years ago and we are now painting the building, the whole building, all 10 stories.

Wow.

Um and

you're not painting it by yourself, obviously a company.

No, obviously we have a firm doing it. And then we um we expect to add complimentary accent colors and it will be lit up really,

you know, very similar to some of the highlighted buildings in in New York City and in other European towns where we're really going to highlight

the fantastic art deco architecture of the exterior.

Bringing it back and highlighting that. Uh what's up uh with Flaggler Street? Are you excited about that?

We're thrilled.

Finally, we've been there from the beginning, right?

Yes. this area from a from an owner's perspective and and from the tenants perspective is sort of the last to be renovated. Miami has undergone such an enormous change that we've all heard about and experienced

and it's Bickl and it's here and it's there but it's now coming here. So the city has invested great deal of money in redoing all of the infrastructure under the road on Flaggler. Then they retopped it and then they redid the the trees, the lighting and everything with help from other neighbors. Yep.

And now we will have an entrance both on Northeast First and on the Flaggler side which and that's going to be more of a pedestrian street.

Sure.

That you see in Europe now in some renovated cities across the United States where you don't have a lot of vehicular traffic.

Traffic is good.

Yeah. So it's more it's a positive thing for shopping. walk down the street and you can come in. So, we're thrilled with that. We're now about to undergo a complete renovation of the interior.

Oh, wow.

Starting on the 10th floor. So, the ceilings, lights, floors, and walls will be completely redone.

How did the building get his name?

I don't know.

You don't know? It was always from the beginning.

No. Well, John Seabolde was the name of a very famous um uh uh Fidian.

Uh but I do not know how it came to be that they named it after him.

Okay. Yes. Wow. What's one of some of the craziest stories you've had here, experienced, or or obviously you must own a lot of jewelry if you own a building full of jewelry, right?

No, no, no. I can't afford it.

No, the the stories are we we have a full range of celebrities coming in all the time. You can give us that.

They ask us to be discreet, but there's everything from world class boxers,

wrestlers, movie stars, TV stars from all over the place. They come in. Yes. Without without any fanfare, they come in and um you know, shop. We've had kings and queens where the Miami Police Department closes down the street so they're allowed to shop.

Serious.

Mhm. presidents.

Uh, I don't know of any presidents.

When I take my walks uh from our office, I often walk

uh around uh downtown, but I always make sure that I walk through this building because of the excitement, because of the people that you might see. Also, too, because of all of the amazing jewelry uh that is around us. And I know that we can't talk about that, but like you mentioned, you've known most of these vendors since you were 12 years old. Can you talk about just some of the highlights that you remember about downtown through the years? Yeah. Right. Because you've seen all the iterations of it growing, of it changing, of Bickl going from flat to 60, 70, 80 story towers. So from 12 to now, can you talk about some of maybe your fondest memories of uh downtown in general? Well, I one of the things about this building is this affords people an opportunity to have all kind to buy any kind of jewelry they want. This is an ecosystem.

One stop. One stop. Yeah. It's a whole world in here.

Yes. And so if you were to rip a a an advertisement of a piece of jewelry that your spouse or family members wanted for Christmas, but perhaps it was beyond your budget. It was hundreds of thousands of dollars or whatever. You can bring it to any of these stores and say, "This is something that I'd like to get as a gift, but it's beyond my budget. What can you do?" And what I think we're really known for is any one of these stores can take a look at it and usually say yes. And then there is a a vast e, you know, ecosystem in the be. Somebody somebody will have the gems, someone can cast the ring, someone can do all the the, you know, the setting. So, and it's all done on the 10 store. So they don't that's one of the attractions is jewelers come here because they want to be as close as possible to the people with the orders giving the orders. So it's it's a workshop of sorts.

And that's why I wanted us to do this here because even that when I take my walks I'm walking on the first floor and I see the Rolexes, I see some of the the necklaces, but that's all I really know. And that's very much the retail portion. I don't know the folks making the watches. I don't know. We just talked to a guy that's selling the diamonds wholesale to be able to put in your watch, Allen, your watch, your jewelry. And I think that, you know, that's what makes this place so special and that's what we really want to articulate to the audience is this massive ecosystem snubbled in the heart of downtown.

Yes. And and very much so. I I can't tell you the number of visitors that we've had, some famous, some just, you know, residents of the general area or, you know, in California or New York who will come and say, "My mother bought the the diamond ring,

you know, my father bought the engagement ring, the communion ring, the bar mitzvah ring."

