The Rebbi of Bangkok 1999

In 1999 I sold a 5-carat diamond on 47th Street and moved the Thailand with enough money to start a small business. I had visited Bangkok often on yearly around-the-world trips during the slow season in the Diamond District. A religious diamond dealer gave me the telephone number of his uncle, the city's Hassidic Rebbi.

Upon arrival in Bangkok I called the Rebbi. He invited me to his schul. We met at the a little kosher diner near the Beth Elisheva synagogue, which was strangely located in Klong Toey slum on the Chao Phraya River. A kindly old man. After an introuction he asked, "So what are you here for?"

"I was thinking about going into the colored stone business. Sapphires. Rubies. I have connections in New York and Europe. Can you recommend any dealers."

"No, they are all thieves."

I thanked him for this advice and entered into the schmatztah trade selling F1 counterfeit copies on the internet. Criminal. But the Thais were all honest.

ps in 2009 I sold a 5-carat unheated Burma Ruby to a woman from Detroit. One of the msot beautiful stones I have ever seen in my many years as a gem dealer.

As for the counterfeit F1 business. That is another story entirely.