It's all the big purchase. They have the memory and very often it's the same storekeeper is still there

selling it just selling it to them.

Everyone on the day in Miami podcast got their engagement and wedding rings from the Seab Bowl building. I think that for the history of Miami and what the podcast represents uh and the gentlemen that run it. Man, that's a huge I think um uh feather in the Seabo building's cap to say that three different guys, three different women supported their took the most important purchase of probably their lives and they did it here. And there's a lot of people in Miami that have that story. Our goal is that some of the newcomers also have that story, are able to realize and experience this building in the way that many of the people that have before in the past. and they can meet the owner of the building.

Yeah.

And and I can tell you I've been in obviously at the Las Vegas Jewelry Show, New York Jewelry Show, Miami Jewelry Show, where they'll say to me, "Where are you from?" And I tell them that I own this building and they say, "The Seabolt building." And I'm I'm surprised over and over again that so many people know about the Seabolt. It's very European in in in the in the dialogue in the building and what's going on. So you come in and you feel like you're in a small village and you have all the So this is like a town square. The security, knock on wood, of course. There's 24-hour guard service here, armed guard service. There are police Miami police here that are obviously armed. Did I mention that the tenants, the storekeepers feel very secure and the shoppers feel very secure. So we we've redone all the elevators. We've replaced a thousand windows. Wow.

We've replaced seven roofs.

Really?

We are We were one of the first to do the structural enhancements that needed to be done for the building

40 years.

And we have Christmas, you know, of course from Thanksgiving to Valentine's Day is the high season in this building. And that's when you really feel the festive atmosphere. But when people are buying jewelry, they're always in a mood. So it could be in the middle of the summer. Um but you know I I say but I I don't want to give give names but they have had kings and queens, celebrities, prize fighters all come to this building and they're all happy

when they when they leave. So

and they return.

What's the vision for the building the next 5 years? What would you like it to look like?

Well, when it's completely renovated, I I want it to be even more. I want it to be a fresh a refreshed um art deco landmark, but of course and continue to be a place where people go if you need jewelry, you've got to go to the seab.

Is there a completion date for all these things?

I would say it'll be done in all done in 15 months.

Wow.

Yes. Good.

Yes. So,

you heard it here first.

15 months. Lynn's getting it done. And so

I want to say that we also have our my neighbor on Flaggler is Moima.

He has bought all of the buildings and you know we we talk and he's very excited about new uses making public areas where there's food and everything that's complimentary to shopping for jewelry here.

It should be right after wasting.

Yes. And then there's a there's other jewelry in this area. But I we have longed for the kind of attention that will bring uh improved streets and lighting and so forth. And we feel as though with Flaggler, the momentum is in the right direction and it's going to be very exciting.

And that's what we're excited about uh at the DDA as well. Right. uh Miami as a city, Miami Dade County, um but the DDA district continues to grow and continues to move forward and this is one of our true institutions that has been here the entire time and will continue to be here and so continuing to leverage what you've already done and what you've already built to help propel us all forward. But I think that we're all working in this hand in hand with the Seab Bowl building, with Moshi Mana, with the city, with the county to continue to make this area really is one of the greatest shopping districts in America with Bickl City Center.

It's better than New York

from from Lyn's mouth. It's better than New York. Miami World Center. You know, what can you not uh purchase it by here in the DDA district and the be the ability to be able to get around as well?

The concentration of jewelry and the weather and of course, you know, being in Florida, I've been to LA, I've been to New York, it's not nearly as as attended to as the DDA. I am very fond of Wanda. I think she does an amazing job. And for the last several years, whenever we've needed assistance or support or ideas, we call the DDA and they're there for us.

And they h they are so optimistic and they continue to help coordinate between city hall and all of all of the building owners to make things better.

I really appreciate that. And our optimism has to do with you, with this building, all of the small business owners that are here because you guys have been here so long and the things that you've done, you help create the optimism and the path that I think that we all see, which is Miami continuing to be one of the greatest places to live, work, and play through

the sea.

Yes. And I think the more u parties and we have auctions here, we have benefits here, that brings people downtown in the evening hours when they may not be in this district

and makes them see, I didn't know this was here, even though they're long.

Yes.

Yes. And and we find the city to be very helpful and cooperative,

but not like the DDA.

I love it. You guys got to have lunch. That's for sure.

Lynn, I want to thank you so much. I know you're a busy woman. Uh, I'm going to take you up on your offer and you're gonna give me a little private tour later.

Okay.

Get some jewelry.

Yes.

Thank you so much. I'm an honor. Honored to have you on the show.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. Lynn the Sibo. Come check her out. They're making beautiful renovations.

Check it out. Thank you. All right. We're back. We're back. This guy is like me but a smaller version with more money.

My boy Carlos

Carlos. Thanks for joining us.

Aling in the hood, but no, he's not.

Only Only the family knows that name.

The family. Um, but he's a a big brother to me. Uh, he's probably the best jeweler in Miami, I can say. When it comes to quality, knowhow. He's got an incredible YouTube following. His big brothers back there and his whole family. Um, how are you, Carlos?

I'm doing great, man. Overwhelmed with work.

Overwhelmed with work,

but blessed at the same time.

And you just gave away 100 grand the other day in one of your giveaways. Talk to us about that.

Actually, I've done it 27 times.

First of all, tell people where you are and what's your name. Uh, my name is Carlos Marceline. Everybody knows me by Mr. CRM. My store is located here next door and I work with my whole entire family. You know, I have like 10 family members there that work with me.

That's been the story that we've been hearing all day. And I think one of the things that's so special about the Seab Bowl building is that these are family grown businesses that continue to grow generation after generation. And I think that that's really special. That is really part of the Miami story. And that's one of the things that I think really makes the DDA district exciting is not only mixed in with the massive uh you know the CASSA center, Miami World Center, all these big Citadel big businesses is that all of these family small businesses are here growing at the same time. And so we're extremely excited to have you, you know, maybe tell us how long you've been in business. Yeah. Tell us about you.

Man, I it's been a long journey for me and for the family. I started 13 years ago. I think it's going to be on 14 years old. I'm 14 years that I started in the business. I literally started with five watches here in downtown.

Wow.

You know, I there's a jeweler here known as the name is Aubbert. I came and I said, Albert, why don't I put these watches here? You sell them. You know, I'll make some money to see how that works. You know, the majority the jewelers here are been here for a long time waiting for a customer to walk in through the door, right? And then Instagram came along and then I had this great idea of telling the valet valet guy every time an exotic car comes outside, you know, uh, give me a call, I'll give you a tip and then I will come outside and I use my watch with an exotic car and created lifestyle pictures that people loved and started following me and people started coming to me from everywhere,

you know, from all around the world started coming to see

Mr. CRM people knows you know I used to go out and have fun. So the customer would come

I will make $500 on a watch that I used to sell to them and then I will go out at night and spend a thousand.

But you know what

I remember those nights

but I created you know a bond between me and these people and they started you know relating people to me and you know today is history. I have 11 family members that work with me. We get between 300 and 400 million views a month and all my platforms. We had 7 million followers and you know and it's been a blessing especially you know all the support that we got from the Spanish community man. Carlos, you started using social media.

You kind of like when I started watching you, you brought

kind of like that urge to come to downtown, right? Because growing up Miami kids, you know, downtown is not somewhere you would come and hang out. We spoke about it with with MJ. Now that's back, but when you started posting those videos, I know you've had your issues in the streets.

Of course. Of course. Talk about that in front of MJ, but we Well, we uh um But you've been through everything, right?

I've been through everything. you know, I've been through all downtown trying to make it look better,

you know, and work with the community to see how can we uh, you know, have that done. It's a lot of tourists that come to downtown and they see,

you know, the population of homeless and they really get scared and that's not really good for business, you know,

but I think they're working something now to make it look better.

I think you have a huge say in it. I've seen your videos that you guys do right outside your store with your son, with your team,

definitely some of your cool exotic cars and you create that content that like we spoke about that you got to feel like it's safe feeling to come

the downtown because watches and stuff that he's wearing like he came in with like five guards.

Yeah. Yeah.

But that's also important. How has that evolved? Has it gotten better? You feel safer?

I feel safe. The only, you know, the the the guard part is because, of course, I blew up so much in social media that you get crazy people around course and I just want to be safe, you know, I don't want to be worrying about that when I'm creating content, when I'm doing million things at the same time, you know what I mean? But I feel way super safe, especially I'm from Miami, man. You know what's up.

You know what's I mean, Miami right now is uh experiencing historically low crime rates and that's throughout the entire city and also the county. uh the DDA, I think it does a lot of work and we have a new police uh precinct that is just focused on downtown and so I think you'll continue to see uh that safety continue to grow and continue to improve. Uh the DDA offer a safety walk so individuals can call a phone number and get a walk to their car uh all times during the day. But I think it's really the business owners and the connection between the DDA, the small businesses and the community and us all working together which will continue to improve that safety, continue to get people to come back and rediscover downtown. And a lot of the work that you've done is continuing to bring people uh downtown to shop with you, you know,

from all over the world. You know, we get I don't know how many countries. Last time we checked was over 150 countries of people that come to my store just to see uh you know what we do and kind of downtown.

Talk to me about those giveaways, bro. Some people give away a watch. Some people gave away a gift certificate. You gave away what? $100,000.

$100,000 in watches and jewelry.

$100,000 in watches and jewelry.

How does that work?

And uh

and it's true because they actually I'm sorry I didn't interrupt you. They actually record when they do the the picking how it's selected. So, it's totally legit. Who came up with that crazy?

We'll fly you in.

Listen to this.

From any part of the world, all expenses paid. We'll bring you here. We'll do kind of like a party at the store.

You got to ride in the boat. You know,

we'll decorate the store. We'll bring you some Cuban food. You get to choose those $100,000 in watches and jewelry. Then after that, we go to the house. We get on the Messia yacht. I haven't been invited yet, but soon. Me neither. Me neither.

Let me ask you something here in life. Let

Let me ask you something here in life. When have you ever been invited to wherever I've been? And you've been in many places that I've been. You don't need no invitation. Family does not need an invitation, my brother.

Telling you, bro. This guy is pure community. Is exactly what we were talking about. Familyowned. Started from the bottom. He's from Cuba. He came with nothing. Now he's got everything. But as you could tell, the most thing he's got is the love. He doesn't have to be giving away all those watches. Yo, you really get the watches. It's not like, you know what I'm saying? And helping out in community. And then this that's the backbone of what the DDA is trying to bring together.

You know, we also like to teach people, you know, what we do

and also inspire people that anybody that wants to be better in life could do it. I'm the perfect example. I'm the first generation that started. And by already, I will say 95% of the people here, the money come from family. You know me, I was I wasn't given. I earned this How did you get into the jewelry, bro? How did you

Come on. You know that. Back, but the people don't know. Back in the days, I used to love jewelry all the time. You know, I always wear my chains, my stuff, and I used to come to downtown when I was around 18 years old. Then my friends started asking, "Hey, Carlos, how do you where did you get that chain? How do you get that watch?" One thing led to another. And

here I am, bro.

We need a watch.

I got you.

I know you I can't afford them yet, but hopefully I think maybe you, bro, you got to

If you believe in the American dream, if you believe I do. If you believe in small business, if you believe in culture, the Seabold building is a great place to be able to see all those different things come together. That's why we're excited about that in downtown, continuing to support it, but it being really a true fabric of the DDA district that we hope that people rediscover and continue to do their shopping for their families, but also to do a little holiday shopping and come down here.

Definitely, man. I, you know, I I'm not moving out of downtown. You know, I started here. I don't think I could move anywhere else cuz here it's everything. Whatever you want to find, it's actually here. Like I said, you know, all these people are family, you know, related. So, you know, they're from another culture, but they're all family business and and that's what we liked. You know, there's no strangers here in downtown.

For maybe one question, you know, is maybe give a little insight. I really liked your story about really starting with five watches and growing that. For a new inspiring entrepreneur, which I'm sure will watch this show, you know, what advice would you give them, whether it's in jewelry or something else, but what advice would you give them if they're just starting off with something small? How do they continue to grow it like you've been able to do?

I would think that my first advice to everybody would be is don't give up. Don't listen to anybody because you know what?

I started in the business. A lot of people told me, Carlos, you're never going to make money off of Instagram. They used to laugh when I used to be taking those pictures of the cars. And guess what? That's how I marketed myself. And that's how we that's here. We here now. All the people that told me that I wasn't going to be able to do it after the time they started doing exactly what I'm doing. So yes, follow your dreams. Follow your dreams. Don't stop. Work hard or harder than anybody. You know, I eat out of my desk for the past 13 years. I have my videographer in my face since I wake up. We create content for seven platforms every day. I get up at 7:00 in the morning. I go home at 7 at night to eat something fast trying to come to the next day. And people think people see the videos and they see the car. Oh, it's easy. No, it ain't easy, my brother.

I don't have time to go sit down with Ke have lunch anywhere because I'll be losing time of what I have to do. And time is the most valuable thing you got. It ain't the money, man.

You know, I have money,

but I don't have time. And for me now that I'm this age, the most valuable is time.

Talking about time, you're an expert in fake and real watches.

Yes, I am.

There's nothing more than I love when you just you get the box and you don't even open it and you say it's fake.

Brother, explain to me how many fake watches are in Miami. How are you such an expert? I mean, obviously because of the ones that go through you, but man, that content is amazing. like like like is Miami more fake or more real?

Miami, you know, Miami

and the second part, what's the hot what's the hottest holiday watch for this season?

Well, dude, when you say Miami is uh real or not,

just from your content, the watches,

you know, everything I do is real, I think Miami puts a lot of pressure on people to trying to, you know, pretend that they have.

Yeah.

And I think that's what it become from in you. You know, I I'm I'm not going to say that at one point in my life I like to show off the jewelry and all that stuff, but then once you make it, the only one that you got to impress is yourself.

You know, you realize like, damn, man. You know, I was just whatever. I'm wearing this chain not to bring flash. I just got it today and that's why the reason that I'm wearing it, I don't think I will wear it to be out here.

You lend it to me for the weekend for that What was the other question? Hey, what's the holiday the hottest watch right now for the holidays? What are you seeing more? I know there's different types, different ways.

What should people buy for Christmas, man?

What should people buy for Christmas, man? You know what? I think what

what's a smart purchase?

I think a smart purchase is just to buy something for a family member, man. And don't got to be a watch. I sell watches, but if you don't have a watch, at least something to show love for the other one. Yeah.

Doesn't have to be a watch. You know, you could get diamonds. Now is the new thing. Lap diamonds, which is the same thing. But just make sure you get something for that loved one because you don't know if tomorrow they will be here.

True.

Forget the watch. Just do something for the people that you love, man.

Okay.

That's the way I see it.

My last my last question. Yes.

Uh

outside of the Seab Bowl building, you're downtown all the time. I know you're working hard. One of the things that will probably take away is that everybody that's working here is eating lunch here. They're not going a ton of places. They're working hard. But what is one of your favorite things about, I would say, downtown Miami? Well, in the business is that you could find anything

in this ecosystem. Yeah.

By walking distance. That's what what I like the most.

Okay.

You can find anything here from silver to gold to diamonds to lot diamonds to watches to high-end watches to low-end watches. You could find everything here within two or three blocks.

Yeah. Lynn talked a lot about that was owner of the building and how this, you know, is an ecosystem. All there's 10 floors here. We're on the first floor and a lot of people only see the first floor, but all those different things are here. Being able to make a piece that is uniquely for you or for your family is something that you can't find other places in America and it uniquely exists here within the DDA at the Seabold building. So, I think that that's, you know, awesome.

Carlos, last couple questions. I know you're busy. No. First question. What's the most expensive watch you've sold? We don't need to know who.

I think it probably been close to a million.

Really?

Yeah. Yeah. Is it

I had watches that are worth2 million but I haven't be able to sell it or somebody else you know but yeah

what was that like

a million dollar watch

getting a

bro to me you know selling a million dollar watch it's

the Tuesday

it ain't regular you know on 2022 it was a big bubble you know with a lot of guys from crypto spending crazy amount of money and my sales blew up from 10 million to 30 millions that year and people were just spending money and the watch prices went extremely high. I think people right now are more careful on their investment. So, you know, these these really high-end watches are sitting back longer than their fresh and fries because of what I call it Rolex and the more economic watches. But yeah, man.

Awesome, man. Last question. Where do you see CRM in five years?

I see my family working. I see myself retired doing nothing.

You're such a liar. You You never retired. Primo, I want to thank you for being here on the show.

You know, I love you to death. CRM Jewelers.

Yes. So, I'll be able to hug you. You're too tall for me.

CRM Jewelers. He's actually half a block

from the SIBO building. Thank you, Carlos. Thank you so much. Thank you, guys.

Take care, brother.

All right. All right, guys. We're back here in the Sibo building. Final final episode. You've had fun, MJ?

I really have. I think that we learned a lot. Uh, we talked a lot about the family business. We got another family business.

I see Mark. Look at that. What's up with that, Mark?

I bring

It is BS. Are you serious?

Bring some BS to the table.

Is that what that is?

Yes, sir.

Get the out of here, Mark. That's awesome. Mark is opening up Diamond Club. I got a free hand.

Not opening up, but

renov. Tell us about it.

I've been uh in a building over 30 years.

Oh, so you're old school G? Yes, I am. And um fun fun business.

Yeah, it is.

Where are you from, Mark?

I was born in uh Usbakistan, actually.

Oh, wow. Okay.

Yes.

Awesome. Awesome. So, when is the store you renovating or I've been there? What's the story?

I've been there for 30 years. It's time to renovate.

Bring new life.

Correct.

MJ, what do you think, brother?

I think that it's it's really awesome. 30 years in business, which is really what we're here to talk about. All the family businesses that are here, I guess, to kind of spice it up a little bit. Can you tell us a little bit about, you know, the business has grown? You got a lot of celebrity clients. Can you tell us some stories and a little bit about that as well?

Yeah. Who's buying that crazy ice you're wearing?

Oh, a lot of celebrity like

Yes. I don't know where to start from.

No, you don't have to mention names. What's No, you don't have to if you don't want to. I mean, what do you see more? Sports figures, actors, like

all of them.

All of them. They all come see

celebrity came.

King of Morocco was the main person that came.

King of Morocco was Morocco. Yes, he

What did he buy? What did he come?

Oh my god, he bought a lot.

Yeah. Was that a good day for you?

Correct. Well, still in contact. He's still buying.

Really?

Correct.

Well, I think that that's one of the things that's special about this building is not only are you having uh repeat generations of businesses growing, you know, he's got his family here, but also repeat customers. People always come back because of the ecosystem that exists here uh in the Seab Bowl building. It's the third largest diamond district in America. Correct.

And that makes it extremely special and why people like the king of Morocco, Floyd Mayweather and others continue to come here to shop year after year, month after month, over and over and over again. Can you talk a little bit about maybe how important the relationship building is to you with those customers that come in?

Yeah,

it's all about trust. When they do one business, like they want to continue because of the trust.

That trust. Yeah. And uh it's a family business. My father starts 30 years ago.

Wow.

And then I'm continuing. Hopefully my son will continue.

That's your son right there. What's your name?

Daniel. Come over here. Daniel, give a shout out real quick.

Stand behind your father.

I think that that's the exciting thing. Again, family businesses continuing to grow. That what's what makes Miami small business. Correct. Correct. And families.

You ready to take over the dead spot?

Yes.

Yeah. Big shoes to fill, right?

Yeah.

Yeah. You've been what? You just teach him step by step or he's willing to go there.

He's getting there. He's getting there.

He's not there yet.

He's there.

He's there. How old do you?

18.

18.

I wanted to meet you, man. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. You can go back now. Thank you.

So, listen. We're talking about family. That's what seems to be the message here throughout the day. Family, business,

family, and trust.

Family and trust. are what the things are. I think that, you know,

the the DDA continues to try to make the district uh safer for everybody. The SIBO building is extremely safe, but it the trust is here,

the families are here, the relationships are here, and the loyalty that people have to continuing the business uh downtown is not only seen in them being here for 30 plus years, but also in the relationship with all their clients

and the quality is here.

And the quality. How have you seen the changes throughout the years?

The downtown is growing a lot.

Yeah.

A lot of big buildings, a lot of restaurants. It's a big change between 25, 30 years ago.

What year did you guys open up here?

95.

95.

1995.

And it was your father that started or

Yes. Me and my father. I was 13 years old.

Uhhuh.

Yeah. So,

learning the game.

No school.

Straight to business.

Straight business.

Yes. Correct.

The school of business. a school of business. What do you want to see yourself kind of here at SIBO building? Obviously, you got a new store now,

correct?

What would you like? Maybe

hopefully I forward to my kids the business to continue. It's a good business. But if you know what you're doing,

you got to hustle though, right? You got to

Yes, you got to hustle. You got to be there. You got to answer questions, provide the best quality service.

What do you think about the DVA? What do you think you would like them to focus on for downtown for the changes coming?

Favorite things about downtown?

Yeah. My favorite things.

Your favorite things about Yeah.

What stop? You can find everything here. Restaurants, jewelry, anything. Clubs,

diamonds, watches.

I think that's the second time that we've heard that that, you know, the DDA district really being a onestop shop where you can find everything.

Everything is here. Restaurants are here. Uh events are here, watches are here, diamonds are here,

celebrities are here,

celebrities are here. Everything is really in this one dis this one district. And the SIBO building is a shining beacon in the middle of that of this district that attracts all these different peoples for buying wedding rings, for kings, buying jewelry, all of those things kind of associate and kind of grow uh here along with all the families that have kind of continued their businesses here. That's one of the piece that I made. Diamond club. We give it as a gift to a president.

Look at this. Ben, can we get a shot of this? Look at this.

That's Donnie there after he took the shot.

Yeah.

Many men.

Wow. That's amazing. Maybe I can get one of my logo. Mark, go ahead.

We can maybe talk about that. I talked with Junior about it, man. We can

Well, I think that that's exciting. Anything can really be made here. You can find the diamonds here. You can find the craftsmanship. How long does it take to make something like this, sir?

The design craftsmanship wise?

30 days.

30 days. You have a lot of special orders like that that you've made. What's some of the craziest designs you've made?

Craziest design I make. I made a frame for the king with full of diamonds with his picture on it.

Really? How much was that?

A frame that was a gift.

A gift from you?

Yes. You can

That was a gift from you. That means he's good customer.

It is.

How much? Not going to lie.

No, that's great. I like I like honestly how much like that something as a gift would cost a regular person.

Little fla maybe diamonds

two 300k.

Oh yeah. No, no big deal.

No big deal.

No big deal. No big deal.

What's the most expensive piece of uh jewelry that you've sold 30 years in business?

One item.

One item.

Over six figures.

Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah.

A watch. A chain.

A watch. A watch.

Watches. Yeah.

Okay. What are your c what what not celebrities what are your your regular customs like are they are they regular people celebrities like what's your bread and butter

we don't discriminate whoever enter service

it gets everything same services all around

yes you can buy a $1,000 watch you can buy a million dollar watch

what's the hottest watch right now that people are always like asking for putting on reserve

orex is

like your watch right now is pretty nice

yes

that's a millie right

yeah Richard Millie

how much is that watch

400 Mark, you bastard.

Yeah.

You want to buy a house? I know. You want to buy a house? Can you show that to the camera?

Simple. Everything is available here.

Can you show that to Look at that.

$400,000 millie. You can get a house in Pomero Bay for that friend

skeleton.

Very very nice. Very nice. Very nice. So, what do you want for your son that that that you've gone through that you've shown him that you don't want him to go through or how? Or does he got to go through it all? If he follows me like he's listened to me, he's going to be

he's gonna be successful.

Successful. Is he your only son?

No, I have four boys.

Four boys. Mark.

None of them interested. None of them interested except him.

Except him.

And he's the oldest, youngest.

This is the third one.

Third one.

How many is the second one? Sorry.

Don't worry. My dad has four boys, too. We're four boys and he forgets my name.

That's amazing. That's amazing. What do you think about Flagger Street? I know that's always an issue for everybody.

Beautiful.

Yeah, it's pretty good.

Yes, it is.

Pretty good. Are you looking for it to be finally completed and stuff?

It's almost there.

Yeah.

Yeah, we're getting there.

Getting there. Hopefully more restaurants, more activity.

Yeah. What kind of restaurants you like around here?

Some kosher restaurants.

Yeah. Everything halal or

No, halal. Kosher.

Kosher, which is

big difference between halal and kosher.

Yeah.

Obvious halal made kosher too.

Right. Right. Right. Very similar but very different. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So tell us the name the the name of the business and you know when will the remodel be done and how people can find

how we going to reach you in that camera right there. It's uh my company called Diamond Club Inc. will be reopen in uh two weeks hopefully. We'll have a grand opening. We have many celebrity coming.

Am I invited to the grand opening man?

Everybody invited. The whole building is invited.

So two weeks come to the Seabbo building, Diamond Club, but you can still come see him right now right behind us on the first.

He's right at the end. As soon as you come in on the left, he's the first store.

Yes.

And definitely uh more than welcome.

Very impressive. And I love your chain. And that's uh takes big balls to have.

Correct.

Thank you, Mark.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's get a picture.